Youve read the other thread. You procrastinated. Fast forward a couple years. Now its happened. America got struck by some disaster. Heres how you could have prepared:
1. General
Stuff applying to all kinds of scenarios and probably even now.
1.1 Medicine
There are lots of conditions you dont even know exist because they are being taken care of behind the scenes
1.1.1 Vaccines
1.1.1.1 Tetanus/Diphteria
Remember the shots you took as a child? Some of them were permanent. Some need to be refreshed every once in a while. Among those are Tetanus and Diphteria. Ugly diseases that just wait for you to be caught off guard.
Both vaccines are effective for about 10 years. That means that if you are 20+, its very likely that you need to take another shot. Discuss it with your doctor.
1.1.1.2 Hepatitis
If youre 30+, its likely that you never received Hepatitis A/B shots. I got mine when I was 10. Discuss it with your doctor.
They are working on a way to prevent Hepatitis C at the moment. Might be approved for widespread use within a couple years.
1.1.1.3 Influenza
Influenza is a joke when youre healthy. Should you, however, suffer from malnutrition, it might get more serious. Ive never taken an influenza shot and never will, but its up to you. You should know that it might not be such a bad idea.
1.1.2 Bacterial Infections
You might think that doctors are magicians, but most of them are fuckin stupid. They receive 8 years of training but thats only because they cover ALL the bases. When you catch some bacterial infection, all they do is throw antibiotics at it. They might be able to do that slightly more effectively than you will be able to, but the general approach is the same.
Acquire a form of broadband antibiotics. You wont be able to walk into a drugstore and ask for this directly due to restrictive pharmaceutical legislation, but the guy you buy your weed from will be able to hook you up.
1.1.3 Parasites
Messy, ugly, disgusting pieces of shit. Evade them. Even if you survive it your body wont look pretty.
1.1.4 Viral diseases
Only way to prevent em is to take your vaccination seriously. If you manage to catch some, all you can do is sit it out, which most likely means death if you dont have access to modern health care.
1.1.5 Gangrene, other kinds of non microbiological issues
1.1.5.1 Preventative measures
If you manage to cut your skin, you need to clean it. You can do that with clean water, but if the situation calls for you to treat your wounds yourself, you wont have clean water. A better option is disinfection - an antisepticum. You will have most likely never used it but its important to have. Can be acquired at the drug store for cheap. If you want to be serious about survivalism, this is the most important item of all.
Once the wound is cleaned, you need to close it. Ive seen someone in that other thread recommend being able to sew wounds. Thats a nice skill to have, but you should know that sewing a wound hurts a bit. Or a lot, depending on your pain tolerance level. And you need a sterile material that you can use for the sewing, which you will most likely not have access to.
A better option is liquid band-aid. I dont know its name in english, but its band-aid that you can spray. Will be sterile as long as you keep the bottle somewhat clean. With those two items, treating a superficial wound becomes a two step process. Spray some antiseptic, after that, spray some liquid band-aid. Done. Will burn a lot but works.
1.1.5.2 Get rid of the septic limb
Should you have managed to develop some form of sepsis, the only way to treat it is to cut it off. Even modern medicine cant heal a rotten limb.
This is a very messy process. If you fuck up, youll die. Even if you dont fuck up, you can cause an emboly - you will, again, die. Better have some morphine ready and let someone else do the job.
After its cut off, youll need to close the wound fast, or youll lose too much blood. That most likely means that youll have to cauterize it, which sounds cooler than it is (google it).
I hope you are now convinced that yu dnt want to go there. Get your antiseptics.
1.1.6 Deep wounds/Man made wounds
These are all most likely fatal. Just stay the fuck away.
1.1.6.1 Bullet wounds
Taking a small caliber bullet might be less dangerous than you think. A bullet leaving the gun will be so hot its practically sterile. If you arent trained to remove bullets/dont have access to hospital grade sterile facilities, its best to leave the bullet in. If you get hit by a rifle, nobody will be able to do much for you anyway. It looks a lot more messy in real life than in the movies.
1.1.6.2 Stabwounds/Impalements/all things pointy/sharp
The body contains a couple major arteries. These are located in the belly, the neck, the armpit, the insides of the arms and legs. If you nick those, all a medical professional can do for you is help you survive the 10 minutes it takes til you arrive at the hospital. You cant close those wounds yourself, its game over.
If you take a knife to the aorta, you lose consciousness within a couple seconds and bleed out within a minute. If at all possible, leave the knife in the wound. You might be lucky and it closes all the wounds its caused til removed.
If you take a knife to the torso, it is very unlikely that you dont have some major vital or non vital organ. This will lead to organ failure and/or sepsis and sooner or later death. Horrible painful death btw.
1.1.7 Conclusion
That was medicine in a nutshell. Its way more complicated than that, but all the difficult stuff is not actionable anyway. Get a combat medics manual if you feel ambitious, but its more likely that your SEO hardened stomach would just evacuate itself into the wound youre trying to treat.
1.2 Nutrition
1.2.1 Calories
1.2.1.1 Carbs
Carbs are stored in muscles for short term energy consumption. Your brain needs a small amount to function correctly. Daily need: 30-100gram minimum.
1.2.1.2 Protein
Nitrogenium molecules regulate muscle growth/atrophy. As long as you dont want to enter bodybuilding competitions, you need nowhere near the 2.2gram per pound of bodyweight lifestyle magazines bullshit you with. As long as you dont go completely without protein, youll maintain your functional muscle mass.
1.2.1.3 Fats
Can be metabolized from carbs. There are a couple essential fats but you only need traces of those. Not important plus youll receive plenty from regular meat consumption.
1.2.1.4 Canned Beans
Beans are the rare veggie that contain sufficient amounts of both carbs and proteins. They got some starches. From a purely digestive point of view, you could live off canned beans forever.
1.2.2 Vitamins/Minerals
1.2.2.1 Scorbut
The sailors disease. Caused by vitamin c deficiency. Will make you miserable for a while. After that, youll just die.
1.2.2.2 Multivitamin
There are vitamin pills that contain all essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. You can get a 5 year supply for less than 200 bucks.
If you cant cook/enjoy the fast food too much, do your body a favor and start taking those pills right now. Youll feel more energetic and will need to see the doctor less often. So even if you dont give a shit about your body, it will probably be a good investment.
1.2.3 Diet powders
There are diet powders that contain all the essential nutrients. They come in all kinds of flavors and arent expensive. Usually sold in drug stores. You might want to acquire some of these. Stores well and feeds your body everything it needs forever.
1.3 Shelter - or how to keep yourself warm
Its all about insulation
1.3.1 In the wild
Take two big garbage bags. Wander around. Fill one of the bags with all kinds of branches. You will especially need 2 larger more or less Y shaped branches. Fill the other one with everything organic you can find. Grass, leaves, mud. No stones.
Take your 2 Y shaped branches. Stick them in the soil so that the Y shape sticks out. Angle them towards each other so that the tops meet. Build a spherical net around it with your branches. When youre done, toss the debris on top. Youll end up with a very basic tent. The more crap you put on top, the better. If it doesnt hold together, apply some wet mud. Fill your shelter with the leftover debris. Roll around in it to compress it. Fill it again. Repeat this step til you think youve done enough. Then do it three times over. When your bag is empty, fill it a second time. Stuff your clothes with all the stuff. Crawl inside. Use the garbage bag filled with debris as a door.
You can survive temperatures well below the freezing point doing this. The biggest problem youll run into is that everythings snowy and you wont find stuff to build from.
1.3.2
Just brake into some unoccupied house? Other than that, same tactics apply. A more readily available equally useable material in this case might be paper.
1. General
Stuff applying to all kinds of scenarios and probably even now.
1.1 Medicine
There are lots of conditions you dont even know exist because they are being taken care of behind the scenes
1.1.1 Vaccines
1.1.1.1 Tetanus/Diphteria
Remember the shots you took as a child? Some of them were permanent. Some need to be refreshed every once in a while. Among those are Tetanus and Diphteria. Ugly diseases that just wait for you to be caught off guard.
Both vaccines are effective for about 10 years. That means that if you are 20+, its very likely that you need to take another shot. Discuss it with your doctor.
1.1.1.2 Hepatitis
If youre 30+, its likely that you never received Hepatitis A/B shots. I got mine when I was 10. Discuss it with your doctor.
They are working on a way to prevent Hepatitis C at the moment. Might be approved for widespread use within a couple years.
1.1.1.3 Influenza
Influenza is a joke when youre healthy. Should you, however, suffer from malnutrition, it might get more serious. Ive never taken an influenza shot and never will, but its up to you. You should know that it might not be such a bad idea.
1.1.2 Bacterial Infections
You might think that doctors are magicians, but most of them are fuckin stupid. They receive 8 years of training but thats only because they cover ALL the bases. When you catch some bacterial infection, all they do is throw antibiotics at it. They might be able to do that slightly more effectively than you will be able to, but the general approach is the same.
Acquire a form of broadband antibiotics. You wont be able to walk into a drugstore and ask for this directly due to restrictive pharmaceutical legislation, but the guy you buy your weed from will be able to hook you up.
1.1.3 Parasites
Messy, ugly, disgusting pieces of shit. Evade them. Even if you survive it your body wont look pretty.
1.1.4 Viral diseases
Only way to prevent em is to take your vaccination seriously. If you manage to catch some, all you can do is sit it out, which most likely means death if you dont have access to modern health care.
1.1.5 Gangrene, other kinds of non microbiological issues
1.1.5.1 Preventative measures
If you manage to cut your skin, you need to clean it. You can do that with clean water, but if the situation calls for you to treat your wounds yourself, you wont have clean water. A better option is disinfection - an antisepticum. You will have most likely never used it but its important to have. Can be acquired at the drug store for cheap. If you want to be serious about survivalism, this is the most important item of all.
Once the wound is cleaned, you need to close it. Ive seen someone in that other thread recommend being able to sew wounds. Thats a nice skill to have, but you should know that sewing a wound hurts a bit. Or a lot, depending on your pain tolerance level. And you need a sterile material that you can use for the sewing, which you will most likely not have access to.
A better option is liquid band-aid. I dont know its name in english, but its band-aid that you can spray. Will be sterile as long as you keep the bottle somewhat clean. With those two items, treating a superficial wound becomes a two step process. Spray some antiseptic, after that, spray some liquid band-aid. Done. Will burn a lot but works.
1.1.5.2 Get rid of the septic limb
Should you have managed to develop some form of sepsis, the only way to treat it is to cut it off. Even modern medicine cant heal a rotten limb.
This is a very messy process. If you fuck up, youll die. Even if you dont fuck up, you can cause an emboly - you will, again, die. Better have some morphine ready and let someone else do the job.
After its cut off, youll need to close the wound fast, or youll lose too much blood. That most likely means that youll have to cauterize it, which sounds cooler than it is (google it).
I hope you are now convinced that yu dnt want to go there. Get your antiseptics.
1.1.6 Deep wounds/Man made wounds
These are all most likely fatal. Just stay the fuck away.
1.1.6.1 Bullet wounds
Taking a small caliber bullet might be less dangerous than you think. A bullet leaving the gun will be so hot its practically sterile. If you arent trained to remove bullets/dont have access to hospital grade sterile facilities, its best to leave the bullet in. If you get hit by a rifle, nobody will be able to do much for you anyway. It looks a lot more messy in real life than in the movies.
1.1.6.2 Stabwounds/Impalements/all things pointy/sharp
The body contains a couple major arteries. These are located in the belly, the neck, the armpit, the insides of the arms and legs. If you nick those, all a medical professional can do for you is help you survive the 10 minutes it takes til you arrive at the hospital. You cant close those wounds yourself, its game over.
If you take a knife to the aorta, you lose consciousness within a couple seconds and bleed out within a minute. If at all possible, leave the knife in the wound. You might be lucky and it closes all the wounds its caused til removed.
If you take a knife to the torso, it is very unlikely that you dont have some major vital or non vital organ. This will lead to organ failure and/or sepsis and sooner or later death. Horrible painful death btw.
1.1.7 Conclusion
That was medicine in a nutshell. Its way more complicated than that, but all the difficult stuff is not actionable anyway. Get a combat medics manual if you feel ambitious, but its more likely that your SEO hardened stomach would just evacuate itself into the wound youre trying to treat.
1.2 Nutrition
1.2.1 Calories
1.2.1.1 Carbs
Carbs are stored in muscles for short term energy consumption. Your brain needs a small amount to function correctly. Daily need: 30-100gram minimum.
1.2.1.2 Protein
Nitrogenium molecules regulate muscle growth/atrophy. As long as you dont want to enter bodybuilding competitions, you need nowhere near the 2.2gram per pound of bodyweight lifestyle magazines bullshit you with. As long as you dont go completely without protein, youll maintain your functional muscle mass.
1.2.1.3 Fats
Can be metabolized from carbs. There are a couple essential fats but you only need traces of those. Not important plus youll receive plenty from regular meat consumption.
1.2.1.4 Canned Beans
Beans are the rare veggie that contain sufficient amounts of both carbs and proteins. They got some starches. From a purely digestive point of view, you could live off canned beans forever.
1.2.2 Vitamins/Minerals
1.2.2.1 Scorbut
The sailors disease. Caused by vitamin c deficiency. Will make you miserable for a while. After that, youll just die.
1.2.2.2 Multivitamin
There are vitamin pills that contain all essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. You can get a 5 year supply for less than 200 bucks.
If you cant cook/enjoy the fast food too much, do your body a favor and start taking those pills right now. Youll feel more energetic and will need to see the doctor less often. So even if you dont give a shit about your body, it will probably be a good investment.
1.2.3 Diet powders
There are diet powders that contain all the essential nutrients. They come in all kinds of flavors and arent expensive. Usually sold in drug stores. You might want to acquire some of these. Stores well and feeds your body everything it needs forever.
1.3 Shelter - or how to keep yourself warm
Its all about insulation
1.3.1 In the wild
Take two big garbage bags. Wander around. Fill one of the bags with all kinds of branches. You will especially need 2 larger more or less Y shaped branches. Fill the other one with everything organic you can find. Grass, leaves, mud. No stones.
Take your 2 Y shaped branches. Stick them in the soil so that the Y shape sticks out. Angle them towards each other so that the tops meet. Build a spherical net around it with your branches. When youre done, toss the debris on top. Youll end up with a very basic tent. The more crap you put on top, the better. If it doesnt hold together, apply some wet mud. Fill your shelter with the leftover debris. Roll around in it to compress it. Fill it again. Repeat this step til you think youve done enough. Then do it three times over. When your bag is empty, fill it a second time. Stuff your clothes with all the stuff. Crawl inside. Use the garbage bag filled with debris as a door.
You can survive temperatures well below the freezing point doing this. The biggest problem youll run into is that everythings snowy and you wont find stuff to build from.
1.3.2
Just brake into some unoccupied house? Other than that, same tactics apply. A more readily available equally useable material in this case might be paper.
