Yes, but the FEMA list she references and then later shows pacing a laminated copy of in her kit specifically says it’s also for rendering water safe to drink.
And those around you.
And it is appreciated!
Good advice!
1 Like
It’s the same sort of usage as ‘for free’. Grates on me, but it looks like I have to live with it.
What my family does is rotate everything perishable (water, canned food, KD, peanut butter, etc) on a 1-year schedule.
And we call ours a “Zombie Apocalypse Kit”.
4 Likes
Does that come in a bible-lite version?
My husband and I are prepared for a short zombie incursion. Anything longer than 3-5 days, and we will have to go to plan B. I love zombie preparedness.
1 Like
Not one word about condoms or shields, so I don’t think she was taking the 72-hour thing seriously.
1 Like
Not “The Man” but used to be in charge of BCP/DR for a financial agency here and had to deal with vetting the supplies for our backup office and kits under every desk.
Lots of people disliked the quarterly drills but then when the big quake of March 2011 came and we had to evacuate from the 41st floor people were actually glad of the advice to keep a pair of flats/sneakers at their desk instead of their fancy shoes/heels.
All your concerns about this video are legit.
2 Likes
Who are stockpiled food.
Um, no. You typically hear, “you can get it for cheap.” I’ve never heard it the other way.
Saying 72 hours makes three days sound like a long time. Apart from potable water I can easily survive for three days on what is in my house already. Instead of water I’ll just have to drink the wine, beer, and cider that I have in the cellar I suppose. What sort of emergency is likely to occur that is going to be mitigated by having a crate full of Dollar Store stuff?
In case it’s not obvious: I’m writing this from the other side of the pond, specifically Norway.
2 Likes
I think it is a combination of two things. First it helps make sure that you actually maintain a certain minimum at all times. The other is that you can take that box with you if you have to leave the house.
In my experience Americans tend to take that more seriously because they have natural disasters.
As opposed to Norway, which has an annual, six-month long natural disaster, called “winter.”
6 Likes
Bottled water shelf life for emergency use is definitely longer than a year.
Water doesn’t “go bad” in a sealed container, at least from a bacteriological standpoint. There are some microbes in the bottle to begin with but they can’t multiply without energy. You may over time get more leaching of chemicals from the container, but that is only a concern if you would drink that kind of water for a long time. Of course, if the container is faulty or the water is of poor quality to begin with, the above doesn’t apply.
I don’t mean to say anything about safety with this anecdote (only about aesthetics), but I once drank 1.5 liters of at least 5 years old bottled water from a plastic bottle. Although it tasted a little bit of plastic, it was not unpleasant. In an emergency situation this would be just fine.
From the FDA (via Wayback machine):
Bottled water is considered to have an indefinite safety shelf life if it is produced in accordance with CGMP and quality standard regulations and is stored in an unopened, properly sealed container. Therefore, FDA does not require an expiration date for bottled water. However, long-term storage of bottled water may result in aesthetic defects, such as off-odor and taste. Bottlers may voluntarily put expiration dates on their labels.
I would say good quality, commercial water in a bottle lasts as long the bottle lasts. At least for survival purposes.
2 Likes
Personally I just carry my emergency food with me.
It’s not directly applicable to survival situations, but check out this pretty wild case report of of a 382 day fast (noncaloric fluids an vitamin supplements given):
http://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/49/569/203.full.pdf
“A 27-year-old male patient fasted under supervision for 382 days … Patient A.B. aged 27 years, weighed on admission 456 lb (207 kg). During the 382 days of his fast, vitamin supplements were given daily as ‘Multivite’ (BDH), vitamin C and yeast … Non-caloric fluids were allowed ad libitum. … During the 382 days of the fast, the patient’s weight decreased from 456 to 180 lb.”
I’d be interested to see it quantified what kind of loss of performance (and morale) do you get with a fast or a low calorie diet. I’d wager many armed forces have conducted these sorts of trials (in addition to the nazis).
I appreciate some of the tips in the video. Bandages, gauze, scissors, masks are all quite reasonable. Diapers, towels, socks, underwear make life a lot more bearable.
For water, a stainless steel five gallon keg is better. Won’t break, air tight by design, light proof, and easy to clean. This is my bug out bag.
Passport, cash, razor, medication, shirt, undies, socks, deodorant, a couple of adult items, soap, a pencil, a comb, toothpaste, and two USB thumb drives.
I also have single servings of dried food.
Whey, protein, magnesium, zinc, choline, potassium, B1, B12, a multi, caffeine, l-theanine, and a little creamer to improve the taste. 350 calories, but I’ve fasted for five straight days. 
I am not a prepper, but I live in California. I’ve been through three earth quakes. Shit can go sideways.
Oh, and whiskey. You know… As a disinfect 
2 Likes
I’ve never even attempted anything even remotely close. Not just a different game, but a different sport. Five days is my record. I don’t think I could go longer without an IV.
The pain and hangry-ness goes away after thirty hours or so. Less than two days, but close. That’s why when I fast I generally plan for two-three days.
It is insanely important to consume electrolytes though. A person’s nervous system will collapse without nacl, potassium, zinc, ascorbic, and mag. That’s why for extended fasts a saline is pretty damn important.
I am neither a doctor or lawyer. Before you think about doing anything extreme, it is your responsibility to consult with proper counsel. It can be life threatening or worse.
Not sure if you are joking. But just in case anyone takes you seriously i think I should point out that winter in most of Norway is generally less harsh than in the northern states of the US. Also we cope with winter quite well which makes it even less threatening.
Of course if you don’t like rain you might want to avoid Bergen.
3 Likes
Trondheim is quite nice.
1 Like
Too far north for me and being on the west coast the weather is almost as unreliable as the UK, I prefer eastern Norway, Oslo fjord, where the weather is stable and dry. I come from southern England where you can get every kind of weather in the space of one afternoon so I appreciate a bit of predictable weather.
1 Like
