How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [13]
• Night-vision gear, spares, maintenance, and battery charging
• Salt. Post-TEOTWAWKI, don’t go hunting. That would be a waste of effort. Have the game come to you. Buy twenty or more salt blocks.
• Sell your fly-fishing gear (all but perhaps a few flies) and buy practical spin-casting equipment.
• Extra tackle may be useful for barter, but probably only in a very long-term crunch.
• Buy some frog gigs if you have bullfrogs in your area. Buy some crawfish traps if you have crawfish in your area.
• Learn how to rig trot lines and make fish traps for non-labor-intensive fishing WTSHTF.
Power/Lighting/Batteries List (For details, see Chapter 6.)
• In the event of a grid-down situation, if you are the only family in the area with power, it could turn your house into a “come loot me” beacon at night. Make plans and buy materials in advance for making blackout screens or fully opaque curtains for your windows.
• When possible, buy low self-discharge (LSD) nickel-metal hydride batteries.
• If your home has propane appliances, get a “tri-fuel” generator—with a carburetor that is selectable between gasoline, propane, and natural gas. If you heat your house with home-heating oil, then get a diesel-burning generator. And plan on getting at least one diesel-burning pickup and/or tractor.
• Kerosene lamps; plenty of extra wicks, mantles, and chimneys
Fuels List
• Buy the largest propane, home-heating-oil, gas, or diesel tanks that your local ordinances permit and that you can afford. Always keep them at least two-thirds full.
• For privacy concerns, ballistic-impact concerns, and fire concerns, underground tanks are best if you local water table allows it. In any case, do not buy an aboveground fuel tank that would be visible from any public road or navigable waterway.
• Buy plenty of extra fuel. Don’t overlook buying ample kerosene.
• Stock up on firewood or coal.
• Get the best quality chain saw you can afford. I prefer Stihl and Husqvarna, but you might want to buy your regional favorite, to have better availability of spare parts. If you can afford it, buy two of the same model. Buy extra chains, critical spare parts, and plenty of two-cycle oil.
• Get a pair of Kevlar chain saw safety chaps. They are expensive but they might save you a trip to the emergency room. Always wear gloves, goggles, and earmuffs. Wear a logger’s helmet when felling.
Firefighting List
• You should be ready for uncontrolled brush or residential fires, as well as the greater fire risk associated with green-horns who have just arrived at your retreat working with wood stoves and kerosene lamps.
• Upgrade your retreat with a fireproof metal roof.
• Two-inch diameter water line from your gravity-fed storage tank to provide large water volume for firefighting
• Firefighting rig with an adjustable stream/mist head
• Smoke and CO detectors
Tactical-Living List
• Gradually adjust your wardrobe toward sturdy earth-tone clothing.
• Dyes. Stock up on some boxes of green and brown cloth dye. With dye, you can turn most light-colored clothes into semi-tactical clothing on short notice.
• Two-inch-wide burlap strip material in green and brown. This burlap is available in large spools from Numrich Gun Parts Corporation. Even if you don’t have time now, stock up so that you can make camouflage ghillie suits post-TEOTWAWKI.
• Save those wine corks. Burned cork makes quick and cheap face camouflage.
• Cold-weather and foul-weather gear—buy plenty, since you will be doing more outdoor chores, hunting, and standing guard duty.
• Don’t overlook ponchos and gaiters.
• Mosquito repellent
• Synthetic double-bag (modular) sleeping bags for each person at the retreat, plus a couple of spares. The Flexible Temperature Range Sleep System (FTRSS), made by Wiggy’s, of Grand Junction, Colorado, is highly recommended.
• Night-vision gear and IR floodlights for your retreat house
• Subdued flashlights