Take a bite out of crime

Here is a great clip I recently found on youtube. After completing mandatory military service, the Swiss are required to keep the firearm they trained with, thus creating a constantly armed and ready national militia. I believe that a (responsible) armed society is the best deterrent to crime and other threats to freedom. I think about how sick I felt when I was reading a book about the Armenian genocide in the early 20th century. The very first thing the Turks did was to disarm the Armenians. They went to every village and collected every firearm. The Armenians complied, trusting that it was in their best interest. But when Turks and Kurds massacred millions of Armenian men, women, and children, they had no defense. We are blessed to live in a very stable and safe country, but it's still vitally important that citizens have the means to safeguard their families and liberties.

72 hours!!!

My parents got us one of the best Christmas presents I've received- ok, an early Christmas present. It was a 72 hour kit from Emergency Essentials. Well, actually two kits- one to stay in the car and another, more substantial kit for the apartment. I wasn't planning on reviewing it, but I'll evaluate it as best as I can in case someone else is interested in getting a 72 hour kit.

Contents-
(According to the manufacturer)

Trekker II™ Emergency Kit (K7-M520)

Contents:	Qty
3600-Calorie Food Bar	2
Candy Piece	12
Aqua Blox	12
Katadyn Micropur Tablet	4
Hand and Body Warmer	6
Emergency Poncho	2
Emergency Sleeping Bag	2
Tube Tent	1
Box of Strike-Anywhere Matches	1
Trioxane Fuel Bar	1
Whistle with Lanyard	1
Lightstick	1
LED Headlamp with Batteries	1
AM/FM Radio with Batteries	1
5-in-1 Surival Whistle	1
100-Hour Emergency Candle	1
N95 Respirator Mask	2
Sunscreen Towelette	2
Roll of Toilet Paper	2
Disaster/Hygiene Kit	1
Preparedness Checklist	1
Medium Daypack	1
Large Daypack	1
Multifunction Tool	1
Emergency Tape	1

Overall, I think the kit is great- it gets the basics into a compact, lightweight package. It does exactly what a 72 hour kit should- gets you through 3 days without being completely miserable. You won't die in 3 days without food or water, but you sure won't be comfortable.

Good Stuff-
There's a lot of things in this kit that I was excited about:

• Water- enough water two last for 3 days, tightly rationed, though. It's stored in little juice box type packaging, which works well enough. Fortunately, the kit also includes purification tablets, so if you can find a water source, you're in good shape.
• Food- in high-calorie bar form. I'm sure it's not that tasty, but it's compact, light, in waterproof packaging, and will at least give you much-needed energy.
• Fuel bars- I need to test these, but these mil-spec fire starters should get a cooking or heating fire going in a hurry.
• Emergency candle- I really like this long lasting, clean burning candle. Sure beats wearing down your flashlight batteries.
• First Aid kit- I went through this last night, and for its purposes, it a perfectly fine kit. It includes plenty of antiseptic/antimicrobial wipes, bandages, and even toothbrushes.I would include more gauze, though. You can never have enough gauze. It also includes...feminine hygiene products...which is something I never would have thought of but it sure shows a lot of foresight on the part of the manufacturer.
  
• Hand warmers- these are wonderful. Nothing better on a freezing cold night than to put some hand warmers in your gloves. Not necessarily a life saver, but they sure would decrease discomfort.
• Toilet Paper- another one of those things I might have forgotten until...it was too late.
  

Marginal Stuff-
A few things I would modify/replace-

• Multitool- Now I'm a tool guy, so the cheap multitool included just doesn't cut it. Sure, it's better than nothing, but if you really need a tool, I would go with a Leatherman Wave. Of course, a Leatherman costs almost as much as the kit itself, so I can't go too hard on Emergency Essentials.
• Radio- Won't cut it either. It doesn't work well under ideal conditions, so I wouldn't trust it in an emergency to get weather updates, etc. I would upgrade to a better radio, or even better, a 5 watt handheld ham radio
• Tube tent- better than nothing, but I added a tarp as well.

Overall, it's a great kit, and I think it's at a fair price. You might be able to put one together yourself for a bit less, but this one gets most everything all at once. I would, though, consider it as a starting place. You should add items as necessary. We added a dozen diapers for the baby, and we should also include a week's worth of prescription medicines. I'll also include a water bottle in each backpack. Extra socks and clothes should be added too. Fortunately the included backpacks leave plenty of room for additional items.

Well, this post breaks my "short post" rule, but I thought it would be useful to provide an evaluation of the kind of kit every family should have.

Risk

No, not the strategy game. I'm speaking of disaster/emergency related risk. Organizations categorize different risks in different ways, and this particular kind of risk is generally low probability/high impact risk. That is, serious emergencies don't happen very often, but when they do, they are a big deal. I think that's why most people aren't prepared- their personal economic analysis shows that the cost of preparedness is not justified given the low probability of occurrence. This analysis, however, must include the high severity of such incidents. You don't want to be stuck in an disaster situation with nothing but the clothes on your back. That's why 72-hour kits are so vital, and that's why we keep ours accessible and well stocked. Sure, the chances of ever using them are slim, but if we ever had to leave at a moment's notice, I would sure be glad to have a few basic supplies. Preparation does not mean being overly worried- it means being wise.

Safety first

Just a few words on something that I've become quite interested in: gun safety. I think a lot of firearms-related accidents happen not because guns are dangerous, but because the proper precautions are not taken. Look at all the dangerous items we encounter every day- cars, knives, stairs, chemicals- but we generally take the necessary precautions to prevent personal injury. We wear seat belts and drive defensively, we keep knives in a drawer and watch our fingers, we keep chemicals away from little babies. We know how to reduce risk related to everyday dangerous objects. Firearms are no different. Accidents can be prevented if a few simple precautions are taken. Like I said, I think most accidents happen because people get careless, just like many car accidents are caused by carelessness. I'm including a great video on simple steps that must be followed-every time- to prevent accidents.

Be Prepared

I think it's safe to say that most Americans are not prepared at all for any type of disaster- natural, technological, economic, health, financial, etc. It's easy to go through the easy times and forget how quickly things can change, and then suddenly you have no money reserves, no extra food or water, no first aid kit, or no skills to deal with difficult situations. What is there is an earthquake? Or ice storm? Or tornado? Or major economic depression? These things are not in the realm of fiction. I have lived through several, and they aren't fun. It's vital to start preparedness now, because "too late" can happen very quickly.