Survivalist Anthologies Volume 1

by George Shepherd

  Windows pose more of a security problem than doors given the material in which they are constructed. Most intruders try not to break glass due to the noise. However, depending on their intent, they may have no such inhabitations. There are screens that can be purchased to limit flying glass from a broken window. A simple way so secure a window is to drill a hole through the frame and insert a pin that can be removed in hurry if you need to open the window and escape. Although considered overkill by some, placing bars over windows will prevent unauthorized access. They must however have the ability to be opened from inside in case of fire or other emergency that requires you to exit. If possible and depending on your geographical location, keep enough material on hand to board up your windows in case of adverse weather or civil unrest.

  Once we have done our physical security measures, it’s time to do some more planning. Sit the family down and go over some basic safety rules. First thing, children never answer the door. Adults do not open the door until identity and business has been verified. Any questions like, “Is your husband home?” by someone knocking on your door may just be the answer a home invader is looking for. We also need to develop a recall roster for adults of the house, workplace and emergency contact numbers. This should be kept by the phone. It’s also a good idea to develop a security alert plan. Each person will know where to go and what to do. For example, if the dog barks, perhaps mom looks after the children while dad investigates. This is something one needs to give much thought. Protection of one’s family comes before protecting property. It does your family no good if you are shot trying to keep a thug from stealing your lawnmower. Do not allow yourself to be drawn into fight over something that can be replaced. The exception to this is when you are protecting something that is vital to your family’s life and welfare. Items such as food and water should be stored in a secure location and away from unauthorized access. A good practice is to keep a few good caches around the property so no one can deprive you of all your preps. Something else to think about is creating a safe room or safe zone within your home. This could be just installing the same type doors as on the exterior of the house. One may get as creative with this as their wallet allows.

  I have left firearms for the conclusion even though that is the first thing that most people think of when home security is discussed. A well placed handgun or shotgun should be part of your overall security plan. However, it should be the last resort instead of the first option. Proper weapons selection and rapid access to those weapons are vital. The market is full of bedside safes, holsters, and single long gun storage units. I strongly recommend keeping a small pouch with a spare magazine, flashlight and cell phone that can be draped around your neck before going out to investigate a noise or alarm. I personally keep a bulletproof plate carrier nearby that can be donned in seconds. This gives me a much greater chance of surviving an armed conflict in my home. Remember your first responsibility is to your family. Secure them first then deal with the threat. It is a good idea to look where the kids or other household members sleep in relation to where you are. Over penetration is a real danger and should be considered when selecting a firearm and ammunition. As with most things, it is the sum of the parts that makes the whole and home security is no different.

  Chance Sanders is a former U.S. Marine marksmanship instructor and firearms specialist. He teaches survival skills in his native South Carolina and is currently working with Dave Canterbury (Dual Survival/The Pathfinder School) to establish a S.C. branch of his Advanced Pathfinder School there.

  Product Spotlight

  Sergei Boutenko’s Wild Edibles iPhone App

  Adding wild edibles to your diet will benefit your life in many ways! This Wild Edibles app is a quick way for people to learn how to identify healthy, edible plants, in a safe and easy manner. In addition to vivid photos and elaborate plant descriptions, this app provides the user with helpful tips regarding identification, uses, nutritional highlights and recipes for each plant. For additional safety, the app also includes valuable information about the top most poisonous plants in North America. Developer: Sergei Boutenko (Available at iTunes). Retail Price: $2.99

  The Etón Solarlink FR360 Emergency Radio

  The Etón Solarlink FR360 emergency radio was made for outdoor use. Its built-in solar panel conveniently powers the radio and recharges its battery pack, even when skies are overcast. And when it’s dark, you can charge the FR360 in less than two minutes using its hand crank. You can also power the radio with three “AA” batteries. And the water-resistant casing means you can use the radio in inclement weather.

  A digital tuner pulls in AM and FM stations, as well as shortwave broadcasts from around the world. And it receives all seven NOAA weather bands. An LED flashlight in the radio’s side provides illumination in the dark, and there’s also a flashing red light to help others locate you in an emergency. Manufacturer: Etón Corporation (www.etoncorp.com) Retail Price: $49.99

  SteriPEN Sidewinder - Hand-Powered, Battery-Free UV Water Purifier

  Fill it, Crank it, Drink it! Perfect for Campers or Emergency use. SteriPEN® Sidewinder, the first portable UV water purifier to require no batteries, purifies 1 liter of water in 90 seconds. The SteriPEN Sidewinder features our proven UV system that destroys waterborne bacteria, viruses and protozoa such as giardia and cryptosporidium. This hand-powered system is eco-friendly and can save thousands of plastic bottles from entering landfills. The long lasting Sidewinder purification system includes a one-liter Tritan™ BPA-free bottle and SteriPEN® Pre-Filter for use prior to treatment if the water contains particulates. Manufacturer: SteriPEN (www.steripen.com) Retail Price: $99.95

  Mechanical Fisher YO-YO Automatic Fishing Reel

  The Yo-Yo is an automatic fishing reel made of steel with a tempered spring that automatically sets the hook when the trigger is released by a fish taking the bait. These reels are very popular for catching Crappie and Catfish. Instead of actively fishing, you can set this automatic fishing reel and use your limited daylight to take care of other things. Check the yo-yo after a couple of hours and retrieve your dinner. Eat a great meal and sleep more comfortably (under the circumstances). Manufacturer: Rocking A Ltd.

  (www.rockingaltd.com) Retail Price: $8.99 - $29.99

  Heatsheets Emergency Blanket

  Everyone should have an emergency blanket in their car or bug-out bag and the Heatsheets® emergency blanket is a step up from standard survival blankets. They are more compact, lightweight and feature a quieter, more durable polyethylene material. Reflecting 90% of your body heat to help keep you warm. Manufacturer: Advanced Flexible Materials Inc. (www.afminc.com) Retail Price: $4.00

  Collapse Medicine:

  A Stitch In Time – How to Suture Wounds - Part One

  by Joseph Alton, M.D. (aka Dr. Bones)

  In a collapse situation, we will all be performing tasks that are not part of our daily routine. Few of us are required to chop wood for fuel at present, for example, but it might be standard operating procedure if things go south. Performing strenuous work that we’re unaccustomed to could easily lead to injury. We’re also going to expose ourselves to risk of injury in other ways, just by being out in the wild.

  A sharp injury is known as a laceration. When we receive a cut, our body’s natural armor (our skin) is breached and bacteria get a free ride to the rest of our body. Once there, our health is in real danger. Therefore, it only makes common sense that we want to close that breach.

  I am asked to teach suturing more than any other first aid procedure, even though it really isn’t FIRST aid at all. Suturing is best done by someone with experience, and you don’t get that kind of experience in your typical first responder course. Survival medical training teaches you to stabilize and transfer the patient to modern facilities. But what if there is no modern care available, as in a collapse? What if YOU are the end of the line when it comes to medical care? You’ll need to obtain the knowledge to be able to function effectively, and that means k
nowing how to close a wound. Source: weheartit.com

  Ancient bone needles

  Human skin has probably been sutured since we learned to make needles from bone 30,000 years ago. If you could sew animal skins together, why not human skin? The first documentation of suturing was from the Egyptians 5,000 years ago, and actual stitches have been found in mummies more than 3,000 years old. The Greeks and Romans, as well as various native cultures, also worked with sutures. Using needles of bone, ivory and copper, they would use various natural materials such as hemp, flax, cotton, silk, hair and animal sinew to put wounds together. The classical era physician Galen, in the 2nd century A.D., was well known for stitching together the severed tendons and ligaments of gladiators, sometimes restoring function to a damaged extremity. He was one of the first to distinguish between a “clean” and a “dirty” wound.

  In primitive cultures, ingenious ways were developed to close wounds. In some tropical rain forests, the natives would collect army ant soldiers whenever there was a wound to close. They would place the jaws of the ant on the skin, the ant would bite the skin closed, and then they would twist its body off! The head stayed on, with the jaws shut and the skin closed. Native Americans would pull off agave cactus needles along with a strip of the plant material attached, and use that as suture.

  Suture technology didn’t really advance much until the late 19th century, when the concept of sterilization of needles and suture material came into fashion. By this time, suture material was either “chromic catgut”, actually made from the intestinal lining of sheep and cows, or silk. Both of these materials are still available today in one form or another.

  Suture “string” is either absorbable or non-absorbable. “Catgut”, for example, will dissolve in the body over the course of several weeks, and is used for internal body work. Silk is non-absorbable, and is used on the skin or anywhere that you are willing to have the suture material stay forever. Around 1930, synthetic materials made their debut in the form of nylon and polypropylene (Prolene), non-absorbables that are also available to this day and are, essentially, like fishing line. Since that time, various different manufactured types of suture material have reached the market, both absorbable (the popular Vicryl) and non-absorbable.

  Needles have progressed, also. Needles can be straight, curved, or various other shapes. Originally, needles were “eyed” and separate from the string. You threaded the needle and began your stitching, which caused two lengths of suture to go through the wound. This process caused some trauma to the tissues sutured, and so this type of needle is called a “traumatic” needle.

  In 1920, a process called “swaging” was developed, which allowed the back end of the needle to be attached to the string. As the diameter of the string was slightly thinner than the needle and only one single length of suture was passed through the tissue, this type of needle was named “atraumatic”. Some swaged needles are built to “pop-off” with a quick tug after placing each stitch. This may be handy, but it is incredibly wasteful of suture material; therefore, I can only discourage its use in a collapse situation.

  Needles are also categorized based on the point. The two most common needle points are “tapered” and “cutting”, although there are various others. One is round and “tapers” smoothly to a point, like a sharpened pencil does. “Cutting” needles are triangular and have a sharp “cutting” edge on the inside curve of the needle.

  Now that we are acquainted with sutures, we must ask ourselves the following question: What am I trying to accomplish by stitching this wound closed? Your goals are simple. You close wounds to repair the defect in your body’s armor, to eliminate “dead space” layers, and to promote healing. A well-approximated wound also has less scarring. However, here is where it gets complicated. Closing a wound that should be left open can do a lot more harm than good, and could possibly put your patient’s life at risk! You will have to consider several factors before you proceed to suture a wound.

  The most important consideration is whether you are dealing with a clean or a dirty wound. Most wounds you will encounter in a wilderness or collapse setting will be dirty. If you try to close a dirty wound, you have sequestered bacteria and dirt into your body. Within a short period of time, the wound will become red, swollen, and hot. An abscess may form, and pus will accumulate inside. The infection may spread to your bloodstream, and when it does, you have caused a life-threatening situation. Leaving the wound open will allow you to clean the inside frequently and observe the healing process. It also allows inflammatory fluid to drain out of the body. Wounds that are left open heal by granulation; that is, from the inside out. The scar isn’t as pretty, but it’s the safest option in most cases.

  Other considerations when deciding whether or not to close a wound are whether it is a simple laceration (straight thin cut on the skin) or whether it is an avulsion (areas of skin torn out, hanging flaps). If the edges of the skin are so far apart that they cannot be stitched together without tearing from the pressure, leave it open. If the wound has been open for more than 8 hours, leave it open, as bacteria has already had a good chance to colonize.

  If you’re certain the wound is clean, you should close it if it is long, deep or gapes open loosely. Remember that you should close deep wounds in layers, to prevent any un-approximated dead space from occurring. Dead air in the wound may lead to a major infection. Also, cuts over moving parts, such as the knee joint, will be more likely to require stitches.

  Many injuries that require closure also should be treated with antibiotics to decrease the chance of infection. Natural remedies such as garlic or honey may be useful in a collapse situation. Deep layer sutures are never removed, so try to use absorbable material such as “catgut” or Vicryl. Silk, Nylon or Prolene sutures on the skin should be removed in 7-10 days; if over a joint, 2 weeks or more.

  Don’t forget that there is more than one way to stitch a cat!

  There are several methods available to close a laceration. The simplest and least invasive is to use Steri-Strips and butterfly closures. They are sterile strips which adhere on each side of the wound to pull it together. They don’t require puncturing the skin and will fall off on their own, in time.

  The second least invasive method is Cyanoacrylate, special “glue” sold as Derma-Bond or Liquiseal. This is medical-grade adhesive that is made specifically for use on the skin. Simply approximate the skin and run a thin line of glue down the laceration. It will naturally peel off as the skin heals. Some have recommended (the much less expensive) household “Super-Glue” for wound closure. This preparation is slightly different, chemically, and is not made for use on the skin. It may cause skin irritation in some, and burn-like reactions have been reported.

  Another closure method is the use of skin staples. They work by “pinching” the skin together (similar to the ancient army ant method) and should be removed in about 7 days. These are best removed with a specific instrument known as a staple remover.

  Sutures are your most invasive method of wound or laceration closure, and the one that requires the most skill. Before you choose to close a wound by suturing, make sure you ask yourself why you can’t use a less invasive method instead. I know, after watching Rambo and Dave Canterbury do it on themselves, you’re ready to try it, too (maybe not on yourself). It’s also important to remember, however, to keep it simple. Use the other methods first, and save your precious suture supplies for those special cases that really need them. In a collapse situation, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to replenish that item.

  Next issue, I will be conducting a photo lab on how to suture a laceration closed. I will tell you about all the equipment necessary and go through the steps. We’ll also explore some appropriate practice surfaces to work on. Until then, remember, knowledge is power!

  Dr. Bones is a retired physician, surgeon and obstetrician with 25 years experience in patient care. Along with his wife, “Nurse Amy” Alton, he co-hosts the “Doom & Bloom Show". Their goal is to
promote medical preparedness, and to identify strategies that will keep people healthy in a post-apocalyptic setting.

  A Medical Education for Every Age

  “The kids are playing doctor!”

  by Lisa Bedford (the SurvivalMom)

  More than one horrified mom has made that statement over the many, many decades that curious kids have been re-enacting their exams at the pediatrician’s office. “I’ll be the doctor and you can be the patient!”

  Kids instinctively understand that the well-being of their bodies is important. Visits to the pediatrician are one of their earliest memories. With a natural interest already in place, it makes sense to include them in family health training. After all, the more people in the family who know what to do in an emergency, the better.