Emergency Preparedness Evaluation-Urban Survival Part 4/4

[FreedomRingsToday]

I keep flashlights all over the house so I can grab one no matter where we are including headlamps. I have my crank radio next to my chair because like you I know how I am and I woudln't find it if it is somewhere else. :)

[Danny00201]

I am thinking of talking my wife into trying this thanks for posting a lot of good info and it was very interesting.

[MrPurpleWorm]

the smokey taste in the water goes away if you use your own charcoal. its not hard to make it just takes a little bit and I find easier to use.

[ThePresticle1]

I am incredibly graced with a Korean wife who grew up on a farm and knows all about only using well-water for hygiene and cooking.Myself,the only time I "roughed it" was during the battle of Fallujah and we burned whatever we could for light and comfort while roving the city like gypsies and scavenging and "acquiring" cigarettes and liqour as we went. It taught me alot about what life will be like very shortly,and I got paid to learn how to overcome any and all obstacles during SHTF.

[BirdOfParadise777]

Great videos! Thank you both! I learned a lot. Especially the weight of the water and how many times in a day a person would have to lift it and carry it. A while back I was thinking about the "use" of water and how many "uses" I could get out of "one portion" of water. Like wash clothes or the counters, then the floor, then flush with it and you would have the benefit of whatever cleaning product you used and it would help to clean the toilet as well. Store radio, batteries on the outside?

BOP

[myhealthytribe]

Great evaluation and congrats for doing this. Head lamps are a great idea and yes, my family needs to do some basic first aid training. Thanks

[hillbillydustin]

Around the 4.5 minute mark you mention needing more organization for your barrels downstairs; I have a very simple idea that may help. If you just take some masking tape or painters tape and stick it to the outside of the barrel, then label with a marker what is inside. Be specific. Don't just put "emergency supplies", put a piece of tape that says "wind-up radio" then under it another piece of tape that says "wool blanket". If you remove an item long-term, remove the label for that item.

[bmdman1]

Love the video, especially getting feed back from your wife with very carefully phrased questions about her 'feelings'. ;-) re: flushing the toilet, if you are going to try and flush the toilet, refill the tank and not the bowl. That way you will replicate a normal toilet flush. Also for cooking how about getting a propane barbeque. One bottle lasts us all summer and I have 3 full backups. Figure that should keep us at least 6 mos, using it full time. Woods stoves should be the last resort.

[subzeroo3]

well done

[Pandabonium]

Thanks to you both for this very valuable exercise. 'Really got me thinking about our own situation and preparations.

Your rain barrels are excellent and I'll have to look into that soon. Mopping the floor... ooh, the things we learn. Thanks.

You might consider a water filter such as a Katadyn which would eliminate a lot the boiling for potable water. Not cheap, but the filters last a very long time.

First Aid/CPR courses are also a great suggestion.

[nubcakehero]

congrats, but creepy picture dude.

[DragOzze]

Sarah rocks ;p

[kens2cents]

Thanks to you and Sarah posting these videos! Keep up the great work!

[Forsure3333]

To be without electronics is like a brain flush.

[bizzarrogeorge]

Excellent content. I learned some stuff from you guys, like the brussel sprouts and the rain collection system. The only thing I missed was an overview of your food prep and storage. I saw the fresh veggies in the earlier video. Was that grown in your garden or left over in the frig? Were you stockpiling rice and grains, ramen soup, canned goods, or relying on a thriving backyard garden?

[88slujan]

Good points about water use. Especially thinking about cleaning

[BushcraftTom]

Hey, I really enjoyed the videos! would like to see a test where you can't go outsite.

Thanks for the info and video's!

[iyBesao]

Where do you find a woman like Sarah? :) Great series sir! I certainly learned a lot.

[johnnyboy41]

I think your wife is a really good sport, check out solar cooking.. as well as solar power generation.

[TubeDeviant]

Darn, I also forgot to mention the good old barbecue and hibachi... Great for cooking the meat from the freezer if your hydro/electricity is out for an extended period...

[TubeDeviant]

I hope you and the Mrs. undertake other experiments during the other seasons of the year and share that with us as well... Good luck, gear up, keep your powder dry and stack it deep!!!

[TubeDeviant]

Hey there, thank you for undertaking this experiment and sharing it with the Youtube community, but I must say that you need some more gear... A water filter and steripen can help out with your water needs... Good quality LED lights and extra batteries, quality knife, multitool, first aid kit and basic meds, a backpacking and/or camping stove (preferably a multi fuel stove...), extra fuel, portable heaters, weapons and ammunition, solar chargers for electronics and of course, extra clothing etc.

[Forsure3333]

@TubeDeviant Among other things, I've got that a led light lantern. It works with two AA's or with the integrated battery that is rechargeable with solar power. $50. I also bought lots of alcalines batteries. Some brands show the date of production at the back of the package. I have food in can for at least a week.

[haansgruber]

Part of what is missing from your plan: When other people, ie: everyone is in the same/similar circumstance things will be elevated by 1 to 200 times what you experience in an exercise alone in a small group. If you want to know, volunteer to go for disaster relief in the 3rd world when they have their next flood or earthquake. Then you are there after the fact but, you'll see the reality of the situation. This doesn't even begin to come close.

peace :)

[napoleon19]

Thanks for the informative and entertaining videos! I learned a lot and enjoyed watching the whole series. I'm looking forward to seeing more videos from you. Thanks again!

[RDPproject]

Thank you for doing this.

I hope it makes people think about what the would do in this situation.

[DesignatdSurvivalist]

i like how you put your plans into action so that you can test yourself, they're always fun to watch. thanks

[draemalic]

I just go camping for a week and have a decent stockpile of firewood and food at home - i have a stream within 200 yards of my house. Works well, and camping is like testing out my readiness.

[evilevilrick]

Great vids. Both of you deserve a few days with lots of you tube. Then try doing the survival thing in the woods. Be prepared for anything. Put yourself into the "earthquake destroyed your home" mode and now all you have is what you can carry, and don't forget the wind up radio. By the way I have several headlights, never leave home without one. Keep extras, even led's die. Now I'm gonna check out your "winter failure vid.

[LainieLu1953]

I watched all four videos. I enjoyed them immensely and learned from your insight. Many thanks!

[SoloLobo101]

I enjoyed learning from your exercise, thank you both!

I didn't know what kind of seeds you were sprouting, were they alfalfa or just any old kind of seeds?

I like that propane stove, I'm looking online for one now, great idea! Also, I'm glad you mentioned the head lamps, I need one of those too! Thanks again!

[Gunnslinger50]

I dig it. Good series

[Christopher711]

Good job being over prepared. Much better to be over prepared than under prepared!

[Christopher711]

Sarah , deserves a medal. She went through this and she's STILL married to you. lol  Thank you for these videos sir , and good job Sarah. You're a real trooper.

[fishheads]

We went 10 days without power. I HATE NEIGHBORS LOUD GENERATORS. Thank God we had water. I do need to get rain barrels like you have. I think you have it right, WATER is the top priority. Good job on your dry run.

[vention4wh]

If Sarah has an older sister, send her my way.

Do you have a fireplace, wood stove or backup method of heating your home (or even one room of your home?). If you don't you might want to consider it. Even my condo has a fireplace that could be useful in a utility failure situation. I stock 25, 3 log packages of those sawdust logs. That should keep fire available for a few days. I can't stock real wood because real wood is full of bugs.

[sae1095hc]

00:03 "You're not really putting this on?" Was that a question, request or an order?

00:01 to 00:05 The transition of your wife's facial expression from happy to hopeful/exasperated/resigned is priceless.

00:19 The look she gives you just before she says "Your welcome" seemed to have a bit of ominous foreboding in it.

I really enjoy the first 20 seconds of this video, I hope the vengence meted out to you later, wasn't too severe!.

[sae1095hc]

I hope you can convince Sarah to do a wintertime eval similar to this one. I thought it was really good.

I think your idea about improving the personal relationships with your neighbors is very well-founded, but a pump shotty or two would be good if everything went Mad Max on you.

[envirosponsible]

Ha! I have to agree about the shotty.

[ThePresticle1]

@sae1095hc I spot certain military words here.I am an Iraq Infantry veteran and I must admit that a 5 day eval would turn fubar fast!! It would reduce me and the wife to playing card games and such which would kill her because she gets cabin fever very easily.I do not.We would be at each other's throats fast! I am thankful that I have well over 1,000 rounds for each handgun and caliber and we have over 4 months of food & water stored.But my wife doesn't think anything will happen.

[simpleman2423]

I really appreciate you BOTH for this video, man. I spend days and days out in the woods when I can get away, but I think it would be very different "bugging in" with all the creature comforts at hand but committing to do without them.

I wonder if those few days affected your electric bill?

[envirosponsible]

It brought the bill down a little.  The real prize was enjoying the darkness and quiet after sunset.

[bill0047]

I hope your neighbours are also prepped, otherwise they will 'want' to share yours.

[krcool32]

Awesome video and great job to both of you... I am also prepared for an urban survival situation... but I have never put my preparedness to the test and your endeavor has showed some of my weaknesses and I am in need of some improvement... Thank you very much!

My only suggestion, I have a small solar panel setup that I purchased for about $200 USD from harbor freight... You should look into it...

[adamythos]

Great job, both of you two!

[jay8058]

Good job overall bud. Just wanted to mention a saying we use in bushcraft- "Knowledge weighs nothing"

You should be making an effort to educate yourself and learn new skills. First aid is a great start, but build on it.

Also, my BBQ has a burner on the side that has proven useful for boiling water on more than one occasion-and those 20lb bottles last for ages.

[mattswall]

Thanks for sharing the experiment and experience!

[veritasfiles]

I think you're giving too much credit to first aid. You're talking about being a doctor or a surgeon. A quick first aid course and a comprehensive first aid book will serve you best. Don't ignore the food, the water, the batteries, the tools, etc... If you do, you'll regret it. Also consider that you only did this for 5 days. Your needs will begin changing after 30 days.

[firesotormlizard01]

you earned a subscriber today mate, great video series

[buttheadfred778899]

hey great videos...have u looked into a "berkey" water filter system.. it does take any power and filters ALOT of water....it might help

[envirosponsible]

I haven't heard of them. I'll have to look them up.

[crabtrap]

plz look into the berkey filters . but one tip for you is; if you just buy the berkey filter cartriges they could ez be adapted to all those barrels you seem to be riddled with .

i would take 2 barrels ,stack them with filters mounted,put your untreated water in top and it trickles down to bottom barrel . with 4 filter cartridges you could filter about 30gals in 4 -6hours or so . that will make Sarah a happy camper!!! (berkeywaterfilterstoreDOTcom)

[CPLBSS88]

awsome. glad to see you have a wife that supports this stuff, mine does too but alot of my friends wives do not.

[maxpullara1]

gerat videos.. I agree with the slowing down of things....... Why is it nowadays we think we are entitled to so much Leisure time.. We arent, life should be hard and we should appreciate just the simple things.. thanks for taking the time out to do this trial.. You two are an exemplary couple. 5 stars well earned

[beast12101]

nice job bud

[severzero]

You ever made a penny stove? They are super awsome and cheap!

[AndrewXAnarchy]

How did you sanitise the water you had in your basement?

[envirosponsible]

We boiled it on the wood stove or the propane burner. The barrels in the basement are filled with tapwater, so it was likely potable already, but I've got a lot to learn about water and wasn't going to chance it.

[BPBundy]

Just wanted to thank you for the great series. It makes us think what we take for granted on a daily basis. I live in Illinois and went through a storm that left us without power for 7 days back in May. Luckily we had a generator and kept our fridge and one light running. But i kept thinking about ones that didn't have a generator. So i can see where you are coming from. Thanks again for the series.

[envirosponsible]

Thanks for watching and commenting. What was most challenging about your experience?

[severzero]

Great video. I keep my wind-up radio in my bug out bag. Forget the knives?!?! No way! haha you need more knives!

[envirosponsible]

I'm not about to give mine up! It wouldn't be a bad idea to keep it more handy than it is right now.