HEY RODENT! Did I get that right?
Only kidding, here is my contribution to your pages. It started life as a
letter to my son in college and grew into what it is today. I release it to
you in full for any use you deem appropriate as long as it continues to be
attributed to me. 

THE 72 HOUR SURVIVAL KIT

	This article is the distillation of years of experience and reading on
survival. In every situation I am in from day to day I ask my self ÒWhat
would I do if there was a earthquake right now? If my car and society both
broke down what would I need most? How could I get home from here and
survive?Ó This kit 
(and indeed this article) are predicated on several assumptions that may or 
may not prove to be true in practical reality. These assumptions include the 
following:

1) Emergencies happen at unlikely and unknowable times.
2) Physical and social emergencies are not infrequent and at the time of
their happening the local authorities usually couldnÕt find their own ass
with both hands for the first 24-48 hours.
3) Self defence, survival, food, water and comfort are up to you for at
least the first 72 hours. After 72 hours things are likely to go one of
two ways:
	1) Return to normal or close to it, this is common.
	2) Things get worse, this is uncommon and an indicator of big problems
and deep Doo-Doo on the horizon. 
4) The basic priorities of food, water, shelter-warmth and self defence
may need to be addressed in a mobile and fluid situation with changing 	
   parameters of safety and necessity. In other words you must be able to
travel light, with or without a vehicle, taking your home on your back if
the need arises. 

Looking at the most recent periods of upheaval in the U.S. we can see some 
connecting facts linking the events and the immediate post-emergency 
survival periods. In recent earthquakes (Petrolia 1995), floods (Louisiana
1995, 
Oliveherst 1996) Riots (Miami 1995 and L.A. 1994) We can see that there was 
little help available for people at the epicenter of these incidents till 48-72 
hours after the fertilizer had hit the ventilator. Indeed the LAPD issued their 
famous Òpull outÒ order and left south-central Los Angles to burn for almost 
48 hours before making any attempt to establish a police presence. One can 
only wish that Rodney KingÕs father had received a similar Òpull outÒ order 
thereby saving the city of Los Angles some 5-7 million dollars.  Here are the 
articles of survival gear that I envision needing to survive 72 hours of 
isolation, riot, looting, hostile weather, and perhaps even summer re-runs.

1) Staying warm and dry
	a) extra socks
	b) polly-pro long underwear
	c) rain poncho
	d) gloves
	e) space blanket

	COMMENTARY: This wonÕt keep you from freezing your ass off in 	Alaska 
but you probably wonÕt die in the lower 48 if you stay dry and 	keep out of the 
wind. A fire would be nice but where you need one the 	most ie: sleet, rain or 
snow itÕs going to be a bitch to build one. I did include matches and some fuel 
tabs that will do fire starting & cooking chores in a pinch. 

2) Water
	a) 1 quart fresh water
	b) iodine tabs
	c) water filter
	
        COMMENTARY: 1 quart isnÕt much but itÕll keep you moving till you
find a place where you can stop for long enough to scoop up some water and
filter it. Did you ever see the old westerns where the 	cow-boy is crawling
across the desert and when his canteen goes dry he flings it away in anger?
Now what the hell is he going to put water in if he manages to find some?
Lesson- DonÕt throw away the bottle, even if itÕs empty! Added attraction,
if the incident you are involved in trying to survive is nuclear related,
start taking the iodinated water immediately. It will provide some
protection against radioactive Iodine, a heavy contributor to radiation
poisoning and thyroid cancer. 

3) Food
	a) Power bars #9/survival rations 
	b) hard candy
	c) gum

	COMMENTARY: Not exactly a feast but it will provide 600-700 calories a day.
This is not enough to run, walk, fight and shiver for three days straight,
but it is enough to keep you from just getting 	weak and stupid from
hypocaloria. It is also very low bulk, when your stressed and on the run who
wants to be looking for some place to shit every 4 hours? 

4) Tools
	a) Leatherman tool
	b) Big knife
	c) fold-able saw

	COMMENTARY: Sure who wouldnÕt like a full set of socket wrenches 	and a
chain saw but who wants to carry them? The Leatherman will get you 
through most things this side of a engine overhaul, it would be a damn 
shame to die because you did not have a screwdriver to 	replace one faulty 
connection on your car starter and just drive away. The saw I am sort of on-off 
about. If you need it the saw will let you clear a medium sized tree a lot
faster than hacking through it with a nail file, on the other hand why clear
it? 
Perhaps you should just smash it with your car, drag it out of the way with 
your car and a rope, or find another way around. IÕll leave this up to you.    

5) Self defence
	a) Gun
	b) big knife (see tools)

        COMMENTARY: A small revolver will do for most things. It will
intimidate 
all but the most aggressive of shit-heads, those that it will not intimidate it 
will let the air out of quite RAPIDLY. Some would argue for a high-capacity 
semi auto (hell some would argue for a .50-cal machine gun with mortars and 
air support but again who wants to carry it?) The disadvantages that I see are 
the inability of autos to fire many different kinds of ammo, wad-cutters, 
hollow points, bird shot etc. where a revolver can do this with ease. A quality 
revolver will shoot more accurately than a similar cost auto and in a situation 
where you are unlikely to have more than 50 rounds at your disposal single 
shot accuracy is superior to a hail of semi aimed lead. If you are worried
about 
riot situations and being attacked by roving packs of looters and bandits it is 
good to remember that there is nothing like being splattered with the brains of 
one of your fellow looters to make a miscreant think warm fuzzy thoughts 
about how much he would rather be back home on his couch watching 
Monday Night Football. As for the knife it is both a last ditch weapon and a 
universal tool for almost any job that comes to hand. 

6) Light
	a) flashlight
	b) cay-lume sticks
	c) candle lamp

        COMMENTARY: Flashlights are cool but batteries are heavy. Most
flashlights are bright but will only last a few hours at most in constant
use. A cay-lume is a one time deal but is good for signaling, impervious to
weather, can provide ÒreadingÓ level light at close distances and will not
set anything on fire if there is a gas leak.  A candle is primitive,  long
lasting, can start and stop a infinite number of times, can provide a fair
amount of warmth if you can set up a tent or lean-to to capture its heat
near your body. On the other hand you can burn your ass off, or your tent
down by ignoring the flame, and it is just as dependent on matches as your
flashlight is on batteries.    

7) Signaling
	a) signal mirror
	b) flashing beacon

        COMMENTARY: In a disaster there are at least two possible conditions
that you may experience in relation to your fellow man:
1) The disaster happened primarily locally (or just to you) and you are relying 
   on ÓrescueÓ agencies or fellow citizens to get help , in this case you
defiantly want to be FOUND. 
2) The disaster is general, as is the panic. Rescue agencies are overwhelmed 
   and the sub-humans are coming out and taking the opportunity to let the Òlaw 
   of the jungleÓ rule in the absence of any other sort of law. In this
situation you wish to be HIDDEN. You should have the capability to do
whichever one is indicated. The flashing beacon will last for 24-48 hours
and    at night is visible for several miles, mirror is for reflecting the
sun       during the day, and remember your space blanket Òshiny side outÓ
is the       biggest reflective surface that you have. It  will reflect the
sun or    searchers flashlights at a decent distance.   

8) Medical
	a) big band-aids
	b) Pain medication
	c) wound dressing material
	d) antibiotics 
	e) anti-diarrhea medicine
	f) sun screen

        COMMENTARY: You could probably do without the antibiotics but cough and 
cold medicine might be a good idea. Even minor illnesses can be life 
threatening if you have no one to Òtake care of you.Ó Think of what a hassle 
the last case of ÒfluÓ you had would have been without someone to fetch your 
meals and medications, now add being cold and trying to hide and you can see 
how an inconvenient case of diarrhea could be fatal. The pain medication is 
essential, if you are forced to jump off a fire escape and sprain/fracture your 
ankle you are going to want to wrap that puppy up in an ace bandage, lace your 
boot up snugly and take a couple of codeine and hike your sorry ass out of that 
neighborhood before the goblins come out in force when they smell your 
blood. If you wear glasses or contacts put an old set/pair in your pack. Its
hard to live a long and happy life if you canÕt tell a park bench from a
carload of gang-bangers at 50 feet.   

9) Various stuff
	a) garbage bags
	b) rope
	c) nylon ties
	d) Insect repellent
	e) toiletries 

        COMMENTARY: Garbage bags are probably the single most useful thing that 
you can have in a survival situation. You can tape two together, cut out one 
end  and make a semi water proof sleeping bag. Cut out a head and arm holes 
and make a poncho. Use two inside each other as a water pouch-bucket. Put 
one in a 5-gal bucket and you have a porta-potty of sorts. Cut them open and 
tape together and you have a tarp-tent-ground cloth-shelter thing. Put one on 
over your head like a poncho, one from below like shorts, one on each limb, 
now tape it tight at the wrists, ankles, thighs, waist and neck if possible and 
you have a semi-wet/dry suit that would give some flotation and increase 
your survival time in cold water by hours. Rope is the great glue of survival, 
letting you transform tarps into tents and stairways into traps, stacks of cans 
into early warning perimeter alarms. Nylon ties are quick and dirty knots, they 
will save you learning how to tie a rope 50 different ways, interlocked they 
will double as handcuffs. Insect repellent will keep you from going buggy, and 
the toiletries will let you emerge from the wreckage of a 60 story building 
ready for your CNN interview instead of looking like a wino that has been 
run over but a leaking garbage truck. 


Stuff I left out:

1) a good pair of boots, my worst night mare is some serious shit coming down 
and IÕm out wearing some cheap plastic flip flops. I simply could not 
rationalize the weight and space for them however. Moral, wear clean 
underwear and good shoes at all times. 

2) Fishing gear-animal snares. This is just a pack for 72 hours, If you are
in a 
situation where you need to capture animals for food you are in deep 
kimchee. Your back pack better include a axe, a shovel, portable latrine, and a 
600 square foot log cabin with a cast iron stove. 

3) Serious fire power. It is always tempting to make room for that light weight 
M-16 that you always wanted. On the other hand unless you are willing to 
shoot people just to take their food it is likely that water and power bars
will be a better deal for the weight. 

4) Money.  It would be cool to stash a couple of hundred dollar bills in your 
pack for that occasional emergency where Ben Franklin is tactically superior to 
Samuel Colt. Scenario, major earth quake electricity is out looting is going on 
but you are still in your car and moving. You note the gas gauge (damn it) you 
are on empty and still in a hostile neighborhood. You pull into a Òstop and 
robÓ that has a generator running and the teenage clerk says ÒThe boss called 
and said I aint supposed to sell any gas since rioters might make gas bombs 
with it.Ó You smile, the situation has not gone all the way to hell yet and you 
know that if you stick a gun in his face and demand the gas (or more likely 
just shoot his pimply ass) that sure as hell the riot will die down to nothing 
and you will be on the video recorder as the Òtank of gas killerÓ, what to do? 
Reach down in your pocket and give that $5 an hour idiot the tip of his
life. ÒI 
just want a tank of gas, here is $100 just to go in the back room and have a 
Slurpy while I do what I have to do.Ó YouÕll get your gas and Mr. Minimum 
Wage will be able to buy a lifetime supply of Hustlers and Bud to fill those 
empty hours of his day off. 

5) Cellular phone. Could be useful as cell phones will probably keep working 
after Òland linesÓ have gone down locally, but the technology has several draw 
backs. They are costly, since you can not have more than one phone on a 
number, you would have to have a separate number and monthly charge just 
to have a emergency phone that you might never use. Also, very soon after 
the event everybody with a cell-phone will get the idea and the heavy traffic 
will probably shut down the system. Also batteries will be a problem. Current 
ones are meant to last less than 48 hours between recharging times. Even if the 
batteries are disconnected from the phone I doubt that they would hold their 
charge for more than a few weeks. A cell phone with a dead battery is an 
extravagant door stop.  

6) Night vision scope. Could be invaluable to creeping around a dark city or 
forest and avoiding groups of people that mean to harm you. On the other 
hand they are heavy, bulky and if you drop the thing you have a very 
expensive paper weight in your pack.

7) Radio (AM/FM) This is a standard part of every Òsurvival kitÓ and one that 
I have always thought to be questionable. The usefulness of a radio depends 
on many things.
1) Good batteries
2) A functioning radio station in range of your antenna. 
3) The person at the radio station knowing more about the situation than you 
   do and being willing to announce what he knows. 
4) The radio not being knocked out by EMP or other jamming devices.
5) The government telling you the truth about anything on the Òcivil defenceÓ 
   channel. I have always thought the governments ability and willingness to 
   deal with disasters was grossly over-rated. If they know that it is
impossible to evacuate most major cites will they tell you accurately where
the danger is and which way to run or will you get Òvalium voicedÓ
announcers    saying, ÒThe situation is being brought under control, the
national guard       will be to your neighborhood soon, stay in your houses,
there is no reason to    panic...Ó All the while they will be fighting like
WWF wrestlers to get on      ÒAir Force OneÓ and fly off to that underground
missile silo in Colorado with    Bill and Hillary. 

The list of things weÕd like to have with us goes on and on but this is the end 
of mine. I am sure that your preferences are different and that you have your 
own reasons for desiring different gear and I am OK with that. This is 
presented as one mans approach I hope it provides you with some place to 
start thinking about your own survival. If reading this makes you but your 
Swiss Army Knife in your pocket every time you leave home then I will have 
succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.
Howard  


