Firefighting protocols are to remove all burned debris to an open area and thoroughly douse with Fog or spray until all embers are extinguished.

I don't want this to turn into a political topic and request that any comments stick to being prepared.

With all the sabre rattling going on around the world,, especially with the new developments in the news today, is anyone increasing or rethinking their preps?

For us, over the weekend, we rotated all gas, water and checked over some older food and household supplies and adjusted where needed.

I already increased my preparations for this fall since earlier this year.

The saber rattling is not news; it's confirmation.

Jeanette Isabelle

Mom is a member of a gun club. The organization implemented a new plan: members have two-way radios so they can stay in contact when the brimstone hits the fan. Mom got hers today.

Jeanette Isabelle

with the rapidly developing tropical activity in the Gulf, I topped off the 2 spare gas cans, and checked all 3 propane bottles...the 2 20L and 2 Aqua tainers are refilled and chlorinated at the beginning of each season...I pared down my on hand canned food during last Christmas' food drives, so will grab a couple of cans when I get a chance, but have a couple of weeks worth on the shelf... the inverter generator is due for a load test...my emergency lighting is mostly LED, but would like to find some bulk 1K kerosene for the wick lanterns... this might be an excuse to get a rotary formed cooler

That sounds like a great idea. It might be a good idea to test the actual range of the devices and who can contact whom before anything hits the fan.
Which band did they select?

The frequency of the radio is UHF 462.5500 ~ 467.7125 MHz. I don't know which the club will use.

Anyhow, Mom requested my help in testing the range of the radio. I'll be doing that in a few minutes.

Jeanette Isabelle

We successfully tested the radios at 467.5625 MHz within a range of approximately one mile. Then again, this area is not exactly flat.

Jeanette Isabelle

That´s some useful information for you. At that frequency the communication is basically line of sight. The potential range of a pair of those devices does not mean anything if the path is blocked. That´s why it would be good to try scheduled contacts between the members just to find out who will be able to make contact. If you cannot use relais stations, terrain will have a huge impact.
With 70cm amateur radio I had situations where I could communicate at 100 miles with good ratings from a mountain top while not being able to properly pick up transmissions from about half a mile away.

My experience with line of sight radios, both for volunteer SAR and work (NPS) is that they are very quirky and not totally dependable. Battery life is also an issue, though that may be better now. Do you have some sort of base station that monitors traffic 24/7 or at least at stated times. Doesn't do any good to broadcast if there is no one listening...

But when they work, they are fantastic!!