Welcome to Jercol's Back to the Basics. This is where I will post useful information, tips, and gear reviews about what I learn about Outdoor Survival, Activities, and Disaster Preparation. My only goal is to be informative, realistic, and at least a little entertaining.


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Getting Started

A while ago there was a Tsunami warning here in Hawaii.  What surprised me was how quickly a kind of panic mentality took over, people frantically running to the stores and buying cases of bottled water, cans of food, etc.  I pulled every water bottle I could find and filled it up, tub too, and sat in to see how bad it would be.

Luckily, the Tsunami ended up fading to a six inch tidal surge by the time it got to our shores.  However, it got me thinking about how unprepared most of us are for even basic disruptions of our daily services.  This is especially true for places like Hawaii or Alaska where the population is reliant on supply shipments from other places.  At least Alaska has a much smaller population to support.  I live on Oahu, a totally different story.  From the Hawaii Wikipedia page:

"Oʻahu, nicknamed "The Gathering Place", is the most populous island (and has the highest population density), with a resident population of just under one million in 597 square miles (1,546 km2), about 1,650 people per square mile (for comparison, New Jersey, which has 8,717,925 people in 7,417 square miles (19,210 km2) is the most-densely populated state in the Union with 1,134 people per square mile.)[61]"


 Basically, if there is any sort of situation where electricity or potable water is disrupted for an extended period of time the island's resources would be almost immediately exhausted.  There are just too many people in too little space.

This really got me thinking about the kinds of things that people can do, that people should keep stored.  I'm not one of the people that think the world's going to end in 2012, or that the financial crisis will lead to a total collapse of civilization, I'm just looking at some common sense things that might come in handy some day.

I'm also trying to get outdoors more often, doing some hiking and camping.  I'll be going over advice and tips I've found (mostly online), doing some gear tests, reviews, and pass on practical, hands on information.

Stay Tuned.

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