Most people are aware of the basic human needs for survival: food, water, shelter, and warmth. Most of us have rarely been in an emergency situation where life is reduced t bare survival, but the possibility is not remote from anyone’s life. A camping holiday gone wrong, one wrong turn on a remote wilderness road, a hurricane that knocks out power and blocks roads: any of these can become an emergency. You owe it to yourself and your family to learn how to survive in such conditions. With summer holiday travels just around the corner, this may be a good time to pack survival kits to take along as well as survival gear for children.
Who needs survival gear?
Who needs a survival kit? The answer to that question is simple: nearly everyone who wants to be able to survive an emergency or natural disaster. In other words, everyone. That’s because an emergency by definition is an unanticipated situation of risk. It’s possible to prepare for emergencies, however. A little thought and planning can make sure that if things do go wrong, you and your family and pets will all survive to tell the tale.
Emergency situations can happen when traveling, camping, hiking, or even if you’re at home in bad weather conditions. You may take a wrong turning when driving in a remote area on a camping trip, or suffer an accident. You may be overtaken by bad weather when hiking or camping. Or natural disasters like hurricanes and floods may strike your area, forcing you to survive on your own without light, power, or water and food supplies for a few days.
Survival: the basics
A little forethought and planning can carry you through the worst of things in the event that disaster strikes. Preparations involve making sure that you will have the basics needed for survival: food, water, lighting, power, warmth. Survival gear packages can be basic or elaborate, but should always include survival gear for kids, and supplies for pets if you have any. Disaster kits should typically have enough supplies to help you survive for 72 hours or three days.
Your bug out bag, as emergency kits are known, can see you though until help arrives or normal conditions are restored. Shelter is essential, and survival may be limited to only a few hours in extreme conditions without it. Cold can affect the human body rapidly and if body temperature falls below 95 degrees F, hypothermia sets in. Water and food are also necessities but humans can survive for three to four days without water and up to three weeks without food. Any emergency kits, however, should provide for all of these basic needs. Survival gear for kids is an essential as well.
Emergency power goes hi tech
Warmth and shelter are even more necessary to survival than water and food. Standby battery operated generators have long been part of emergency and disaster preparedness. Now, emergency power generators can use solar panels to create a source of light and warmth that will not run out in any conditions.
Many new and small manufacturers, often with crowdfunding, are making solar survival gear including portable solar panels. These can create off-the-grid solar arrays to provide lighting and charge batteries for heaters and cooking. Along with survival gear for kids, they’re becoming part of an essential emergency kit.
Emergency kits can help you and your family survive any situation, whether you’re on the road or riding out a natural disaster at home. A little planning and preparation will go a long way in keeping you safe. When preparing emergency kits, it’s important to remember to include supplies for pets and survival gear for kids. New technology is used in solar survival gear to provide a source of warmth, light and cooking fuel that will work under almost any conditions.
