How-To Guides about Disaster Preparation

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.

How good of a scout were you? This how-to video goes over seven different knots that every Boy Scout should know how to tie. 7 knots every scout should know is filmed from the knot-tying point of view. The bowline, clove hitch, sheet bend, taut line, timber hitch, square knot, and two-half hitch are covered. Watch this video knot-tying tutorial and learn how to do seven essential scouting knots.

The tragedy of a falling elevator is not unheard of. This could happen to you at any time, and you will most likely not be expecting it. Who would step into an elevator if they had an idea it might plummet to the ground? The best thing you can do is be prepared. First you want to stay calm. Next you want to lie, belly down, on the elevator floor with your hands behind your head. Make sure you do not panic. This is crucial in times of crisis. When all is over, you'll notice that you're still...

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.

Survive the apocalypse by learning how to make a stove out of nothing but a soda can!

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.

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...

Here's a great video that shows how make make a hand drill fire from scratch using Stone Age tools...

It's called Urophagia—the art of consuming urine. There could be any number of reasons for having the desire to drink your own urine (or somebody else's). There's the so-called term "urine therapy," which uses human urine as an alternative medicine. In urine therapy, or uropathy, it's used therapeutically for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes. There's also those people who drink urine as sexual stimulation, where they want to share every part of each other. And then there's the...

There's a good chance that you'll be alone in life one day, and no... I'm not talking about a couch-bound, dateless loser with a pocket pussy and a bag of potato chips. I'm talking about alone. In the wilderness. Hungry. Cold. Lost. You can't stay in one place too long, so it would be nice to have something to carry your belongings in. Maybe it's post-apocalyptic land where you're the sole survivor, and all the backpacks and rucksacks in the world are but mere ash. Either way, knowing this...

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.

What happens when you need to build a fire, but you forgot your matches and lighter? What if you don't know the fire-plow method, the bow and drill method, or even the flint and steel method (not that you would have flint, because you forgot your lighter)?

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.

For this project, I sacrificed some of my kids' clothes and a can of tuna to make some high-quality fire starter! Here's how to make a great batch of char cloth to add to your emergency survival kit.

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.

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.

Did you know that there's a way to start a fire by squishing air? In this project, I'll show you how to build a tool that does exactly that—and I'll give you a sneak peak into the principals of how a diesel engine operates!

Here's a survival technique for making a fire with the most basic of resources—assuming you can find two sticks to rub together!

You will need:

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.

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.

It can be three by three or as many bags as you want or have.

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 despite...

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 I...

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.

The undead are notoriously difficult to kill, the base reason being because they are already dead. In order to kill a zombie, then, you'll need to do some extensive damage to the thing that's keeping them

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.