You were forced to evacuate your home and you have been on the road for several days now. Finally you have safely got out of the city and have arrived at your retreat location without undo problems. Now while the rest of the family is getting the retreat prepared you decide to take off and explore the area for any potential dangers or liabilities.

This is all and fine except you should go prepared. When you are planning to take off on an excursion to survey the immediate area always make sure that you are prepared for any sort of emergency should it arise. We already know that you have the necessary courage and the patience to withstand the test of the great outdoors now you need to properly outfit yourself fro the task.

These patrols will not only pit your survival skills to the ultimate test but will total evaluate your psychological endurance. In an emergency you will be left to your own devises to survive the elements, pitch your own tent or create a dwelling of some sort as well as possibly providing your own food. You should by now be well prepared for this challenge.

There are several items that you should ensure that you have with you. The first item I would like to talk about is your Backpack. An efficient backpack is a must have for any sort of outdoor venture which you may be planning. The ideal survivalist will have one backpack per person. These units should have many compartments that you can store your survival gear in safely. There should be sufficient space for items ranging from water bottles to wool or thermal blankets. All your survival products should be stuffed into these bags for your use in an emergency.

The next item that I would like to cover is your Sleeping Bag. The best type of course is the cocoon-like sleeping bag which will keep you warm regardless of how low the temperature will drop in the evening. A well constructed bag will help save your life even if the temperatures drop down below zero degrees. These bags should also be as lightweight as possible.

Now we can discus your tent which you will be taking with you. Since it is only you that are running this recon mission you can travel light and not be burdened down with extra weight. In short, you will need far less items then if you were traveling with one or two other people. An extra light tent can save your back drastically as you walk all those miles carrying your survival gear. You will want a tent which can be erected quickly and disassembled rapidly. A one man tent is all the comfort that you will need.

No recon plan can be complete without discussing your cooking utensils. After you have completed a difficult trek across the outlaying lands you are certain to be hungry and after you have setup your tent and settled around your newly built campfire you will most certainly want to eat. You can reach into your backpack and cook up a nice bowl of hearty chili or perhaps settle for a cup of hot black coffee.
Lastly I would like to mention first aid kits. It really doesn't matter if you purchase on already made or you build one up from just an empty box. When you cut yourself or develop some sort of medial emergency you will certainly wish you had one available.

Please don't think that this is all the items that you should be concerned with when you plan to go out on your own maneuvers. I have merely scratched the surface and with a little research and thought you can easily come up with additional items to add to your backpack.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Parish

Just as successful businesses have projected five year plans created to plot and monitor their potential progress and to achieve maximum growth potential, the active survivalist should have a similar plan in existence. Successful provisions for the survival of yourself and your family do not happen overnight but require a long term personal commitment by you as well as your family members. These commitments will necessitate making any sort of changes in your survival plans as needed in order to meet your set survival goals.

Often you will see your survival results begin immediately as you build up your food supply or create your bug out bags; however the long-term payoff will require a more elaborate strategic plan. You will need to continually monitor and modify your bug out route as required to keep them it up to date as well as to account for changing situations. As members of your group grow in age the bug out bag requirements also become different. No longer are your children toddlers but have progressed the seven to ten year old range. Perhaps your parents are no longer in their prime of life but quickly approaching the senior age group. These changes are constant and your five year plan will take many of them into account. Your coordination between other survivalists as well as with various survival agencies will vary as the months roll on in order to maximize your program results.

Your five year plan should contain the following types of elements for consideration. Fully map out your revenue generating and cost savings goals which you plan to achieve within the next five years. It only makes good sense to realize that your financial situation will change somewhat within five years. You may receive raises which would increase your possible input to your survival program or on the other hand you may foresee a decrease in your expendable income as a result of a pending retirement. Make your goals as clear and precise as you possibly can. Make use of any experience that you have gained in your survival resources to create an achievable five year plan.

Review these plans on a monthly basis to see just where you stand with your survival progress. When accomplishing your plans you should fully understand that the process continuously changes as it applies to the survivalist, therefore break your survival program down into phases. Phase one may be food storage, phase two may be bug out bags, etc. It is important to use these phased type approaches to effectively achieve your survival requirements so you may add additional capabilities in your later phases. As an example, phase one - food storage. In a five year period your requirements may be different. Perhaps you have added another family member. Do you now need to stock up on baby foods of some sort? Has someone developed a particular problem at consuming one of the foods you have stored up on previously? These things change and must be reviewed in your five year plan. The end result is the achievement of maximum survivability for yourself and your family.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Parish

Hello boys and girls. Nobody likes to get hurt, yet accidents happen every day. If you remember the following safety tips that your mother should have taught you, you will be much more likely to avoid trips to the hospital.

1. Don't run with scissors or any other sharp object for that matter.
When you run, you could fall, if you run with scissors in your hands, you could fall on them and stab yourself. That would really hurt not to mention make a real mess as blood would gush out everywhere. Don't do it.

2. Don't play with matches or lighters.
Not only could you burn down your house, a forest or your school but you could burn yourself as well. Getting burned hurts and can also be very dangerous if the burn gets infected. It can also cause blisters that can ooze with puss. It's really gross. It also stinks. Human flesh was not made to be cooked.

3. Always look both ways before you cross the road.
There is an old joke that goes like this...

Q: What is the last thing that goes through a flies mind before it hits your windshield?
A: his butt.

No ambulance driver ever really wants to scrape you up off the side of the road and no driver of a car wants their insurance rates to go up. You have to make sure that there are no cars coming before you cross. Sometimes the driver won't see you or can't stop in time. This would really be a bumbler as you could also break your neck and end up in a wheel chair for the rest of your life. You really don't want to become the next fly.

4. Don't take candy from strangers.
In fact, you shouldn't go anywhere near strangers. There are bad people out there who could grab you and drag you off in their cars and take you away never to be heard from again. You could be taken out in the woods, raped and murdered. You never know who the wacko's really are. It's always best just to avoid them.

5. If somebody is trying to hit you, duck.

It's always best to get out of the way of a flying fist. You could get a broken nose or a couple teeth knocked out. If it's a TKO quality punch, you could fall to the ground and bang your head off of a rock. You could also end up with a black eye, and everybody would know that you lost the fight.

6. Don't stick a fork in an electrical outlet.
This is the quickest way to fry human flesh imaginable. Millions of electrons would shoot through your body. Your feet would leave burn marks on the floor. You will end up looking like a half cooked piece of chicken from a microwave. Just don't do it.

7. Don't get too close to the edge.
You could fall off a cliff cracking your head off of the rocks splitting it open while your brains gush out.

Follow these seven safety tips and you are that much more likely to live a good long healthy life.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patrick_Rafferty

Each year there are many residential fires resulting in the loss of life and damage to property. The majority of fires are caused by incidents of smoking, cooking, children playing and the deliberate setting of fires. Most of them could have been prevented if proper fire safety precautions had been taken.

A few important and easy steps can be taken to prevent the majority of fires or to contain the damage to a minimum when a fire occurs.

Smoking:
• use large ashtrays to eliminate ashes
• check in and around furniture for dropped butts
• dampen and dispose of butts into large tin cans as quickly as possible
• do not smoke lying down or when drinking alcohol as drowsiness may occur
• keep cigarettes, cigars, matches etc. out of reach of children
• safely dispose of old matches and lighters

Cooking:
• never leave cooking unattended - turn off the burner when leaving or answering the phone
• don't cook while drinking alcohol or on medication that can cause drowsiness
• wear tight fitting clothes when cooking
• always use oven mitts when handling hot pots and pans - no dish towels please
• never put flammable towels, mitts, etc. on the stove
• never use the oven as storage space
• keep pot handles turned in to prevent bumping or children grabbing them
• heat cooking oil slowly while supervising carefully
• if a pot catches on fire put a lid on it and turn off the stove - do not attempt to move the pot
• call 911 if the flames do not go out

Children Playing:
• keep matches, lighters and smoking materials out of sight and reach of small children
• teach older children the responsible and safe way to use matches or lighters
• teach children not to play with the stove or other electrical heating elements
• never leave lighted candles unattended or in reach of small children

Other Fire Hazard Precautions:
• have the fireplace chimney swept by a professional every spring
• use extension cords with circuit breakers - never overload a circuit breaker
• do not have electrical cords under carpets or hung from hooks
• consider having your electrical panel inspected regularly by a master electrician

Deliberately Set Fires:
• have a quality security system in your home
• have good lighting around your home and yard
• when away have a someone monitor your home regularly
• make sure your home always appears lived in
• keep your home, garage and yard clear of rubbish and combustible items

If a fire does occur in your home:
• get down on hands and knees and crawl out - stay below the smoke
• keep doors and windows closed
• if clothes catch fire STOP, DROP AND ROLL to smother the flames
• use a damp towel or cloth to protect exposed skin and/or cover nose and mouth to facilitate breathing
• get out and stay out - call the fire department from outside

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!

Some things to keep in mind include:
• plan and regularly practice a fire escape plan including an area to meet family members if you should get separated
• have an emergency survival kit within easy reach if you need to evacuate your home - in the trunk of your vehicle is also a good place
• always sleep with bedroom doors closed - this provides some protection against fire
• keep at least one fire extinguisher within easy reach on each level of your home - know how to use it
• keep doors and windows clear of obstructions for safe, easy exit
• install a smoke detector on every level of your home - one close to bedroom doors
• test your battery and electric smoke alarms each month
• carefully clean your alarms every 6 months
• charge the alarm battery at least once a year - twice is better
• replace old alarms that no longer work
• if alarms go off regularly for no apparent reason, consider moving them to a different area - away from direct heat sources

Be Prepared - Before Disaster Strikes!

At Survival Street our goal is to help you prepare for possible disasters. We aim to take the stress out of your emergency situation.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorrie_Streeter