Hot Disaster Preparation How-Tos
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: How the Headrest in Your Vehicle Can Potentially Save Your Life One Day
If you ever find yourself in a car that's submerged under water, your first instinct should be to try and open either the window or the door in the first few seconds of touching water. Unfortunately, if you wait any longer than that, the lopsided ambient water pressure subjected to the car will make it impossible to open the car door, and the now ubiquitous power windows will likely short out. Sure, you could wait until the pressure has equalized on both sides of the car, but this usually hap...
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 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 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 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.
How To: Make an Emergency Blanket from Recycled Chip Bags
What You Need: 6-9 empty chip bags
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...
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: 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.
How To: Pack basic equipment for a short trip to the wilderness
Brazil has more untamed wilderness than almost anywhere else, so you can trust their survival experts to know what they're doing. In this video a Brazilian survival expert will detail all of the basic supplies that he packs for any trip into the bush and why you should do the same.
How To: Put together a wilderness survival kit in a canvas bag
A compact survival kit is a great piece of gear to bring with you into the wilderness even if you have a larger pack as well, to serve as a backup. This video features a Brazilian wilderness survival expert detailing the contents of his compact survival pouch, a homemade canvas model.
How To: Assemble an every day carry kit, or EDC, for urban survival
Most people can barely be bothered to carry their wallets all the time, let alone a survival kit. When they're all dead from a massive natural disaster or terrorist attack, you'll know you were right to watch this video and prepare an every day carry (EDC) kit that ensure you will have the tools you need to survive with you at all times.
How To: Assemble a compact survival kit to carry on a belt or in a backpack
In a survival situation, the four most important things for you to find are shelter, fire, water, and food, in that order. This video will show you how to pack a compact survival kit that can be carried on your belt or in your backpack and contains everything you need to acquire those four things more easily.
How To: Pack a survival backpack or bug out bag (BOB)
Whether you call it a survival backpack, bug out bag, get home bag, or 72-hour kit, having a backpack full of survival gear is a must for anyone concerned about disaster survival. This video series will show you how to pack an ideal survival backpack that contains everything you need to survive for 72 hours or more in an emergency in a package you can carry on your back.
How To: Assemble a 72-hour load-bearing equipment (LBE) survival kit
If you find yourself in a wilderness survival situation that demands a high degree of mobility, you're better off with a load-bearing equipment (LBE) system than a traditional survival backpack. This video will teach you how to assemble an LBE that will allow you to survive on the move for 1-3 days until you can find a more permanent solution.
How To: Cook with an ESBIT stove for camping or survival situations
There are all sorts of small survival stoves available, and the ESBIT stoves are some of the best. This video will teach you how to use an ESBIT stove to start a fire, even in the rain, and cooke a delicious and healthy backpacking meal on it.
How To: Get the right storebought food for a survival kit
Many survivalists believe that MRE's are the way to go for survival food supplies, but they are expensive for civilians and there are storebought options that work just as well. This video will teach you about a wide variety of storebought foods that will keep for ages and make great fuel for any survival kit.
How To: Make a mini fishing kit to include in your survival gear
Fishing is a great way to acquire meat in a survival situation, but bringing fishing gear in a survival gear kit is very space-consuming. This video will teach you how to make a complete mini fishing kit for packing in your survival bag that contains everything you need for small-scale fishing and could give you the food you need to survive.
How To: Pack the 10 most important survival essential for any trip to the wilderness
If you venture out into the wilderness without at least the 10 pieces of gear described in this video, you are unprepared for an emergency situation. This is a great video for beginning outdoorspeople that will teach you about the ten most important survival gear pieces to bring with you on any trip into the wilderness.
How To: Put together an every day carry (EDC) kit for emergency survival situations
An every day carry (EDC) kit could be the difference between life and death if you are caught away from home in a disaster. This video will show you what you should include in a EDC that you will carry with you at all times, ensuring that you are never unprepared in case the worst happens.
How To: Pack an EDC, or every day carry, for urban survival situations
An EDC, or every day carry, is a survival it meant to be carried at all times in case of a disaster. This video will teach you how to assemble a compact and effective EDC that will make you prepared for most urban survival situations.
How To: Start a fire on a rainy day in the wilderness
Rain hampers many survival situations by making fires both more necessary and more difficult to start. This video will give you some expert advice on how to start a fire in the rain the woods, which has a greater chance of helping you survive than almost any other survival skill you can have.
How To: Assemble a basic survival fire starting kit
In a survival situation, one of the most vital pieces of gear you can have is a fire starting kit. If you aren't adept at starting fire and want to be prepared for a disaster, watch this video for a guide to assembling a basic waterproof fire starting kit that will start a fire for you in a wide variety of survival situations.
How To: Make an advanced fire starting kit and use it
A fire is the second most important thing you need to have in most survival situations, so having a good fire starting kit in your wilderness survival gear is crucial. This video will show you a variety of great fire starting tools you can include in your survival gear and how to use them best. These include tea light candles, waterproof matches, cotton balls, and ingenious combinations thereof.