Keeping records straight

When a person is preparing for an emergency, sometimes the paperwork doesn’t get the attention that it needs to have. By paperwork, I am talking about records, birth certificates, insurance policies, medical records (allergies, medications ) and the  like. It is always a good idea to have the originals of any documentation in a safe place away from your house, like in a safe deposit box.  But in case of an emergency, you may not be able to get to the bank.

A friend of mine scans the originals of all of his documents and puts them onto a USB drive, and puts one  into his preparedness kit, and one in his car. That way, if he is in an accident, or an emergency situation, he has any records that he might need nearby.  I have another friend who keeps hers on a chain around her neck at all times.

I am not saying that we need to have our paperwork with us at all times, but it might not be a bad idea to have things in order, even a copy in a notebook with other things such as an escape route from your house and where everyone should meet up at, emergency phone numbers, ICE (in case of emergency )numbers, that everyone in your household knows where it is at.

It might be a good idea to have a copy of all passwords for bill paying, account numbers etc. in a place where they can be easily found by family members if you are the one paying the bills.

I have just been thinking on these things, perhaps I will organize more thoughts on this. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about this, feel free to comment.

Until next time,

Theresa

A freebie!!

Get signed up now for the Rescue Me Right Get Prepared Giveaway!

That’s right,  www.rescuemeright.com is having a giveaway. Just sign up for the newsletter in November and you will be entered  for a great prize.  They are giving away an Emergency Necessities Kit.  It is really nice. Here is what it has in it:

  • Flashlight
  • AA batteries (2)
  • AM/FM Radio
  • AAA batteries (2)
  • Waterproof matches (box of 50)
  • Emergency blanket
  • Emergency poncho
  • 2400 calorie food bar
  • Water pouches (4)
  • 43 piece first aid kit
  • Tissue (10 pack)
  • Wet naps (6)

Quite a nice pack, would make a really nice gift for the holidays coming up. The drawing is going to be December 4. Tell all of your friends about it, and sign up, it would be a great prize.

Until next time,

Theresa

Have something for the hands to do

Last night I was sitting on the sofa and working on a baby afghan and half watching tv. My mind was wandering and I was thinking about what my next post was going to be about, when my husband comes in and says, “It’s cold in here, I don’t think the furnace has kicked on.”

Well, it turns out that the furnace had not kicked on and once I got out from under the afghan, it was cold! We had blown a fuse, and had to turn off the power to the basement where the furnace is to fix it.  I got the flashlight out of the desk drawer where I keep it (I keep flashlights and lighters in several places around the house so that I can always find one) and went downstairs to hold it while Ted changed out the fuse.

This got me thinking, what would we do if the power went off for an extended period of time? During the day it would not be too bad, but after dark, in the light of a candle or a lantern, what could you do?  I personally like to knit and crochet, and I think that would be something to do, reading and board games are good too. String games, like cat’s cradle are fun for the kids, and paper crafts could be fun. Cards and dice are always good to have around when there is nothing to do. Coloring books, and stationary for writing letters is nice too.

I think that we are too dependant on electronics for our entertainment, and to have some non electric alternatives is a good thing for when the power goes out or just to do instead of the tv or gaming system to simplify your life.  Just think how much electricity could be saved if we turned off all of the televisions and computers and gaming systems and sterios for just one night a week. It would be amazing!

Something to think about.

New Features to My Website!

Happy New Year everyone!   With the new year I have added some new features to my website www.rescuemeright.com . I have added a new page called Weather and Things where you can check local weather conditions and alerts. There is also a link there  for earthquake information from the last seven days.

As always there are great deals on 72-hour kits and other emergency preparedness supplies.

If you haven’t signed up for my monthly survival newsletter you are going to be missing out. I have been chatting with my pal, Triple B, and he has sent  a great article on how to actually cook in a thermos bottle. How awesome is that! The latest edition should be coming out in the next week,  get signed up here

Hope that everyone has a great new year, just full of blessings, family and friends!

Ropes and Knots II

Today we are going to look at the easiest and most useful knot that I know of. It is called Two half hitches. A hitch is a knot that ties a rope to something. I am sure that you have heard of a hitching post from old western movies. The friction that is caused by the wrapping of the rope holds the hitch in place. Because of the friction this knot will hold tight for a very long time and will not loosen.  It is a great knot for camping, making a tent out of a tarp, making a clothes line, tying up a boat, or a mule.

Let’s begin:

Step 1: Press the end of the rope through a ring or around a pole.

Step 2:   Pass the end behind the remaining  end of the rope. (This is known as the standing part.)

Step 3: Bring the end back up and pass it through the eye you just formed and pull tight. This is a half hitch.

Step 4: Pass the end of the rope around the standing part again.

Step 5: Bring the end up and through the loop just formed.

Step 6: pull it snug.   twohalfhitchesa

 

 

See you tomorrow!

Ropes and Knots

One of the most basic and important tools in any survival kit is a rope. It can be used for just a ton of things. It can be used to tie things together, to tie things down, to hang clothes, to make a basic shelter, just all kinds of things. So, a rope is indispensable. But what is a rope if you don’t know how to tie a knot?

There are some very basic knots that everyone, even kids should know. The first is a square knot. Also known as a reef knot, this is the knot that most moms have to get out of their kids shoes when they are learning to tie a bow. This knot is commonly used in macrame, and is a good knot for tying packages and bandages, as it lies flat and does not add to bulk. Just a note however, this knot does not work well with nylon ropes, or ropes of different diameters. This is an easy knot to tie, so let’s get going!

Step 1: Take two pieces of rope that are about the same diameter. They will be called rope A and rope B. Put rope A in your left hand, and rope B in your right hand.

Step 2: Cross rope A over rope B to form an “X” shape  sqknotstep3_s

 

 

Step 3:  Wrap rope A around rope B, like when you are tying  your shoes. Rope A is now sticking out on the right and rope B is sticking out on the left

sqknotstep4_s

 

 

Step 4:  Cross rope A over Rope B again, forming another “X”.sqknotstep5_s

 

 

Step 5: Wrap rope A once to the left around rope B.sqknotstep6_s

 

Step 6: Pull on the free ends to tighten the knot.sqknotstep7_s

 

That’s it.  Tomorrow we will see two half hitches.

Welcome to Survivalgal!

Hello and welcome to Survivalgal.  This is a place where survival skills, outdoor skills, emergency preparedness, and all sorts of other things are talked about. I hope that you will join me for great how-to’s,  great easy recipes, herbal medicine skills, and  foraging things on this blog.

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