Hot Disaster Preparation Posts
How To: Escape from Dual Zip Tie Handcuffs
You are not having a good day. You've been abducted by sinister folks, and your hands are tied by a pair of zip ties bound together. How will you escape? In this tutorial, the guys at ITS Tactical show you how to escape from these bound cable ties, which are frequently used as makeshift handcuffs by police and military personnel, along with mischievous kidnappers. To break free, believe it or not, all you need is a little force.
How To: Escape from zip ties tied behind your back
You're being held prisoner, and your hands are tied behind your back with zip ties. You're helpless to escape… Or you would be, if you hadn't watched this tutorial. The helpful folks at ITS Tactical explain how you can quickly escape from zip ties tied behind your back.
How To: Tie a right angle knot like Navy SEALS
You're underwater, and you need to tie a knot. (Hey, it could happen!) What do you do? In this tutorial from the folks at ITS Tactical, you'll learn how to tie a right angle knot. This is a knot used by navy SEALs, and if you ever end up needing to tie a knot underwater, you'll be very glad you watched this video.
How To: Build an emergency igloo with snow
Temperatures plummet... a shelter, an igloo, can be built out of nothing but snow. It has to be the right kind of snow, cut from a well packed snow drift. The best snow is laid down in one single storm, it's hard and compact.
How To: Build an igloo by digging out snow shelters
Igloos and snow caves are two common types of snow shelters that provide an excellent blockade from harsh elements but are typically cramped. A digloo is the combination of the two that creates a large, comfortable refuge. Find out how to build one. Build an igloo by digging out snow shelters.
How To: Tie a slip bowline knot
A bowline knot can tighten up really easily, in such a way that it's a headache to get the rope untied. The slip bowline knot, however, has a pull tab that releases the knot when you're ready. Watch this video knot-tying tutorial and learn how to tie a slip bowline knot.
How To: Tie hammock hanging knots
The knots demonstrated in this how-to video are a good way to hang a hammock, because it makes it so easy to adjust your hanging height. The whipping knot around the tree will not slip if tied correctly. Make sure to tie the second half hitch or the knot may slip and come loose. As with all knots, use your own discretion and be safe. Watch this video survival training tutorial and learn how to tie some sturdy knots useful for hammock-hanging.
How To: Make a paracord using a knitting spool
This short video shows how to get started with 550 paracord and a 3 peg/nail knitting spool made from a wooden napkin ring and 3 nails. This just show you how to start. Follow these steps: After the initial wrapping of the nails with the paracord at the bottom of the nail, you take the working end to the next nail above the cord that's wrapped around it, use a hook of some type to lift the lower cord up and over the top cord and the nail. Continue from one nail to the next, up and over with t...
How To: Join parallel sticks with shear lashing
Join parallel sticks with shear lashing. Potentially--if you did this to enough sticks--you could build a house this way. It might take one hundred years but, let's face it, you probably have time if you are on this site.
How To: Make fire in an emergency using a hacksaw blade
Learn how you can use a hacksaw blade to start a fire in an emergency or survival situation.
How To: Tie a Hangman's Noose Knot
Probably the most iconic of knots, this knot is easy to make and absorbs movement and shock extremely well.
How To: Remove Maggots from Your Eyeball
While maggots living in human eyeballs isn't necessarily a problem in the states, it could happen to you one day if a fly decides your warm eyeball is a suitable place for its larvae. If this rare event should happen, before you start gouging your eyeball out, remember this trick from National Geographic explorer and engineer Albert Lin and everything will be okay.
How To: Survive an Icy Walkway Without Falling
The months of constant snowfall and freezing temperatures seems endless once the excitement of the first snowfall fades, and you become weary of traversing black ice and other slippery streets.
How To: Use a Light Bulb and the Sun to Make a Fire
Don't throw away your dead light bulbs, they may come in handy one day. This video will show you how to start a fire using a dead lightbulb. And no electricity. The tricky part is emptying out the insides, but this can be done with sticks and stones, assuming you're in a survival situation and just happen to have a light bulb with you for whatever reason.
How To: MAKE FIRE with a MAGNIFYING GLASS
90 seconds that could save your life. How to actually MAKE A FIRE with a lens, rather than just burning a hole in a leaf. (Or frying ants, which seems to be the other thing that kids like to do with magnifying glasses.) By forming your target material into an efficient ball, you will be able to start a fire even with very small lenses. Like less than an inch across small. The finer the individual fibres, and the more densely they are packed, the more effective is your ball of smigtin (smoulde...
How To: Make a Fire Using the Hand Drill Method
Here's a great video that shows how make make a hand drill fire from scratch using Stone Age tools...
How To: Heat Your Home in an Emergency Without Gas Using Flower Pots & Candles
Not having power can make everyday tasks really difficult if you're unprepared. You have to find new ways to do things like cook dinner and charge your devices, and if it happens during the winter, you also have to figure out how to heat your home.
Body Hack: How to Stop an Emotional Freakout by Inducing Your Body's Natural Survival Instincts
Many of us experience highly emotional "freakouts", so to speak, more often than we'd like. Weather you experience them personally, or via your loved ones, it can be very difficult to think rationally during an episode, and for some people it can take quite a while to calm down.
How To: Make a Soda Can Stove
Survive the apocalypse by learning how to make a stove out of nothing but a soda can!
How To: Call for Help in Case You Wake Up in a Foreign Country
In most countries, there is one single emergency telephone number that allows you to contact local emergency services when in need of assistance. In the United States, that number is 911, which most of us know by the time we're able to speak, unless you're Buckwheat and Porky.
How To: The End of the World Survival Guide: Staying Alive During an Alien Invasion
Will the predicted apocalyptic date — December 21st, 2012 — really be the end of the world? In this ongoing five-part series, we examine what would happen if zombies, nuclear weapons, cyberwars, earthquakes, or aliens actually destroyed our planet — and how you might survive.
How To: The End of the World Survival Guide: Staying Alive During a Massive Worldwide Earthquake
Will the predicted apocalyptic date—December 21st, 2012—really be the end of the world? In this ongoing five-part series, we examine what would happen if zombies, nuclear weapons, cyber wars, earthquakes, or aliens actually destroyed our planet—and how you might survive.
How To: The End of the World Survival Guide: Staying Alive During a Global Cyber War
Will the predicted apocalyptic date—December 21st, 2012—really be the end of the world? In this ongoing five-part series, we examine what would happen if zombies, nuclear weapons, cyber wars, earthquakes, or aliens actually destroyed our planet—and how you might survive.
How To: The End of the World Survival Guide: Staying Alive During a Nuclear Holocaust
Will the predicted apocalyptic date—December 21st, 2012—really be the end of the world? In this ongoing five-part series, we examine what would happen if zombies, nuclear weapons, cyber wars, earthquakes, or aliens actually destroyed our planet—and how you might survive.
How To: Protect Your Home from Criminals
I am the crime watch co-chairman for our neighborhood crime watch committee of our home owner's association. Instead of making a boring "do this, do that" video, I decided to make a funny video from the eyes of a criminal that specializes in stealing from homes, just like mine. This is meant to teach homeowners what to look out for when keeping their homes safe from criminals.
How To: Build a RanDome Geodesic Emergency Shelter
This method is easy, intuitive and requires very little math. You will need:
How To: Stay safe during a power or gas outage
There are many different things that could contribute to a power or gas outage or accident in your home. To be properly prepared for an emergency or other situations that endanger you, take a look at this video from SDGE on simple tips to keep safe, including discovering gas leaks and using power generators to maintain eletricity in your home during an outage.
How To: Use a portable generator to keep your home powered in an emergency
Having an emergency power generator is a great way to be prepared for an emergency. With it, you can keep power flowing to the appliances you need the most. Take a look at this guide on how to properly and safely configure a power generator.
May 21st: End of the World or Zombie Apocalypse?
Could the world really be coming to an end tomorrow? Presuming you believe the biblical prediction from 89-year-old Harold Camping, May 21st, 2011 is undeniably Judgment Day. If you have confidence in that prophecy, you're probably not even reading this because you're too busy either A) preparing for the Rapture or B) sitting in your backyard bunker hoping to outwit annihilationism.
How To: Use a Geiger counter to measure radioactivity
If you are concerned about radiation levels where you live, you are probably interested in using a Geiger counter to measure them. These videos will explain how to use a Geiger counter to measure radioactivity. Learn the difference between alpha, beta and gamma particles.
How To: Measure Radiation in Japan, Plus Other Sources of Common, Everyday Intake
In the wake of the recent tragedy in Japan, Southern Californians have been hyper alert to any news regarding dangerous levels of nuclear radiation drifting over from Fukushima. At this time, official statements from the California Department of Public Health and the EPA are assuaging the population that there is nothing to fear. While there has been some detection of radiation in the air, the current levels recorded are "thousands of times below any conservative level of concern". But despit...
How To: Assemble a Survival Kit
I am writing this quick post in response to the recent earthquakes and tsunamis that are affecting Japan. As soon as the news broke, and we began to hear of tsunami warning for our area, I immediately realized how under prepared I was for a natural disaster. The thing that drove this point home even deeper was the number of people asking me for advice on what they could do to prepare for the possibility that we are hit by one of the resultant tsunamis. Many thoughts raced through my mind, and...
News: 5 Ways You Can Help Japan's Tsunami Victims Right Now, From Your Couch
A devastating tragedy occurred in Japan on Friday when a monstrous 8.9-magnitude quake hit, causing a 10 meter (33 foot) tsunami to engulf the northeastern coast of the country. There are reports of over 1,000 people who have lost their lives, tens of thousands evacuated, and massive damage. Whether you have a lot or a little to give, here are five ways you can aid in the relief effort this very moment, without even leaving your couch.
How To: Wrap a tagelmust /shemagh /keffiyeh /pashmina to protect from the sun
What's the best way to learn how to tie an efficient and sturdy pashmina/shemagh? Why, ask someone who ties one every day, of course. Take a gander at this helpful tutorial to learn how to tie one of these babies on your head quickly from your Middle Eastern instructor.
How To: Tie an Arab-style shemagh two different ways
A shemagh, or a keffiyeh, is a traditiona Arab headdress that's worn by Arab men. Made from a square scarf, it protects their heads and face from desert wind and sun. It's also multifunctional - warm at night and lightweight during the day. These scarves have even become adopted by the U.S. Cavalry to protect themselves during long treks outdoors.
How To: Wrap a 550 cord around the handle of a breacher bar
Breacher bars are like the much cooler older brother to the swiss pocket knife. In fact, there's little comparison between the two. A breacher bar, which is a rectangular shaped knife, is used by SWAT teams and bomb techs to easily and quickly cut through and pry open just about anything. But safety comes first.
How To: Stay Warm During a Winter Storm Without Any Electricity
It's that time a year when winter storms begin causing havoc across the United States, and when "rotating outages" are common to help sustain the electrical grid during intense cold periods. That means pretty much anybody with snow and ice in their backyard can succumb to power outages. And no electricity means no electric heat.
How To: Make Brazilian bushcraft survival tools: coconut containers, bamboo spoons etc
Brazil is a country rich in natural resources and splendor, making it a great place for outdoor enthusiasts. If you venture into the Brazilian wilderness and find yourself in need of precious survival supplies, or just want to make some cool stuff out of exotic plants, watch this video for instructions on making Brazilian bushcrafts like coconut containers and bamboo spoons.
How To: Make one meter of cordage from 2 leaves of Spiked Aloe plant
In a survival situation making cordage out of plants can enable you to construct apparatus you never would have been able to otherwise and save you life. This video will teach you how to make a meter of cordage out of 2 leaves from a Spiked Aloe plant.
How To: Make solid fuel for starting fires in the wilderness with cotton balls and wax
Tinder is difficult to come by in the best of conditions, but in a damp wilderness survival situation finding it can be downright impossible. Enter this video. It will teach you how to make solid fuel fire starters out of cotton balls and candle wax, which you can use to start a fire even in wet conditions.