Survival:Beyond the Bug-Out Bag
We all agree that being prepared for an emergency is important. That's why preparing a "Bug Out Bag" that will allow you can grab and go can be a lifesaver. So I began posting information here over 6 years ago, and I'm updating that information regularly. I've also gone beyond the traditional products. Because creating "the bag" is just the first step to being prepared, not the final product. We now know we each need to have at least 30 days of essential supplies like food water and medicine. We must be our own first responders.
I cover topics like:
*Products I both use and trust.
*Often forgotten items you need to have in your bag.
*Psychological and Emotional planning for the family
*Planning for Kids and Seniors
*What to do when Plan "A" fails?
This includes a curated list of links from a variety of sources too. I'll be sharing and updating links to sites I buy from and products I use. So we are clear, I have no sponsors, so the opinions, both good and bad, are my own.
Join me as I begin the 7th year/6th season of productions in an ongoing series of podcasts for you and your family to use and to share with others as you build a community. Is this fun or what?
Survival:Beyond the Bug-Out Bag
Think Small: Steps to Crisis Readiness
Ever been caught off guard by a small detail in an emergency? Picture this: a New Year's Eve interrupted by a burst pressure release valve on the water heater, leading to chaos and a frantic scramble to shut off water and power. Through this personal tale of unexpected disaster, we explore how tiny preparations, like clearly labeled breaker boxes and having emergency contacts ready, can make a world of difference. We also shine a light on the surprising utility of military can openers, the P-38 and P-51, proving that even the smallest items can hold immense value in crisis moments.
But being ready isn't just about having the right tools; it's about maintaining them too. We dive into the critical importance of choosing reliable knives and firearms, and the need for their regular upkeep. From avoiding those flimsy "gas station" folders to ensuring your ammunition is safely stored with silica gel packets, we cover it all. Plus, we sprinkle in tips for effective emergency heating solutions and planning your range visits with flexibility. Tune in for an episode packed with insights on preparedness, whether it's for a day at the range or an unexpected emergency.
P38 & P 51 Can Openers at Amazon
Class Information: Refuse to be a Victim Personal ProtectionTraining
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Copyright: Refuse to be a Victim Personal Protection Training 2018-2024
Little things. They do matter, especially when something goes bump in the night. I'll tell you all about it. Come on in. Well, hi everybody, I'm Bill Bateman, part of the team here at Refuse to be a Victim Personal Protection Training. We're located in the Medford-White City area of Southern Oregon. We're at 6800 Kershaw, where Kershaw and Corey come together off 140, kind of up around the foothill area. Give us a call, we'll help you get here. It can be kind of interesting. Well, it is the new year, 2025. Glad to see you joining us. Hope everything's good at your house.
Speaker 1:We spend an interesting New Year's holiday and we're going to talk about how little things matter, details matter and how to make the best of a bad situation. Here's the story. The story About 11 o'clock on New Year's Eve, we heard a thump and a bang and it was loud enough to bring us both off the couch and wonder what the heck is going on. Nobody was trying to get in. What was happening was something was trying to get out. Water was trying to get out of our water heater through the broken pressure release valve. Yeah, we got a long talk with our guy who did the home inspection on this place. That's coming up as soon as we get things settled. But the pressure control valve burst, causing a leak and causing the water heater just to begin draining under the house. It gets better. So we turned off the water to the water heater, and that didn't do any good. So we turned off the water to the house, and that helped. And then we had to turn off the breaker. The water heater was still trying to heat water it didn't have. So here's an interesting little small detail the labels had all come off the box. It's an old box, this is an old unit, so by golly we had to play guess what this one does Now. It wasn't that hard, because the water heater draws, as you know, a substantial amount of current, but we managed to turn off the refrigerator, the heater and the washer-dryer combination before hitting the water heater. So it has a happy ending.
Speaker 1:We were able to go to our go-to plumber not on New Year's, no, we were able to survive with the supplies we had, and that's another part of this. Had we not had extra water, we wouldn't have been able to flush our toilets, brush our teeth or make our coffee. We had power, but we didn't have water. What we did have and I've talked about this previously is five-gallon containers. We keep them in the bathroom in a special area, and there's six of them, so we got six times five. We got 30 gallons of water, left us plenty to use in our low-flow toilets, and we opened up one of the bottles or one of the containers, rather to make sure it got air, because air is what can make water taste pretty bad after a year. Ours is six months old. We use it to water our spring planting and put in fresh water, so the water is never more than six months old and we don't have to use a lot of chemicals. So water's turned off. We had water to use both for flushing the toilets, to pour on our feet, to heat up in a pan and to wash our hands and stuff like that and to make coffee. So that was good. We had the name and phone number of who we needed to call quickly available, so we were the first one online when they opened the day after New Year's and got on the first call list. It was not cheap Replacing a water heater never is but the people we work with did a good job and I was really quite pleased that it did.
Speaker 1:So it's a case of little things matter In an emergency. First, how do you turn everything off that has to be turned off? I should have been checking my breaker box and making sure all those labels were legible. I should have, when the home inspector did their work, to double check their work. So these are just things. How small details can matter? Now, let's keep on the small detail. In a simple emergency, which is what we had, we weren't out of anything, but we did have water, we did have supplies and we did know where everything was. So, had the power gone out and we had to cut off all power because of a problem at the breaker box, we still could have found the goods we need. We would have found the water, we would have had the emergency blankets, could have found the goods we need. We would have found the water, we would have had the emergency blankets, things like that.
Speaker 1:Let's look at another little thing. We went camping with some friends on an occasion and they brought everything they needed except a can opener. Well, I can still open a can with a pocket knife. I still have that skill, although some of the other the running, jumping, climbing trees part is pretty well behind me, but I can still get into a can of pork and beans if necessary.
Speaker 1:What I'm going to suggest to you because there are some band-aids and profane words involved in learning how to do that get yourself some of what I call the John Wayne can openers. They're the P-38 and P-51 military can openers. You can find them on Amazon. They're about $7 a pouch. You can get several in the pouch and the P38 and 51 are named after the number of punches they suggest you're going to need to get into a 16-ounce can or a number 10 can. Of course the P-51 is for the big number 10 can and if you're not real comparable with that, a number 10 can is a coffee can size. So think a coffee can as a number 10 and a 16-ounce can.
Speaker 1:Think of a can of green beans or corn. They're lightweight, they're great in the stash, they're great to have around the home. They do have a sharp edge, otherwise they aren't going to get you into the can. So I recommend taping them both with a simple piece of scotch tape in the little package or, if you want to get really practical, attach them to some of the cans you expect to be needing to use with a piece of masking tape that does two things. A, you don't have to go hunting for this little tiny container opener at the bottom of a whole big bag of stuff. Also, you're not going to get poked when you finally do find it, and it's going to be with the can, which is where you need it in the first place. Again, small things, small details, solve big problems in a big hurry. Now I mentioned getting into a can with a knife. It's an old school skill but you can do it.
Speaker 1:Let's think about the knives you carry. Do you have a knife in your everyday carry rollout? Do you have a knife in your pack? What about the knives in your home, used for both in the kitchen or your barbecuing or outdoor type needs? Well, okay, there are some knives that are just perfect for trimming a brisket, but they're going to be pretty much useless if you need to baton some wood and you're doing a survival type situation.
Speaker 1:Learn or shop carefully when you are purchasing a knife, especially for everyday or emergency or bug out bag use. I have several. I have some good folders, quality folders, not gas station, I call them gas station folders. They're usually, you can tell, one of the warning signs you open the blade and you hold the handle and move it and they wobble. That's danger, will Robinson, you don't want one of those. It's the same thing with your firearms. If you're looking for an everyday carry. If you're looking for a pack item, know if the tool is designed for the task. If it's a knife, is it full tang? What's it made out of? How long is it going to hold your edge? And it's the same thing if it's a firearm.
Speaker 1:Ammo changes all the time and new changes are out to the guns we see. Consider when you buy. Consider if you're not maintaining your gun, you're setting yourself up for a real difficulty. You're going to hear the loudest sound you've ever heard and that's click when you pull that trigger. If a gun is especially stored and not used on a regular basis, make it your task A little thing to examine it, clean it, examine your ammunition. Make sure it's fresh, make sure it's in good shape. If it's starting to discolor, if you notice anything suspect, don't be cheap and think well, I can use it anyway. No, if you're using ammo, ammo changes all the time, both by the manufacturer and time.
Speaker 1:I keep and I have the little silica gel packets in my ammo. I have my gun safe with the dehumidifier in it. Make sure that you're aware of how nature messes with you with dampness, with mold, with mildew. Batteries corrode. We've all seen it. We've all forgotten about it. If you're thinking of ammo, I use Hornady as my brand of choice. Depends on what you're looking for. On impact, they have different types. They have the hollow points, they have the ball tip. There are different types of ammo. I don't buy reloads. I do not reload myself. I respect those who do.
Speaker 1:I have had very bad responses from a reload ammo. I have been teaching a class. A student brought reloads. The next thing we knew we had a squib and had that person continue to fire, that round would have most likely exploded in the chamber because the chamber had a full obstruction. So you are responsible for every round you fire. Spend that little extra bit. It's a little thing. What is this round going to do where I fire it? Am I out in the woods trying to get an elk? That's a whole lot different than if I'm in an urban or rural situation and I have to discharge my firearm to save myself, my family or someone else who can't, if I have no other choice. If I have to defend myself. You are responsible for every round you fire.
Speaker 1:Maybe that plus P item is not what you're going to need in the front room. There's other alternatives. Come and talk to us about that. Talk to us and we have some good ideas, especially shotgun for home defense.
Speaker 1:Rethinking a flashlight in the car. Well, where are you going to keep it? Or where are you going to keep them? In the trunk? In the glove box? In the little pouch there where the coffee goes, in the center divider? And how is it to keep charged? Is it easy to get to in total darkness? Oops, where's the flashlight? Again, little things, a small detail. Have you made a point to check it? Now? I talk about checking things and everybody goes. You know good, lord, bill, don't you have a life? Yes, I do, I have a rather busy life. Thank you for asking Because I use little post-its.
Speaker 1:I have notes. I have on my equipment, little post-its. I have notes I have on my equipment when I go to the range and I do some shooting. There's a little checklist I have. When I go shopping. I look at a shopping list and I think when's the last time I got some uh, some batteries? Why have I recharged my batteries. I have little checklists.
Speaker 1:I'm not obsessive. Well, I'm a little OCD, but I do still manage to live a very rich social life and get out. We go to dinner, we go to plays, we have a lot of fun. My bug-out bag doesn't control me. We control how the bug-out bag is used. So let's see what else is important. Yeah, bag is used, so let's see what else is important. Yeah and oh, by the way, if you didn't get what you wanted from Santa, well, holiday sales are a great time to shop for those missing items, even if you just need a portable stove so you can use that lump of coal. You got to stay warm by Now.
Speaker 1:On the topic, it is good to have emergency heating. I talked how the water went out. Well, there's that the water heater. We had to turn off the water, as I mentioned. Imagine what happens if the furnace goes out, especially because in our house. I don't know where you live, but at our house it got into the teens during December and it's just now climbed above 40 degrees at night. So I went to a site I like it's called thepreparedcom thepreparedcom. They've given us a lot of good information. I recommend that site 100% and they talk about the best portable space heaters.
Speaker 1:Now they, like Mr Heater, big Buddy, these are propane. They are available locally. I've seen them at Sportsman. I've seen them at the Army, navy, marine store. I've seen them at REI. There's a lot of shops around and they are pretty price point competitive so it doesn't really matter. I'm sure they even have these at Coastal yeah. So check them out. They have important things about them.
Speaker 1:Any indoor heater, you're going to have to remain having a window cracked. A lot of them say like, well, yeah, they have an oxygen sensor in them. But I like to be a little extra careful. You're burning something. Now, this is if you're using propane. If you have the other types of heaters which are ceramic, they are not technically burning a flame. I got to be careful. I got to recommend you always, always, always, be careful if you're going to be working with any kind of flame heater.
Speaker 1:Heat rating, how many BTUs do you need per square foot? Well, I found a map in this article, or scroll down, and we are in zone 4 here in the Oregon area, which means we need 45 BTUs per square foot, I'm sorry. Which means we need 45 BTUs per square foot. I'm sorry, I didn't tell you there was going to be math involved. But if you're in Zone 4, like we are, and your cold weather room is 10 by 20 foot, 10 by 20 foot rectangular that's about a living room the calculation would be 10 times 20 times 45. I'll do that for you. It breaks down to 9,000 BTUs. So your heater. To bring that room up to a not roasty toasty sauna, but to make you stop shivering and make it comfortable to work with the blanket, you need something that's going to put out 9,000 BTUs.
Speaker 1:Now also consider if you're up in the higher elevations. Propane can get a little hard to deal with. At the higher elevations it will also freeze. So if you're at a lower elevation, below 7,000, some heaters are rated to 9,000 feet. These are more expensive, but right here in the flatlands where I live, let's stop and think about having a supplemental heater with a supplemental supply of propane. They're going to run you around $140. They are easier to carry and set up than some of the bigger stuff. Or when you get to dealing with kerosene. Now, kerosene will work. It doesn't freeze, but it will stain your ceiling if you have a kerosene heater and you will have issues always, always, always, of ventilation and things like that. So that's a discussion of just some of the little things we should all kind of be keeping an eye on.
Speaker 1:Okay, one final small thing to consider. The range is going to start closing a little bit later. Right now it closes at 4. Approximately mid-month it's going to start closing at 4.30. We'd like you to be out by those closing times, because staff has to clean up and restock and take care of issues after that time and then it gets dark and we have to lock the place up. It's an insurance regulation. We're not trying to be getting on our authority high horse and bossing people around. I'm just explaining to you what's got to happen.
Speaker 1:So plan your time at the range in advance. We're always happy to work with you. Call us on the phone, we'll let you know. We are open 365 days a year, like Christmas and New Year's. Yep, we were there and we're looking forward to seeing you the next time you come out. Class schedules are posted on the web. We're looking forward to seeing you in classes and private lessons are still available. So if you've got a special need, your schedule's not going to work. Maybe you're only available during midweek. We can accommodate you. So that's it for this week. Keep those little things in mind, okay, we'll see you next week. Thanks for listening.
