An excellent summary on disaster preparedness (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Nyko - Charge Station 360 for Xbox 360 review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Building a personal emergency bag (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

The economics of fuel economy (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Waste conservation for lazy people. (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Jalopnik’s Top Ten Post-Apocalyptic Vehicles (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Please, Hammer, don’t yurt ‘em (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

North Point Crank-powered LED Emergency Lantern Review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

First human-to-human H5N1 (Avian Flu) death? (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

The BBC is reporting that a Chinese man whose son died from an H5N1 infection has also died, raising concerns that the avian flu might be transmittable from person to person. All previous documented cases of human H5N1 infection has been due to contact with birds, or animals who have come into contact with birds, such as cats. The World Health Organization is still researching the two fatalities. If this was indeed spread by HTH contact, expect some reactionary legislation in the US that probably won’t amount to any increased safety.

I made a few posts in the now-defunct GIMPS forum about N95 respirator masks. This thread deals with a group buy on some masks, but there is good information about how there will be a shortage in the event of a major crisis. Should the two deaths in China become linked to HTH, I would not be surprised to find a run on good N95 masks.

That tree done blowed up real good (Combat shotgunning, Part Three) (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Warning: this is a long entry.

With an interesting drive and my first day of the Suarez shotgun gunfighting course under my belt, Markie and I struck out to find our hotel room. We were both pretty tired, and we decided to check into the hotel, grab some shut-eye, and look for a place to eat.

I’d made reservations at the Red Carpet Inn. I was a little worried when I made my reservation. The Holiday Inn Express and most other hotels in the area were sold out, and the RCI was a not-so-highly-rated one and a half stars. “Who cares?” I thought as I clicked through Expedia.com rapidly, “it’s only one night anyway.”

We arrived to find the kind of two-level, flat-roofed motel I remembered from my childhood. My father and I would travel around buying livestock, and pull over to the most convenient place that would allow a truck and trailer to park. The main requirements back then was something cheap and close to the highway. Cleanliness and safety were further down the list. Much further. The parking lot of our motel was mostly empty when we checked in at about four. It was pretty jammed by the time we napped, showered, and headed out for food. Things had taken a turn towards the scary.

A flatbed ten-wheeled truck drove by, the lady behind the wheel’s face screwed up like Munch’s The Scream painting. The truck didn’t stop and just got back on the highway. As I made sure the motel door was shut and locked, a man got out of his dark-colored Cadillac. “Don’t forget the chicken,” he said as he shut the long, heavy door. A much younger woman wearing a very tight dress poured herself out of the passenger side, holding a bag of food. “At least they can use the grease from that chicken as lube,” Markie said flatly as we got in the Mazda and headed to town.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, although I will admit I loaded nine rounds in the Mossberg just in case goblins went bump in the night.
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Hit and Run (Combat Shotgunning, Part Two) (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Warning: this is a long entry.

One of the first things I noted about the shotgun course was that it stopped raining as soon as I parked my car. I had read conflicting reports of either 10% chance of rain, or 80% chance of rain throughout the day. The sky appeared to be breaking up. At least I didn’t have to put on my rain gear, I would have been extremely hot even under the GoreTex. Like I said in my part one post, my spirits started to lift.

One of the second things I noted was that there was a pigeon flapping around the setup area. One of the guys joked if it was the land owner’s pet pigeon, and Frank replied that it was. He then proceeded to stick his hand out so that the pigeon could nuzzle him. Apparently Frank adopted the pigeon as a young bird and had semi-domesticated it. I expected the pigeon to fly right in front of the firing line and get atomized, but amazingly it stuck around both days. It was gracious enough to hop around to different cars and shit on all of them.

Five students with over a thousand rounds of ammunition between them, zombie headshots, and a domesticated pigeon: we were ready to start blasting stuff.
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Teaching the Teacher (Combat Shotgunning, Part One) (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Warning: this is a long entry.

Two weeks ago fellow YOTZer and friend Markie sent me an email entitled, “can you get the weekend off ….” In the email was a link to a Suarez International shotgun gunfighting class held in nearby Culpeper, Virginia. SI teaches classes all over the world. The class material requirements sounded ominous: 150 rounds of birdshot, fifty rounds of buckshot, fifteen slugs, and at least fifty rounds of pistol ammunition. The course notes recommended a flashlight, elbow pads, a shotgun sling, ammunition pouch/sidesaddle/etc, and the obvious eye and ear protection. The course was $265.00 and did not include the cost of ammunition or gear.

I’ve been shooting for the majority of my life, but it wasn’t anything like the type of shooting I expected to do at the Suarez course. Moving and shooting, high round count (for me), etc. Normally my shooting is done at an indoor “bowling alley” style range where both the target and shooter are standing still and facing each other. Most notably, I have never received any formal marksmanship training, just formal gun safety training. I wasn’t sure how I felt about being a novice shooter in front of a professional instructor and demonstrating my skills (or lack thereof) in front of total strangers.

However, any knowledge — even if it’s knowing that I suck — is worth having. I didn’t really consider the prospect of attending the course as “fun,” and my excitement level was quite a bit lower than Markie’s. I figured this is something that I should do as a responsible firearm owner. I also felt that I needed to carry forward a maxim I read many years ago: Teach the Teacher.

I enjoy introducing new shooters into the world of firearms and marksmanship. In order to more effectively help novice shooters understand and enjoy firearms, I felt that I needed to raise my own knowledge of shooting. The better trained and equipped I am, the more fun my friends and family will have when they go with me. Plus, it would never hurt to have a cadre of experienced shooters around me in case the dead rise. ;)

I typed in my credit card information and registered for the course. The next thing to do was go shopping.
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I will. (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Last week I finally got off my ass and did something I’ve meant to for years and never got around to. No, it doesn’t involve twins. I went to see a lawyer and made a living will, along with an advanced medical directive. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and I don’t use drugs. I’m not overweight and while I don’t exercise nearly as much as I used to, I am not a total couch potato, either. However, I do ride a motorcycle, none of my grandparents made it past their early 70s, and mental illness runs in the family. So I figured I’d get my shit together and set forth who’s getting what in the event that I cack off.
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New-Skin Antiseptic Liquid Bandage review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I had the misfortune of getting into a physical altercation with an inanimate object last Thursday. I slashed a piece of flesh off of my knuckle the size of a pencil eraser head. I knew as soon as it happened that it was going to bleed for a long time, and would take forever to heal because the injury was on a knuckle. I didn’t have a whole lot of stuff on hand the day of the injury, so I put a flexible cloth generic Band-Aid on it and called it a day. Despite double-wrapping it in clear packing tape, I managed to bleed clean through the Band-Aid and smear the inside of the tape a nice, pale pink.
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Excalibur Forever Flashlight emergency hand crank dynamo radio review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

As we enter tornado season in the midwest and 2007 projected to be a big year for hurricanes on the east coast, Gibberish readers may want to investigate purchasing an emergency radio that does not require AC power or batteries to run. While we have a stockpile of batteries in the Gibberish HQ, it’s worth having an alternative means to power certain devices, a radio being one of them. I purchased and reviewed the Grundig-made Radio Shack emergency radio six months ago and am very pleased with the device.

Redundancy is a big keyword when it comes to disaster preparedness. The Radio Shack unit is in my Montero right now in my car-based readiness kit. That left the house itself without a radio. I figured that if we were in a big storm we’d be close to the house, but having more than one radio around is just the right thing to do. I considered buying some more Radio Shack units but they were back to full retail price. I have been lusting over one of those orange Grundig models, but couldn’t justify the price. Woot.com to the rescue: about a month ago they listed a Excalibur emergency hand crank dynamo radio flashlight combo for $9.99 before shipping. I bought three for $35 shipped.
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CBS’s Jericho baleeted (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Entertainment news source Variety.com is reporting that CBS’s “Jericho” has been cancelled. “Jericho” was about a small town struggling to survive after multiple nuclear terrorist attacks. It ran for one season. I’ll avoid spoilers in this post in case you want to go back and catch the season one episodes.

Sure, the show had its faults — the pseudo-science made us groan, and I thought we were past the days when a car windshield would stop a bullet — but “Jericho” was a publicly accessible way to address disaster preparedness. The Hawkins character exhibited some “classic” preparedness behaviors, such as having a safe room, go bags, supply stockpiles, and at least two bug out locations. It’s easy to assemble all of that when you are in a Hollywood tv program, but maybe it made someone think, “what would we do if we had to stay indoors during the winter with no heat and little food?”

“Jericho” also brought up many issues that are often ignored in the survivalist genre. I particularly liked how bartering (or bartering deals gone wrong) was handled, as well as what happened to refugees. When it was unlikely the entire town could survive winter on meager food supplies, “Jericho” had the guts to discuss exiling forty refugees to certain death. The crux of the show was making the better of hard decisions, and there was nothing clean about the choices the town made. Even the town mayor election was handled in a believable, panicky manner: the town’s choice may not have been the best for the long term, but people wanted action and voted for the man who promised to do something, even if that something was wrong. I also liked how paranoia and distrust set in almost immediately. Setting aside the fantastic elements of the show, such as the underground network of terrorists and counter-terrorists, crazy satellite technology, and whether or not plastic will stop nuclear fallout, “Jericho” was an enjoyable and provocative bit of television.

I hope that “Jericho” sparked some sort of preparedness discussion with even one of the homes that watched the show. I doubt there will be enough fan activism to get the show back on the air, but perhaps the writers will come forth and address the huge cliffhanger at the end of season one.

Ten home and personal safety tips (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Here are ten awareness and personal safety tips I practice constantly. Hopefully you aren’t going to learn anything new here, but just in case, here we are.

1. Have car or house keys ready for use before you approach your door. Fumbling around in your purse or pocket, especially at night, will lower your guard and ability to sense what’s around you. If possible, get your keys ready before you leave your current location.
2. Watch behind you while you are walking. You should be scanning to the front and sides of you at all times, but it never hurts to look over your shoulder or use the reflections of windows to see what’s behind you. Be especially cautious if you pass someone and then they wind up behind you.
3. If you have a purse or carry a bag of some kind, keep the opening shut, zippered if possible. For example, don’t leave your laptop bag with the flap open while you go up to the counter at a coffee shop to order another drink. You may come back to an empty bag.
4. Set timers to turn on lights so you don’t come home to an empty house. This may also alert you in the event someone is in your home and they have turned on a different light.
5. While driving, stay far enough back that you can see the tires of the vehicle in front of you. In most cases this will allow you enough room to move your vehicle around the one in front of you. This will allow you to scoot forward if someone is coming up too quickly behind you, or clear the lane for an emergency vehicle. It may allow you to get away in the event of a carjacking/assault. If you are in-between other cars at a stoplight, don’t be afraid to use your car to push/batter them out of the way.
6. Buy a Cyalume “glow stick” light stick and tie your house key to it. In the event of a home emergency (fire, break in), you can activate the light stick and throw it out the window. This will allow rescue personnel to easily enter your house instead of breaking down a door. In the case of break in/home invasions, intruders may have come through a window, or have picked and relocked a door. Maximize your chances by helping those who are trying to help you.
7. Make sure you have deadbolts on all the exterior doors of your house. I recommend deadbolts that require a key on either side. If you use the deadbolt with a knob on one side, someone could smash the glass in the door, reach inside, and unlock it. A determined intruder will defeat almost any door, but the idea here is to raise an alarm and buy enough time to do something.
8. Don’t leave ladders or anything that could be used to climb near your residence. Our neighbor left three ladders out unsecured for most of last summer while he worked on his home. Some people forget or neglect to lock their upper-story windows, or don’t lock them at all, thinking no one can climb up there. If someone does climb up to you someday, you may have your neighbors to thank.
9. Lock your car doors while driving. A man jumped out of the bushes near a stop sign and attempted to open my mother’s car door when she lived in Texas. I do not want to think about what would have happened had she left her doors unlocked.
10. While driving, keep your eyes on the front wheels of vehicles at upcoming intersections. If the wheels start to move, get ready to evade, brake, or sound the horn. The driver of the other vehicle is not paying attention — make sure you are.

Wenger signal card emergency mirror review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

One of the suggested items in any preparedness kit is a signalling tool. They can be used to communicate with a rescue plane or helicopter. Or if you’ve seen the Hills Have Eyes remake, you can signal your mutant half-brother to initiate a raid. Any mirror-like item will do, but there are many special-purpose emergency mirrors. One such tool is the Wenger signal card, sold by EDC Depot. I purchased the signal card at the same time as the Fox Howler rescue whistle that I reviewed earlier. EDC Depot processed my order quickly, and I would recommend them to anyone.
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DrFaulken plays with his food. (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Our friend Stomper recalled an urban legend that Fritos make excellent fire fuel. After our regular bi-weekly gaming session, we decided to test the theory out. The contestants: a bag of regular Fritos versus a cotton ball dipped in petroleum jelly. I already knew how well my burn-o-balls worked, but it would be excellent if I could put a bag of Fritos in my emergency kit: a food source and a fire source in one crunchy package.
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Fox Rescue Howler emergency whistle (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Whistle while you work — or if you are trapped under something heavy and need someone to come rescue your ass. Enter the Fox Rescue Howler — a small, flat plastic ball-less emergency whistle in high visibility yellow. I did a write up on the larger Fox 40 Mini whistle back in December of 2006. The Rescue Howler is meant for emergency use only and is very flat in comparison to the 40 Mini, which could be used in sporting events or if you just feel like being an asshole in a library.
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Safe-Light Super Bright LED flashlight review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Thanks to a tip on the Web, I found the Safe-Light Super Bright LED flashlight at EDCDepot.com. The single LED flashlight is powered by a 9V battery (included) and is encased in rubberized plastic. The flashlight comes with a detachable, magnetized clip.

The flashlight is reported to be extremely durable and weather resistant, possibly waterproof down to shallow depths. I wouldn’t worry about dropping the light in a puddle or in a hurricane, but the light is not meant to be used in a submerged environment.

Operation is simple; there is a single push button that toggles the different operating modes. There’s Off, “find me,” low beam, high beam, and pulse. You must activate all five modes by holding down the power key for fifteen seconds. I believe this is to prevent the flashlight from being stuck on the high beam position during transit or while on display. The LED is very dimly lit in the “find me” mode, which helps locate the flashlight more quickly when you need it. The flashlight runs for a year on “find me,” a hundred hours on low beam or pulse, or twenty hours on high beam.
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More great news: H5N1 vaccine less effective than hoped (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

CNN is reporting that the latest H5N1 “avian flu” vaccine is less effective than previously thought. The vaccine, now in clinical trials, is less than 50% effective. The vaccine for the more common influenza viruses are from 75 - 90% effective. Oh yeah, did I mention that the vaunted Tamiflu is not as effective against H5N1, as previously thought, either?

Possible economic impact on ’social businesses’ due to avian flu in the US (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

With the notable exceptions of Costco, Wal*Mart/Target and the grocer, every store I frequent is what I call a “social business.” A social business sells luxury/optional goods or services. A restaurant, coffee shop, tanning salon, shooting range, doggy day care, bowling alley, roller rink. A vast majority of my time, and my income, go to these types of places. There are social businesses I don’t frequent, but are worth mentioning, such as “browser-friendly” bookstores like Barnes & Noble, a movie theater, or if you zoom out high enough, a mall.

As I was sitting in Starbucks a few days ago, I got to thinking how many people come through there every day. How quickly would a human-to-human H15N (avian flu) transmit in the small storefront, with people crowded around each other while they ordered and waited for their drinks? One outbreak, or the threat of an outbreak, could be all it took to make my local Starbucks a ghost town. Infection, or the fear of infection, would put many of the social businesses I frequent in economic jeopardy.
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GIMPing along (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I kicked off the Geeks In Moderate Preparedness topic and companion forum about four months ago. Like all things new, there was an initial rush of activity, with people registering for GIMPs (almost twenty at this point) and checking the forums a few times a day. The (important) rudimentary questions were asked, ruminated upon, and opinions given. Bug out bags, food and water storage, and basic emergency devices were covered. The mini-community slowed down through the holidays, which I anticipated. People are too busy wondering how they would survive a visit from their relatives to wonder about a disaster that may never happen.

Almost three months into the new year, there are only four of us who post to the GIMPs forum with any frequency. That’s about a fifth of our community. I am not sure what population of the group reads the forum at all, or on a regular basis. As far as I can tell, we’re coasting, and coasting slowly, at that.
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Master Lock 265D Door Security Bar review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Thanks to my Curio & Relic license I have been acquiring more and more firearms. I used to just leave my guns underneath the bed in gun cases. I kept my Mossberg shotgun loaded and in the corner in case of a home invasion. Even though I have my concealed carry permit and am armed when I leave and return to the house, I was worried about someone gaining access to my weapons while I was away. I fixed that problem and bought a gun safe recently. Now all of my children are locked away.

Solving one problem led to another. Situation: Lady Jaye and I are asleep. Either the main, monitored alarm goes off. Maybe the secondary door and window alarms activate. The dogs jump from their sleep and start woofing. Someone’s in the house. Would I be able to get to the shotgun quickly enough?

Just like my sex life, sometimes a few extra seconds is all you need.


The Master Lock 265D door security bar.

Master Lock makes an expandable door security bar that may allow me enough time to secure our bedroom door and open the safe. The 265D is very easy to use and the concept is simple. On one end of the 20-gauge steel tube is a rubber fork that goes underneath a door knob. The other end has a pivoting rubber foot that keeps the bar from sliding along the floor. Jam the fork underneath the knob, pull the tube towards the floor to expand it, and rotate the tube to lock it in place.

The rubber fork. This part goes under the door knob.

The rubber foot. It’s about two or three inches square.

This push-button locks the bar in place.

The 265D, deployed.

The bar is good to go in less than two seconds. Last night I stood outside the bedroom and had Lady Jaye shut the door and deployed the 265D. I twisted the knob and pushed against the door. It opened about an inch. I think the rubber foot needs a little shove to gain traction. It is also possible that extending the bar further away from the door may help. The directions from Master Lock suggest putting the foot about 18 inches away from the door, but if I have to use this thing in a hurry I’m not going to bust out the tape measure.

After the initial skid, the door was held firmly in place by the door security bar. I pushed on the door. I leaned on it. Lady Jaye remarked that the door was about to come off its hinges, and the door still didn’t budge. I feel like the cheap interior doors used in homes today would fail before the Master Lock 265D bar. Either the door would buckle under a severe assault or the hinges would rip from the trim.

Either way, the Master Lock 265D accomplishes exactly what I was looking for: an inexpensive, simple, easily deployed instrument that would give me another ten or fifteen seconds to get into my safe. Once I have the Mossberg 590 out, I don’t really care if someone comes through the door or not: they’re about to become a ballistics test.

You may buy the 265D from a number of sources, including Amazon.com for ~$18 before shipping. You can also find it at a brick and mortar Target, in the lock section, for about $25 plus tax.

I highly recommend the Master Lock 265D door security bar. Despite some initial foot sliding, this product does what it says. You could use this full-time or just in an emergency situation. The 265D is light and portable enough to even go with you if you travel by car and stay in a hotel.

Master Lock 265D door security bar, I lock down
Four and a half out of five STFU mugs!

Flaming Cotton Balls and Spark-Lite firestarter review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

A way to make fire is important in any preparedness kit. Ideally, you should have two ways to start a fire. I have a few cheap Bic lighters and then the Spark-Lite Fire Starter. The Spark-Lite is a simple but effective piece of kit. The starter is a two inch high piece of plastic with a roller and flint at the top. Push the roller in the indicated direction and the Spark-Lite spits out some sparks. The kit also includes a plastic case that holds eight Tinder-Quik tabs and basic directions. The Tinder-Quik tabs are treated with a flammable material and are waterproof. They are also quite small. Each tab is about the size of a piece of Dentyne gum. You can find the Spark-Lite kit all over the place, but I purchased mine from Four Seasons Survival for $9 before shipping. They processed my order quickly and I’d buy from them again.

So, the Spark-Lite is awesome and the Tinder-Quik tabs are great, but who wants to use up their precious waterproof, super-compressed tabs if they don’t need to? And keeping true to our desire for redundancy, it would be great to have a secondary tinder/kindling source. Enter a low-tech solution for a low-tech problem: cotton balls coated with petroleum jelly.

For the price of ten Tinder-Quik tabs you can make roughly 150 flaming cotton balls. It’s messy and requires some grunt work, but it’s cheap and the components are readily available. Here’s the low down:

1. Buy a bag of cotton balls. I bought 200 generic, low-quality average-sized cotton balls at Wal*Mart for $0.99.
2. Buy petroleum jelly. Wal*Mart’s Equate house brand does the trick just fine; it has the added advantage of being cheaper than the name-brands like Vaseline and is unscented. I think this was about $1.99.
3. Get a plastic bag, empty 35mm film canister, or similar container. The cotton balls are kind of messy, and you don’t want these rolling around in your preparedness kit.
4. Lightly compress one cotton ball with your fingers. Dip the cotton ball in the jelly, enough to cover most of one side.
5. Use your fingers to work the jelly around the entire exterior of the cotton ball while compressing the cotton ball as much as you can. Use the jelly to “seal” stray fibers in place.
6. Repeat until you’ve had enough. I usually make ten at a time.

That’s it — it doesn’t take long to make one. Some people put magnesium flakes in their jelly, but that seemed like overkill. Just in case the directions aren’t clear, here’s a video, in DiVX format:

DiVX player required.

Disco inferno
Lighting your homemade fire starter is easy. Gently pull apart the compressed cotton ball with your fingers, making a “nest.” The nest makes it easy for the sparks to catch, and allows the fibers to burn more easily.

Even on a very windy day, the Spark-Lite and homemade fire starters work without a hitch. On a non-windy day the cotton ball will light in one or two sparks. I think it took me eight or so tries the day I filmed this.

DiVX player required.

You can’t go wrong with the Spark-Lite. For $9 plus shipping it’s a great deal. It’s easy to use, and very portable. You should have this in your preparedness bag, and maybe even one in every car. Add the homemade fire starters to your kit, and you have an extremely lightweight and dependable way to make a fire in almost any situation.

Guess someone noticed us. (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

We were running a group buy on GIMPs for some emergency bivvy sacks. Apparently we caused a decent spike in the vendor’s traffic — their usage logs reported a number of hits from the forum. I got this email earlier in the week:

Hi Dr Faulken,

I am the owner of redflarekits.com website. I have been getting some traffic from your forum and I was wondering if I could join in.

Thanks

Alex

Who knows what is going to come out of this, but I’m proud that our relatively small community is growing to the point where we can get noticed by vendors. This may turn out to be nothing, or it could turn out to some more “real” group buys where we get more than a standard discount. Stay tuned, and GO GIMPS!

I got mad heaterz (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

It seems silly to buy emergency heating equipment during the warmest year on record, but when there’s a bargain DrFaulken is there to take advantage of it.

Thanks to a tip from a preparedness forum, I went to Lowe’s yesterday and picked up an 18,000 BTU capable portable propane heater made by Mr. Heater. All of Lowe’s “seasonal” items were at 50% off, and I scored the Big Buddy for $67 before tax. I also picked up four one-pound propane tanks and a hose/adapter for hooking the Big Buddy up to a twenty-pound propane tank. I have two twenty-pounders at the house, one on active duty on my Weber, and the other as a backup.

The Big Buddy in all its retail packaging glory. I like that the Big Buddy doesn’t rely on kerosene, which has more demanding venting requirements. The Buddy line claims to not need venting indoors, but many of the members on the preparedness forum cracked a window anyway. Also, a heater that uses propane keeps my fuel needs down — I would rather use one fuel for my grill and heater, versus having to keep track of different fuel sources for different appliances. If I pick up a travel stove any time soon, it will also be powered by propane.

The “big” Buddy heater is still fairly small in comparison to the industrial-sized, jet-engine looking heaters sold at Lowe’s. The Big Buddy is about eighteen inches tall and probably ten or so inches wide. It weighs around fifteen pounds. I am guessing a lot of that weight is ballast of some kind to keep the unit from tipping over. Oh yeah, in case it does tip over, the Buddy shuts off automatically. It also shuts off if there isn’t enough oxygen in the room.

You attach the one-pound canisters at each of the Buddy’s sides. Installation is easy, they screw right in. The hose screws in to the same location.

The back of the Big Buddy houses four D batteries (not included) which power the blower fan. There is also a plug for an AC adapter on the back to power the fan. This doesn’t help me much from a disaster preparedness perspective. Some probably buy the Buddy for heating construction jobs where heat may not yet be available. Whatever, it’s nice to have options. The Big Buddy does not come with the AC adapter, so hopefully you’re like me and have a few stashed somewhere with a trunkload of leftover RAM, PCI cards and hard drives.

For now, the Big Buddy is stashed in its box up in the attic, along with the hose and four one-pound tanks. I couldn’t bring myself to fire the heater up when it is going to be in the 60s today, plus I was a little unsure if the small tanks would seal properly if I detached them from the unit. If anyone is really interested in how the Big Buddy works, I’ll bring it down and do a follow up entry.

RadioShack Emergency Radio (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I have been investigating emergency radios ever since I heard about them from my pal Configuratrix. I listen to Internet radio for “fun,” but having a terrestrial squawkbox for emergencies seems like a good idea. Plus it gives me something else to write about for you.

The most important feature I wanted was a hand-crank dynamo. Sure, there are plenty of batteries in the house to power a radio in the case of a disaster, but how fucking cool is a hand-crank? I also wanted the ability to charge cell phones from the radio. Configuratrix’s radio does this, and while the wireless communication network might be hosed during an emergency, it is always nice to have the ability to power a cell phone in case a call or text message can go through.

Based on conversations in meatspace and our GIMPS forum, I started researching radios manufactured by Grundig. NPR sells quite a few Grundig models, but they were more than I wanted to spend. $50 was too high, and … I know this is going to sound vain, but I couldn’t find a Grundig FR300 in safety orange for less than $50 shipped on eBay. An emergency radio was on the back burner until my friend Cuddle suggested this private-label radio from RadioShack. I was lucky to catch the radio on sale for $19.99 with free shipping. $20 plus tax? Hell yeah, sign me up. I ordered one in the ever-sexy black.

The radio arrived pretty quickly, and I was happy with my etailer experience with radioshack.com. I’d buy from them again, but I’m not sure what I would ever purchase from their store beyond this radio.

Anyway, the radio is no-nonsense functional — just what I wanted out of a device I intend to carry into the upcoming zombie apocalypse. It is 6.75″ tall and 5.75″ long. The radio has the basic functionality you’d want out: AM, FM, and two shortwave bands. Shortwave tuning is augmented by the “fine tuning” knob. There is a built-in incandescent flashlight. A selector toggles powering the radio by dynamo or battery/AC. Turning the radio on and off is achieved via a large volume control knob. The hand-crank and AC power plug are located at the opposite end of the volume and gross tuning knob. The AC adapter is not included.

Three AA batteries can power the radio; the batteries are inserted on the back of the unit behind a thick plastic door. The rechargeable battery used during dynamo operation is housed here also. There is a switch on the back for either operating the radio or the device charger. Four common cell charger tips are included (Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Nokia). Unfortunately, we are a Motorola house. The good news is that the “business end” of the charger is USB — which not only means that I can power my Motorola from the radio after finding a USB -> Motorola cable, but I can power any device that also has a USB -> device cable, including our beloved Nintendo DS Lites. That’s right, bitches. After the bombs fall, I’ll be playing Elite Beat Agents in the heart of the DrFaulken Empire.

The radio works pretty well. The tuner is sharp and the “new-to-us-but-popular-in-1993″ rock station of Richmond comes in loud and clear. The flashlight won’t burn any retinas but is serviceable in a pinch. The hard-crank is easy to turn and makes a whirring noise that is oddly comforting. The radio feels sturdy, but it fell off of my work desk the first day I had it and I bent the cheap thin antenna. I guess that’s something else I could buy from radioshack.com.

The radio’s instructions state that turning the crank for ninety seconds at two cranks a second will give you about forty to sixty minutes of operation. My first charge ran the radio for four hours and twenty six minutes. This caused a bit of a problem because I had all sorts of errands to run and I was waiting for the radio to die. I broke the initial test up into three days before it finally ran out of juice. I heard way too much Nirvana for my own good.

Stilts suggested that perhaps the radio shipped with a full charge, and my dynamo-ing supercharged the battery. I let the radio die completely down and gave the hand-crank another ninety second spin. It played for an hour and thirty six minutes, about a minute of play per second of crank. That’s awesome, and double the amount I expected. I will do more testing on the device-charging capabilities of the radio once I get proper USB -> device cables.

I’m on the Mexican, whoa-oh, radio

• Bargain compared to the Grundig models offered at NPR.org and other sites (at least, when the unit was on sale).
• Strong, clear tuner for a cheapie unit.
• USB-based charging capability could allow you to charge more than just cell phones.
• Easy to use and efficient hand-crank allows for more operating time than suggested in TFM.

Come in, Major Tom

• Antenna is very fragile. I would have paid another $5 or so for a rubberized flexible antenna. Come on, we’re talking about the zombie apocalypse here.
• No Motorola tip. Are you serious?
• It would have been nice to have a glow in the dark or illuminated tuning display.

I am very pleased with my anonymous RadioShack emergency radio. I think you’d be hard pressed to find such a nice unit for the price I paid for it, maybe even at full price.

Four out of five STFU mugs

Fox 40 Mini emergency whistle review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Signalling equipment should be part of any emergency kit. While I do not yet have a signalling mirror, I did manage to purchase two Fox 40 Mini whistles directly from the manufacturer via Amazon.com. I was extremely irritated to know that they have the Fox 40 Mini listed as two separate products; the one I just linked to has the whistle in more colors. The original link from which I bought my pair had black only. I would have much preferred two orange whistles. Oh well, no big deal.

Anyway, there isn’t much to say about the Mini except that it’s relatively small (go figure), measuring two inches long, one inch high, and 3/4″ across. It is all plastic, and much like a guy I knew in college, it is ball-less. Traditional whistles have a ball in them that can be frozen stuck by spit in cold temperatures. It also works in water, which seems … I don’t know, obvious. Why wouldn’t a whistle work while wet? :shrug:

The whistle is loud. Not ear-bleeding loud, but apparently louder than conventional military, referee, and law enforcement whistles. I recorded this bit, and had some discomfort for about ten seconds afterwards. I knew sounding it in my office was a bad idea, but I’ll take a hit for the team on this one.

Doug Ritter, who writes the very comprehensive Equipped to Survive site, filed down his Mini 40 to make it even smaller. I might break out a metal file or get a Dremel and do the same to ours.

For $5 plus shipping, it’s a cheap addition to any survival/emergency kit. I highly recommend this whistle for those of us wanting to check off another requirement for their go-bag.