My city is fairly close to the ocean so there is infinite salt water available. Sometimes I think about getting a marine desalinator. Maybe if I hit the lotto.

I will give another plug for the Platy's they are great.

As far as being complacent, it happens. When something bad happens you take measures to make yourself fell better prepared for it the next time it happens. After time when it doesn't happen next month, next year or in the next five years, your food is out of date, you are out of batteries, you forget how to use a compass etc. That is why you hang out with like minded people and try to keep up with the Jone's.

That is true, chemical purification will do nothing against non-biological agents.

About the only thing I know of that will take care of chemicals is active carbon filtration, like the MSR Waterworks, but I have doubts to its effectiviness.

I think the real question is "How much of a threat is chemical contamination Vs. Biological?"

In my opinion you are more likely to come across water contaminated with fecal coliforms and other nasty critters in water sources from cross contamination inthe miles of broken pipes, or flooded waste water lift stations than you are from oil, gas, or other chemical contaminates. (You should be smart though, I wouldn't be trying drink water flowing out of the ground by a gas station <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )

Secondly, as bad this sounds you can survive drinking some minorly chemically poluted water with out to many adverse effects. You drink biologicaly contaminated water and you are definately going to have adverse effects. So the risks from biological are far greater than chemical.

Either way I do agree that your best bet is to carry your own. Which is why I supported the 1/2 liter of water. But that's just a stop gap measure until you can either locate additional water and to hold you over till you can sterilize that water or get the hell out of Dodge.

Chlorine Dioxide tabs are small, have a shelf life of 3 years, not to expensive, and will kill anything including cysts and Giardia that Iodine tabs won't take care of. The biggest draw back is your looking at a 4 hour wait for it to do its thing. Carring a few tabs seems like a worthy investment to me.

Also you have to consider that even after you get out of the disaster area most of the surrounding areas an d towns get their water and waste water removal from the city's water system. If that is crashed or cross contamination has occured your still looking at treating or boiling.

Paul, let me amplify & clarify.



Have you actually been in a situation where there's a large-scale emergency? Cell phone service quickly get overloaded. Plus, my HT picks up Police FD, and a lot more. It's good to be able to hear what's going on. I use it when I'm stuck in traffic all the time to hear what's going on so I can adjust my expectations accordingly.



Well....NORMALLY I have an AA flashlight - that's back in the kit now. And also I have a digital camera that uses AA cells, and a small AM/FM radio - that uses AA cells, and a neat little adapter thing that lets me power the HT off of....AA cells.


I am not talking about a 4-d maglight, it's just an AA cell LED lamp. Even been in a subway car when the lights go out? I have. It's unfun with a tiny light.


I carry 1 full liter because a)I have a brisk 1.4 mile walk each way from and to the bus station, so when I get on the bus I like to have a drink of water. That's the first .5 Liter. b)The other .5 liter is for times when I-78 shuts down and I'm on the bus for 4 hours stuck in traffic. That happens a few times a year.

And of course, he could talk to me, and other Hams here in the city - and some of us have contacts at OEM

Echoing the theme, I feel very confident that in a serious emergency, I would have a higher probability of reaching someone reliably with my limited Ham gear than with my cell phone. We are on the coast, and often lose power, and phone service. When we lose phones, sometimes the cell network is useless, you can't make a call it's so overloaded. On the other hand, with the repeater networks around the country, you can probably hit a repeater with a 5watt HT from virtually any even modestly populated area. (Of course, you have to have a repeater guide handy to know the Freq's)Interestingly, the folks who manage/support the repeaters, are often some of the most prepared folks in the area. Between battery and generator backups, the repeaters are virtually up 24x7 regardless of what's going on with local power and phone service. Many of them are active in RACES
and ARES in the community, so they are typically aligned with the local EMS system.

In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, I'll have my old Kenwood HF rig running. Even with a basic wire dipole, it'd keep me in touch with the world. It even runs on 12 VDC, so I could go mobile with it if needed.