Go to the source: Stealth Survival

The ability to adapt is a critical tool for your survival. Many people can easily adjust to a wide variety of circumstances in order to deal with the different situations that can arise during their daily lives. Meanwhile, others will remain unyielding and go into extreme denial because they dislike change and prefer the familiarity of their established routine. By having confidence in your abilities during a crisis or an emergency, your ability to adapt to abrupt and life-changing events will help to make you a survivor.

Adaptability compromises a number of different traits that can help you to survive. The first thing you should remember is to be flexible. Quite often there are numerous ways to accomplish a given task if given enough thought. Your brain is your best survival tool; you just need to remember to use it when needed. Remember not to limit your options by thinking it can’t be done and think in terms of how it can be done. You will need to create goals and be ready to make any necessary changes to your situation in order to survive.

Avoid going into a state of denial that will not allow you to adapt properly to your circumstances. You are only fooling yourself if you refuse to accept that your situation has changed because of a crisis or an emergency. If you act like nothing has changed, it will be harder for you to accept that change and make the necessary adjustments to get your life back on track. Your life can change quicker than the weather and you will need to stay tuned to your environment. By realizing this, you will be ready to make the required changes in order to survive.

Our survival has depended largely upon our ability to adapt and it is this ability that has allowed us to succeed in our goals for making a better life for ourselves. The saying originated by Herbert Spencer back in 1864 “survival of the fittest” was actually meant to describe how well a species was suited to their environment. It is our ability to adapt to our environment that has allowed us to survive some of the most hazardous and extreme conditions known to man.

Got adaptability?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

When using any type of vehicle or trailer to haul material or other items, it’s always a good idea to take a few minutes to secure your load. Making sure your load is secured will prevent the loss of valuable items you may have difficulty replacing and will avoid creating a hazard that could endanger the lives of others who may be traveling the highways with you.

Tips for Securing Loads

1. Secure your cargo or load by using rope, bungee cords, netting, or straps.

2. Cover your load with a sturdy tarp or cargo net. This will help prevent items from being lost if your load shifts when traveling down the highway.

3. Securely tie down heavy items directly to your vehicle or trailer to prevent shifting when stopping or turning. Make sure your load is well balanced.

4. Make sure to load lightweight items at the bottom of your load or inside the vehicle if possible. The wind can easily catch lightweight items which will cause them go sailing off like a kite.

5. Make sure your tie downs, rope, bungee cords, etc. are in good shape and are not damaged or frayed. A broken rope or over-stretched bungee cord will be of little or no help in securing your load.

6. Frequently check your load to make sure all items are secure. Stop as often as possible and double check to make sure everything is still tied down properly and that nothing has come loose.

7. Avoid overloading your vehicle or trailer. Try to keep items being hauled level with the bed of your truck or the sides of your trailer.

8. Make sure your trailer is properly secured to your vehicle with safety chains. You don’t want to risk losing your whole load all of sudden if your trailer should break loose from your vehicle.

9. Make sure the tires on your vehicle and trailers are in good shape and properly inflated. A heavy load will put increased demands on your tires.

10. Become familiar with local and state laws concerning loads on vehicles and trailers. Many cities and towns have laws making it illegal to haul loads that aren’t covered even though they may be securely tied down.

Got secure loads?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

There are several native edible plants that grow wild in central Texas. Texas is home to and part of the natural range of a wild chile pepper, Chile Pequín (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) is a small and very hot pepper that is the mother of the majority of our cultivated varieties and bears fruit almost all year long when winter temperatures are moderate. It is quite tasty and easy to find. Known affectionately as “bird peppers”, they come up most anywhere birds have deposited the seeds, especially mockingbirds which are the state bird of Texas. You can also find dried ones for sale in many ethnic Latin American grocery stores and markets.

The most common uses are in salsa, soups, vinegars, beans, and pickled. They are used mainly for a liquid hot pepper sauce. The green peppers are usually pickled in vinegar and the red ones are usually dried and crumbled for use as a seasoning.

The Pequín is the smallest of all chilies and is only about a third of an inch long and wide. Do not let its small size mislead you. They are extremely hot and have a Scoville Heat Unit rating of anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 heat units. They also have a very complex and nutty flavor which may account for their popularity with birds. Just two of these small peppers smashed in a bowl of beans will get the party started!

There was a time when every South Texan had a bottle of chile pequins in vinegar sitting on the dinner table. The usual custom was to add vinegar as you used the pepper sauce. Later, when a new crop of chile pequins were available, you got rid of the old chiles and made a fresh batch. They also make a great ornamental plant for your yard. They are extremely hardy plants and the peppers will add a splash of color to your yard.

Chile Pequín Liquid Sauce

Ingredients: (depending upon the size of your sauce bottle)

1/2 cup chile pequins

1/2 cup white vinegar

Directions:

Clean a previously used pepper sauce bottle with boiling water. Pack the chilies tightly in the bottle. Make sure they have been thoroughly rinsed and cleaned.

The next step is to heat some vinegar in a small pan over low heat until it just begins to steam. Pour your hot vinegar over the chiles to the top of the jar.

Allow the mixture to sit for at least a day before using. The bottle can be refilled with vinegar several times.

You can get additional information here:

http://www.pequin.us/

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

The safety pin attaches quickly and allows you tie cordage to the light that improves the functionality of this light. With a cord attached, it can be hooked to a belt loop, the inside of your pack or just make a simple wrist strap to make it easier to carry without losing it. Attaching some bright cord to it will make it easier to find in the dark if you drop it (don’t ask me how I know this!). Finding a little black flashlight in the dark ain’t easy!

Just a quick note about my own experience with the battery life of this flashlight. With a new alkaline AAA battery you get about 35 to 40 minutes in the high mode and a little over 3 hours in the medium mode. This is still pretty decent for light on a single AAA battery. Manufacturers do have a tendency to overestimate run times that are hard to duplicate outside a testing laboratory.

Gear mod cost…less than a buck!

You can read my original review here:

http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com/2010/04/riverwalkers-gear-itp-a3-eos-upgraded.html

You can get this great compact LED flashlight here:

GearUpEurope

Got safety pin and cord for a gear mod!

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

Your home will generally be the safest and most comfortable place to stay in most emergency situations but an extended power outage can quickly change your home into little more than a big, dark box. Without the necessary power for cooling, heating, to run appliances or to furnish lighting, you might need to seek other options. This could include an extended visit to relatives or a stay at a hotel or motel that could be even more costly. The loss of power for a few hours is often quite manageable for the majority of people but an extended power outage could become a life threatening situation that could eventually force you to leave the safety and security of your home until the power is restored to the grid.

Having a home power generator can help you in numerous ways if an extended power outage occurs. There are several options when doing some advanced prepping to help cover your needs when a loss of grid power strikes.

The first option is a portable home generator and is probably the most affordable for the average person. While most portable home generators are not large enough to power everything in your house, but they can be used to keep a few items (like your freezer) functioning until power is restored. There are many types available that run on a variety of different types of fuel and most can be easily hooked up during an emergency.

The second option is a stationary home generator that can be hooked up directly to your home power system through a power transfer switch that can be set to start automatically during a power outage. These systems are quite a bit more expensive and usually require a direct connection to a long term fuel supply.

A third option is to include solar power as a back-up. Solar systems that can satisfy your total power needs can also be quite expensive but a small solar back-up system can offer you another option for maintaining your power needs during an emergency.

One of the things that will take you beyond the basics when being prepared is to have some means to re-establish power to what will be your best form of long term shelter… your home.

You can download a free guide for the safe use of a home power generator here:

Using a Generator During Power Outages

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Go to the source: Stealth Survival

One of the most frequent and most preventable of all serious injuries are burns. Even a minor burn if not treated properly can have devastating effects that could affect you for the rest of your life. Burns can be one the most serious types of injuries that a person may face in their everyday lives but are also one of the most preventable.

Knowing how to prevent them and the proper care required for the treatment of burns is an essential part of being prepared. Recognizing those things which can affect you in your everyday life and being prepared to deal with them can be critical if the worst happens.

Here is a simple guide to help you understand the proper care for burns and how to prevent them:

Burn Prevention and Care Guide

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker