The ABC of Survival and Emergency Preparedness, by JIM, ETS-forum.

This post is specifically to all Newbie’s on this forum. You made the first step to being ‘’equipped’’: You came to this forum!

The most important thing of survival is knowing what threats you will face during survival. Floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, forest-fires, etc. You’ll have to make a ‘’risk-analysis’’ before even thinking about purchasing any gear and supplies. Things you’ll have to know:

- What type of situation will you probably face?
- Where do you live: city, village, middle of nowhere?
- How long will you have to survive on your own, before professional help arrives?
- How many people do you have to sustain during that period?
- Do you plan to stay in place or are you planning to evacuate?
- What is your skill level?
- What are you willing to spend?

After answering those questions, you can make a survival-plan. How will I act if I’ve got to survive? With that plan you can determine what supplies and gear you’ll need.

But first, back to basics. I’m going to discuss the following: EDC, UPSK, PSK and FAK. You don’t know what those acronyms mean??? Then read on!!

EDC, Every Day Carry: The stuff that we carry around every day to help us with the problems of daily life.
You don’t think that you carry a EDC? Well, wrong: Even a wallet, cell-phone, watch and key’s are EDC. The only thing you’ll have to do is to supplement it with other stuff to help you, and others. It won’t just do that, if will also give you a good reputation of ‘’always being prepared’’ with your friends and family.

The basic thing you should EDC is a multi-tool. (knifes are not that important in urban survival: The blade of the multi-tool will suffice) Don’t buy a cheap, knock-off. Buy something that will last: Leatherman, Gerber and Victorinox probably make the better ones.

The second thing is a flashlight: Very handy and a absolute must. Again, no knock-off’s: the best-known (and most expensive) brands are Mag-lite and Surefire. LED or incandestine bulbs are available. For survival I would chose LED’s, For EDC?? That’s your preference.

The third thing: a FAK, Fist-Aid-Kit. Probably the item that will be used the most. For EDC, keep it basic: just some band-aids, gauze-pad’s, antiseptic swabs, pain-killer and personal medication that you use. A kit this small is usually called a Personal FAK (PFAK)

After those basics you can add just about all the stuff you might need. But keep it to a minimum and scatter it around your person. If you carry to much: You’ll eventually let if at home when you need it the most.

A basic list of things you could (and should) EDC:

-Multi-tool
-Flashlight
-Personal First Aid Kit
- handkerchief or Bandanna (first-aid dressing, smoke mask)
- Watch
- Wallet ( with ‘’emergency-cash’’ and medical data)
- Duct-tape: very handy: If you can’t fix it with duct-tape, it isn’t really broken
- Lighter
- Keychain, can be used to ‘’conceal’’ other stuff, like tweezers, whistle, paper-clips and a Photon-light (small LED-flashlight, ideal as a back-up) There are also small multi-tools to put on your keychain: Leatherman Squirt or Micra.
- Poncho: emergency- style,always handy

This is a basic list: You should personalise your EDC. For examples of personal EDC’s, look at the many posts on this forum.


The UPSK, Urban Personal Survival Kit: a supplement or back-up to your EDC. Can also be a survival kit that you keep at work/office.

A UPSK, not to be mistaken by your PSK (for wilderness uses) is usually based in a small metal tin. It can contain a wide range of stuff. Usually a means to start a fire (lighter/ matches), some rope, duct-tape, extra flashlight and a small knife.
Then there is a ‘’Office’’ UPSK: a survival-kit you keep at work. This usually is a bag or suitcase. With stuff than can help you when stranded at work or to get out of your building (earthquake)

Standard list:

- about 1.5/2 litres of bottled water
- some food, snacks
- fire-starter
- stove and fuel
- cooking stuff (pots, utensils)
- candles
- flashlight and extra batteries
- lightsticks (break-lights)
- dust-masks
- smoke-mask
- goggle
- pair of leather gloves
- crowbar
- knife
- something to sleep in, like a Adventure Medical Kit’s Bivvy Sack
- Large medical kit (usually found in the office itself)
- whistle

Again, you can add all sorts of equipment to it.

PSK, Personal Survival Kit.
This is the kit most people imagine when thinking about a survival-kit. This kit, usually packed into a small tin, is used for wilderness survival. For example if you lose your back-pack. There are many sorts of environments on the Earth, so also a lot of different PSK’s. For example fishing hooks are invaluable in the jungle, but useless in the desert. A book that you absolutely have to read is the ‘’SAS survival guide’’ , written by John Wiseman. It describes all sorts of survival techniques and skills. Also the ‘’ Prepared to Survive’’ DVD-set is a must.

PSK’s are very small and minimal. They have to be, or otherwise they can’t be put on your belt or in your pocket. They aren’t stand-alone item’s: They need to be supplemented by a good knife (folding or fixed-blade) and something to build a shelter with (tarp). Therefore you should train with the kit that you made or purchased to get to know it’s limitations and add stuff accordingly. A good ready-made PSK is the ‘’Pocket Survival Pack’’ By Adventure Medical Kit’s (AMK). Still want a home-build PSK?? This is a good basic kit:

PSK

- 2 Fire-Starters (matches, lighter, fire-steel)
- waterproof tinder (Tinder-Quick, Coghlan’s Emergency-Tinder)
- candle
- signal mirror’
- whistle
- scalpel blade or small knife (reason that it has to be supplemented with knife)
- rope (paracord)
- duct-tape
- needles and tread
- safety-pins
- fishing line, hooks, swivels, split shot
- button compass
- water-purification tablets
- waterproof bags
- note-paper
- pencil
- flexible wire saw
- small flashlight
- brass wire
- magnifying glass
- heavy duty aluminium foil (to boil water in)

Yes, it does really fit into a tin…..just try!!

Then the FAK, First Aid Kit: Kit to treat small injuries and stabilise larger injuries until you can get medical attention.

We already discussed the PFAK, but you can’t fix it all with just some band-aids. You should have a Home-FAK, Car –FAK and a FAK to take with you on outdoor activities.
Rotate your supplies and medication regularly to prevent deterioration.

Basic FAK-list:

- good assortiment of band-aids
- gauze pads
- high-absorbent pads (ABD- pad)
- triangular bandage
- bandages
- quick-dressings
- antiseptic (povidone-iodine, benzalkonium chloride) swabs or flacons
- gloves (nitrile are better than latex)
- medical tape
- good pair of scissors
- tweezers
- safety pins
- cotton wool
- hand-sanitizer
- medication: Aspirin, Tylenol (Acetaminophen), antihistamine, Norit, Immodium, Ibuprofen, etc, etc.
- Personal Medication


So far for the basics. Now I’m going to talk about Emergency-and disaster preparedness.
Divided into: - Home preparations
- BOB-bag

Home preparations:
As said in the beginning:

- What type of situation will you probably face?
- Where do you live: city, village, middle of nowhere?
- How long will you have to survive on your own, before professional help arrives?
- How many people do you have to sustain during that period?
- Do you plan to stay in place or are you planning to evacuate?
- What is your skill level?
- What are you willing to spend?

After answering those questions, you can make a survival-plan. How will I act if I’ve got to survive? With that plan you can determine what supplies and gear you’ll need.

How to keep your home safe and how to prepare it for a disaster? There is a book, also written by John Wiseman: ‘’The urban survival manual’’ That says about everything there is to say about safety in and around your house: Safety with machines, self-defence, making a good supply, First-Aid an natural/man-made disasters……you name it.

I’ll try to give you the basic supplies that you will probably need:

- Gallon of water per person per day
- Food ( got to do that yourself)
- Shelter will be your house, keep a tent and 1 sleeping bag per person if you’ll have to leave your house.
- Fuel, lots and lots of it.
- Candles, stoves
- Flashlights and lots of extra batteries
- Large FAK
- Hygienic supplies
- Cash (minimal $200, preferably couple of thousand $)
- Copies of personal data
- Large supply of personal meds
- Tools and repairing equipment for your house. (rope, duct-tape)
- Power-generator
- Only include fire-arm if it’s legal and if you had training


There is a list on this web-site that can be described as the ‘’ultimate’’disaster kit.
The home preparations will probably cost the most.

And last, but not least: The BOB, Bug-Out-Bag: A bag, filled with the supplies and equipment to make it from your position to your ‘’bug out-location’’.

When you can’t stay in your house, you’ve got to bug-out. Only one problem: there’ no way to put all your home supplies in your car. Or even worse: your car is broken. Then you grab your BOB. You’ve got to make your BOB to suit your needs: how many people does it have to sustain:? For how long?

I could give you a list, but because a BOB is so custom-made, It’s better to figure the contents out yourself. On the forum are multiple BOB’s displayed.

Well, that’s about it, I guess. You can have all the equipment in the world, but maintain it and restock Immediately if you used something. That way it will be there when you need it the most.!

Some weblinks:

My EDC
My PSK

My FAK
My BOB

ETS retail suppliers
ETS Disaster Preparedness Kit