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#283807 - 02/19/17 09:35 PM Experience the Best Teacher
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
Earlier I told the story of why I started prepping. Here's the refresh:

Originally Posted By: Jeanette_Isabelle
I began prepping when I was a child. It happened in the checkout line of a grocery store when suddenly I needed to sneeze. All I had were my two hands. Fortunately a woman, also in the checkout line, handed me a Kleenex. Then on I had a Kleenex Pocket Pack on my person when I left the house.

Other examples include:

I have an anxiety disorder. I have medication on me for that.

Lip balm is always handy. I always have some on my person.

One situation did not happen to me; it happened to Mom. Mom stepped out of the house just to get something from the car. Therefore, she did not have her cell phone or anything of that nature on her. She stepped off the porch and somehow her footing wasn't right. She twisted her ankle and landed on the grown. Thinking no one inside could hear her she didn't even attempt to yell. It was at night and, though there's a street light at the corner, it was unlikely anyone could have seen her. Mom did manage to limp back inside. Because of that I bought a Fox 40 and kept it in my pocket since.

In my last several years in Dallas an unexpected overnighter was actually expected. I kept an 8 oz. bottle of water (that I could refill) and some food in my bag.

I had one friend who did not have water in her house because she was in a really bad situation. I have another friend who had her water cut off twice because she forgot to pay the bill. I did not have water to wash my hands with when I went to either of their houses so I began to carry those individual hand wipes.

What experiences have taught you to prep and what did you do to face that situation?

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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#283816 - 02/20/17 02:00 PM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Always have at least a shovel in your vehicle, preferably augmented with a buck saw and/or light ax or hatchet. Learned about the saw, ax utility on an expedition to Mexico when a downed tree prevented our vehicle from reaching our camp. Had to gnaw through the darned thing with a machete - took hours.
_________________________
Geezer in Chief

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#283822 - 02/20/17 03:30 PM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
M_a_x Online   happy
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
I had to build a tree stand for hunting and was kind of too lazy to take a saw, a hatchet and a folding shovel from the car. A few days later wind threw a tree over the road. The tools came in handy and are car equipment ever since. In winter a snow shovel joins in. Itīs much more comfortable than shoveling snow with a hub cap (modern day hub caps are not likely to survive that anyway).
I started preparing on other peopleīs experiences (if it could happen to me, I at least thought about changing my equipment). I aquired tobacco and Altoids tins and put in stuff that might help in case of mishaps. I decided to follow the advice to determine how much I would be willing to carry and taylored the kits accordingly.
A review on whistles on ETS inspire me to buy a couple and add it to various carry item (e. g. backpack, a lanyard around the neck, key chain).
Apart from that I attended courses that might give me valueable knowledge (e. g. first aid, fire fighting, vaious emrmengcy response topics). The courses had some influence on my carry items too.
_________________________
If it isnīt broken, it doesnīt have enough features yet.

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#283823 - 02/20/17 03:37 PM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: M_a_x]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
Originally Posted By: M_a_x
I aquired tobacco and Altoids tins and put in stuff that might help in case of mishaps. I decided to follow the advice to determine how much I would be willing to carry and taylored the kits accordingly.

What did you put in your tins?

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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#283825 - 02/20/17 04:15 PM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
M_a_x Online   happy
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
Stainless steel wire, a couple of matches, fresnel lens, small pocket knife, sewing kit, small aligator clamps, safety pins, magnets, duct tape, a pencil, fishing line, a scalpell blade (sterile), a razor blade, a mini bic, a pair of tweezers, a small ferocerium rod with a piece of hacksaw blade as striker and some cotton as filler(and maybe tinder). The bigger ones also contain a tealight candle and a BCB wire saw and a few Micropur tablets. Around the tin are a couple of rubber bands cut from old tire hoses.
I used to carry sutures but eventually ditched them as the they are contraindicated in most cases when I could use them.
_________________________
If it isnīt broken, it doesnīt have enough features yet.

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#283827 - 02/20/17 04:43 PM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
Tjin Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/08/02
Posts: 1821
I have immigrant parents, who never really learned the lauguage, mechanical things, electronical things, nor had much money.

So as a child i did there tax forms, did the repairs at home, constructed IKEA furniture, setup electronics, fixed my own bicyle, etc. Since i could not rely on my parents to help me, i just learned things my self and prepare for any events that might happen.
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#283828 - 02/20/17 05:50 PM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
Quietly_Learning Offline
Member

Registered: 05/29/12
Posts: 164
Bicycle:

I had a large hole in a tire and had to walk my bicycle back over 5 miles. I now Cary a spare tube and small portable pump. I also switched my tires to one's with Kevlar banding.

Carrying a bicycle specific multi tool after trying to help someone on a trail.

Wearing full finger gloves after a fall without gloves gave me a minor cut up palm. The full finger gloves saved me when I got into a more serious accident later and a glove had serious road rash instead of my hand and fingers.

Blinking red light for bike and bag after a close call with a car.

Flashlight:

Before cell phone apps I used to EDC a mini mag in a covered holster. I needed a light when the power went out at work in a large windowless space. The head had turned and the battery was dead. I now keep a Pico light on my keys, a headlamp in my laptop bag and a flashlight app on my phone's home screen. I am always within steps of at least two of those three light sources.

Car:

After having the battery die in the middle of nowhere I picked up a battery jump starter. I charge it monthly because pressing the battery test button shows it drains enough each month to need a recharge.

Keys and spare alarm battery after losing a key and after having the alarm battery die in the winter.

Kitty litter after getting stuck on an icy Street.

When I used to have a full size rear wheel drive car I used to put a large bag of salt in the trunk to better distribute the weight. Anyone who has had the back kick out in the winter knows the feeling. I now won't consider buying a car without AWD or 4WD.

Rotating the tires every other oil change. If you have aluminum rims the tire can, (and did), seize to the hub. The emergency fix is to loosen the lug nuts and drive slowly a short distance. Rotating the tires frequently should stop this from happening.

Vacuum bag things you keep in your vehicle that can be damaged by a leak. After having a bottle develop a hole and soak my stuff I bagged everything except tools. It has saved me when it has happened again. Use Zip lock freezer bags if you don't have a vacuum sealer.

Cell phone charger. Not me, but too many people I know have said they had a low charge. $5 charger to not have this problem.

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#283832 - 02/21/17 08:18 AM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: Quietly_Learning]
Tjin Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/08/02
Posts: 1821
Originally Posted By: Quietly_Learning

I had a large hole in a tire and had to walk my bicycle back over 5 miles. I now Cary a spare tube and small portable pump. I also switched my tires to one's with Kevlar banding.

Carrying a bicycle specific multi tool after trying to help someone on a trail.


Yeah punture resistant tires are a great thing! Also a spare quicklink can be handy if you break your chain.

Originally Posted By: Quietly_Learning

Kitty litter after getting stuck on an icy Street.

When I used to have a full size rear wheel drive car I used to put a large bag of salt in the trunk to better distribute the weight. Anyone who has had the back kick out in the winter knows the feeling. I now won't consider buying a car without AWD or 4WD.


I really like those small foldable plastic traxion plates. Works really well in snow/ice and sand. In in my trunk year rond.

I never really had issues with the back kicking out. But I do always make sure i have proper tires for the conditions and drive slowly. I also think west europeans roads might be better cleared of snow and ice...

Originally Posted By: Quietly_Learning

Rotating the tires every other oil change. If you have aluminum rims the tire can, (and did), seize to the hub. The emergency fix is to loosen the lug nuts and drive slowly a short distance. Rotating the tires frequently should stop this from happening.


Happens to steel rims too! The solution, put some proper anti-seize on the mating surface between the hub and rim. (do NOT put on the bolts). I change out the rims with tires twice a year from summer to winter and vise versa.
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#283845 - 02/22/17 06:33 PM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
Bingley Offline
Veteran

Registered: 02/27/08
Posts: 1576
I always thought, why, I live near a 24-hour supermarket and a 24-hour Walgreens. I don't need to have much bandaging material because I can always make a quick run even in the middle of the night. WRONG!!! It sort of sucks to drive to the store when you're bleeding. So now I'm stocking more materials for dressing than before.

Also, for certain kind of bandaging materials (like Tegaderm -- very useful!) it can be much cheaper to stock up beforehand than to buy locally at the last minute. Like up to three times cheaper.


Edited by Bingley (02/22/17 06:34 PM)

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#283848 - 02/22/17 09:27 PM Re: Experience the Best Teacher [Re: Bingley]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
It has been my experience that Murphy is more likely to be there if you can't access a store or if there are no vending machines that have what you need.

I took just one class at the MacGyver School of Engineering.



It was on vending machine items.

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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