Comments on: Disaster Kit

Disaster Kit

Beholder — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:48:43 -0800

US government suggest that all homes should have a disaster kit, in case of terrorist attack.

By: mcsweetie

mcsweetie — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:52:54 -0800

just curious...am I the only one not the least bit scared of a terrorist attack?

By: jennyb

jennyb — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:55:17 -0800

No you are not.

By: strangeleftydoublethink

strangeleftydoublethink — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:55:51 -0800

>>A: A battery-powered radio (with extra batteries) so you can listen to instructions from authorities. I'd like to annouce the name of my new band: Instructions from Authorities

By: strangeleftydoublethink

strangeleftydoublethink — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:59:36 -0800

I think it's time to bring back Bert the Turtle.

By: vraxoin

vraxoin — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:00:12 -0800

Game over, man! Game over!

By: konolia

konolia — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:06:09 -0800

Duct tape. Don't be home without it.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:07:47 -0800

at present, i fear my own government far more than i fear any terrorist.

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:08:53 -0800

Q: What else should be in a kit? A: At least three days' worth of water (one gallon per person per day), canned and other non-perishable food, over-the-counter medicine and regular prescription medicines. Flashlights. A non-electric can opener. Diapers and baby food. A wrench, if needed, to shut off utilities. Copies of important documents, such as wills, deeds, bank account numbers, insurance papers and immunization records in a fire- and waterproof container. Duct tape and plastic sheeting. Uh, right--I'll go buy these things right away. Is this the gov't's last-ditch plan to stimulate the economy? Perhaps I should buy a hunting knife and shotgun, too, as this is what many of my neighbors will be toting. But who doesn't keep duct-tape in their cars already?

By: mcsweetie

mcsweetie — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:10:13 -0800

it's a pretty sad state of affairs when you're more afraid of your own government than the terrorist network bent on destroying your way of life. on preview: what quonsar said!

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:10:13 -0800

One columnist's disaster kit: a big bottle of Jim Beam in a large-sized, zip-locked plastic baggie.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:10:17 -0800

Duct tape. Don't be home without it. Just don't use it on your ducts.

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:10:54 -0800

Anyone else thinking of the cartoons in the '70s that said, "In case of nuclear attack, bend over and kiss your ass goodbye"..?

By: klaruz

klaruz — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:11:59 -0800

This is the kind of stuff you should have anyway. Keep your documents in a fire safe, and keep everything else somewhere in your house. The only thing I don't have is the plastic sheeting, and I'm not worried about a terrorist attack anyway. Every area has natural disasters that do happen, be it tornados, snow storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc. If you camp (Like me) you don't need to even think much about having a 'kit'. If you don't, it would probably good to think about keeping at least a few small things around, just in case.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:14:55 -0800

at present, i fear my own government far more than i fear any terrorist I would imagine that un the UP you would have not much need for fear of either, not likely that suddenly they are going to cramp down on yoopers' civil rights or that Al Queda is going to suddenly go ballistic in S St. M. I live in DC, I fear both, I think I'll get some water just in case. Shane, you don't also happen to carry a ski mask and a length of rope in your car do you?

By: ducktape

ducktape — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:17:47 -0800

Present and accounted for, Sir!

By: strangeleftydoublethink

strangeleftydoublethink — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:18:59 -0800

I'll give up my plastic sheeting when you pry my cold, dead fingers off it.

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:24:28 -0800

Shane, you don't also happen to carry a ski mask and a length of rope in your car do you? I have such bad luck I have those plus a mini-crowbar, various wrenches and multi-tools, water and snacks, old lockpicks and car-openers, multiple jacks, superglue, string, disposable razors (why be stranded and stubbly?), a good book, gloves and hat, Loads-O-Stuff, etc, plus a Leatherman Squirt constantly in my pocket. You're right--I've often wondered what the Highway Patrol would think of my trunk-stash. "Be Prepared": It's not just the Boy Scout Motto. It's what you tell yourself as you kick yourself in the ass for not having the right size tire-iron.

By: lilboo

lilboo — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:26:17 -0800

Q: What should I do in a radiological attack?
A: Seek shelter below ground and stay there until told otherwise. If you're caught outside, lie on the ground and cover your head.
Cause that's really gonna help.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:28:20 -0800

A: Seek shelter below ground and stay there until told otherwise. If you're caught outside, lie on the ground and cover your head. Cause that's really gonna help. They left off the part where you're supposed to cover your ears and scream "La La La I can't hear the attack this isn't happening!"

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:31:48 -0800

A: Seek shelter below ground and stay there until told otherwise. If you're caught outside, lie on the ground and cover your head. Cause that's really gonna help. It keeps up morale by hiding your horribly burnt and scarred face. We're all gonna die. BOOGA!BOOGA!BOOGA! My disaster survival kit is a single envelope containing my voter registration card. Can't wait for a chance to use it!

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:32:47 -0800

I think you're supposed to duck and cover so that your face won't fry off and they can identify your remains better, should there be anyone to identify anything left.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:41:50 -0800

When the bombs go off, I will be drinking my disaster kit.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:51:11 -0800

pollomacho: whatever made you think i live anywhere near the UP?

By: Dick Paris

Dick Paris — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:56:23 -0800

Use the plastic and tape to seal off doors and windows. This will help prevent lethal agents from seeping into your home. You'll know you were successful when you die from a lack of oxygen. Have a nice day! :-)

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 13:57:21 -0800

Location: Outer Pennensula, MI USA, maybe? Am I missing something?

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:01:10 -0800

Use the plastic and tape to seal off doors and windows. This will help prevent lethal agents from seeping into your home. Does this include agents like John Poindexter?

By: aacheson

aacheson — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:02:20 -0800

This sounds like my earthquake kit (those of us in California have kits like this in our cars or other areas for earthquakes) Except the plastic and duct tape. I, for one, am scared of a terrorist attack, and am under no illusions that I am safe in the San Francisco Bay Area. That said, I try not to think about it because there's not a goddamn thing I can do about it. (again, kind of like earthquakes!) I wish the govt. would stop putting this crap out there. It creates even more fear and terror an doubt in the public. If there's nothing we can do about it, why bring it up over and over again?

By: vito90

vito90 — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:03:24 -0800

Shane - re: kiss your ass goodbye - I believe that was a Bloom County strip...but I can't find a link

By: konolia

konolia — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:03:43 -0800

Actually, the news is on in the background...I am starting to bel a little less sarcastic about this, especially when I realize that I live in what could be construed as a target. Now what did I do with that duck tape?

By: laz-e-boy

laz-e-boy — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:14:51 -0800

A small paper in Canton, Ohio ran the AP feed story on this under the headline "BE PREPARED IN CASE OF MUSLIM ATTACK". They have since taken the story down.

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:15:06 -0800

It's a good idea to crouch down and wrap your head and body in a white sheet. Using a few sheets and rolling yourself up like a mummy could also prove effective. -Survival expert Hisayoshi Tsuge on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack

By: kozad

kozad — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:18:47 -0800

Yeah, the gov't may well get some mileage out of scaring us, and there's not a whole lot you can do and etc. etc. but I have a big barrel of water in the basement and plenty of canned food around cuz you never know what might happen, via terrorists or just good ol' Mother Nature. But the plastic sheeting? The chances of aerosol terrorism seem pretty remote to me, and if I heard there was a Piper Cub spraying nerve gas in the neighborhood, I wouldn't want to be mucking about by the windows for an hour or two with tape and plastic. I'd be in the basement with my radio listening for Instructions from Authorities and trying in vain to find good music among the dreck from Clear Channel.

By: kozad

kozad — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:20:22 -0800

BTW, the "kiss your ass goodbye" thing I remember from the Sixties, well before Bloom County.

By: mrplab

mrplab — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:32:01 -0800

ladies and gentlemen, welcome to WWIII.

By: Ufez Jones

Ufez Jones — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:32:11 -0800

If there's nothing we can do about it, why bring it up over and over again? A frightened public more easily forgets about the economy and a giant budget deficit.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:34:02 -0800

Hoarding food will be useful when there isn't much to go around.

By: konolia

konolia — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:34:20 -0800

Actually I think they did the plastic thing in Israel during the Gulf War along with the gas masks.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 14:42:31 -0800

Re: The ass-kissing thing: No, they didn't originate it, but XTC made good use of the phrase in 1980's Living Through Another Cuba, a song whose alarmist paranoia never goes out of style.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 15:06:54 -0800

pollomacho: Outer <> Upper. how come you don't have email listed in your profile?

By: jbelshaw

jbelshaw — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 15:18:28 -0800

I assumed "Orange Alert" meant "carry another clip".

By: LowDog

LowDog — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 15:45:34 -0800

Q: What's the most important item in a disaster kit? Guns & Ammo - with those you can get everything else you want.

By: padraigin

padraigin — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 15:48:26 -0800

Oh man. We live in the Bay Area, and we don't even have an earthquake kit. Come Armageddon, we're going to be reduced to eating cat food and drinking the water out of our radiators. But I do think we have some duct tape in the junk drawer, so it will probably be okay.

By: riviera

riviera — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 16:05:50 -0800

Any idea which member of the Bush administration (or their relatives) is set to make a killing (if you pardon the pun) on the sale of 'disaster kits'? Will we see these come from a subsidiary of Halliburton? Or Exxon-Mobil?

By: ed

ed — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 16:08:36 -0800

Why not just settle down with a good book?

By: sharksandwich

sharksandwich — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:11:58 -0800

Two excerpts from Skinny Puppy's 1988 song "VX Gas Attack": like scalding water a side effect of their faces and lungs burn a sudden harsh smell 2 weeks after still coughing and choking livid skin blisters burn often instructions in the use of such basic devices as a damp towel lined with charcoal to be applied to the face and mouth when the beep beep beep gas attack warning signal sounds

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:32:13 -0800

Riviera: Any idea which member of the Bush administration (or their relatives) is set to make a killing (if you pardon the pun) on the sale of 'disaster kits'? Well, isn't plastic made from petrochemicals? NO BLOOD FOR PLASTIC SHEETING! NO BLOOD FOR PLASTIC SHEETING!

By: konolia

konolia — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:01:48 -0800

Tonight on the news they said to forget the duct tape and plastic sheeting. If contaminated, cut the clothing off with a knife (so as not to get the crap in one's eyes) and shower. Thinking Norma Rae here.

By: konolia

konolia — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:02:57 -0800

Did I say knife? I meant scissors. Remember not to run with them.

By: groundhog

groundhog — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:15:48 -0800

Short of a major bio-attack, I seriously doubt that any local emergency would exceed something like a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane. After surviving Andrew and its aftermath in '92- no electricity for 3-4 weeks, debris-blocked roads, looters, broken/missing roofs & windows, etc. etc. we've already got all the stuff the feds say we should have. Just need to stock up on gas for the generator, and fresh ammo for the rifle. If worse comes to worse, I already have enough plywood, 2x4's, duct tape and plastic sheeting in my garage to build a nice refuge camp for the neighbors. I also remember the "kiss your ass goodbye" thing from the 60's. It was a poster or something, and went sorta like this: In the event of emergency, bend over grasp legs firmly, and kiss your ass goodbye

By: groundhog

groundhog — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:18:21 -0800

Thinking Norma Rae here Or Karen Silkwood, even.

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 18:23:03 -0800

-Shane - re: kiss your ass goodbye - I believe that was a Bloom County strip...but I can't find a link -BTW, the "kiss your ass goodbye" thing I remember from the Sixties, well before Bloom County. -ass-kissing thing: No, they didn't originate it, but XTC made good use of the phrase in 1980's Living Through Another Cuba, All of the above? Wish I could find the Opus link too, vito.

By: Jade Dragon

Jade Dragon — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 20:51:07 -0800

We faced a major Ice Storm here in Quebec a few years ago, along with severe power outages ranging from a few days to get this.... a few weeks! This in the middle of winter in the "Great White North". Can give you a whole new perspective on preparednes... Ever since then, we've always kept an informal "Just In Case Kit" in our home, with extra firewood, candles, several decaliters of bottled water, radio & extra batteries, extra warm blankets, manual can opener and food that doesn't need refrigeration or can be cooked/warmed over the fire. We also keep our cell phone battery fully charged at all times, with a list of important numbers. We also have a "Winter Car Kit" that goes into our car every winter with all the necessities, such as warm blankets, emergency reflector blankets, jumper cables, flashlight & extra batteries, candle & tin, matches, cold weather munchies (granola bars, juice boxes, chocolate energy bars), a folding triangular reflector, emergency flares, folding snow shovel, kitty litter for traction, and a few other extras. Of course, I have a Saturn wagon, so I actually have room for all this... ;-) It can sound like a little paranoia, but it only takes living through one major natural disaster, emergency situation or winter break-down to appreciate being a bit prepared. It's not like any of us like to think of potential scary situations (whether natural disaster or terrorist-caused), and that they cannot affect us; but even if *that* one doesn't happen, your emergency kits can also be used for many other unexpected situations. If you can afford it, I'd recommend putting together a general purpose emergency kit for your home or car -- just think of it as insurance... and if you never have to use it; just consider yourself lucky!

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 22:12:25 -0800

I knew I should have bought duct tape futures.

By: skyscraper

skyscraper — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 23:22:51 -0800

Those of us who are old enough to duck and cover without irony know this: a natural disaster ain't nothin' compared to a wily evil foe. Unless you're convinced that God is after you with that earthquake, the anarchist (oops, excuse me terrorist) with that round black bomb w/fuse, running towards your sister/brother/mother/son/etc, is much scarier. Why, he (or, much more unlikely, she) might even be as crafty/vengeful as you! Of course, slapping some duct tape over the fuse would return us to normalcy um normalcy, err, there, normalcy.

By: brettski

brettski — Wed, 12 Feb 2003 01:46:18 -0800

Now where's my y2k survival kit again?

By: asok

asok — Wed, 12 Feb 2003 06:44:53 -0800

What about an anti-terrorism fridge magnet? That'll learn 'em! 'Ever since the government announced earlier last week that it was sending millions of 'anti-terrorism kits' to every household in the country, the reaction from ordinary Australians has ranged from amusement to deep-seated cynicism.' 'Jim Soorley, the mayor of Australia's third largest city, Brisbane, has urged people to write 'return to sender' on the pack and mail it back. In the letters pages of one major newspaper this week the response of one member of the public was sceptical to say the least: 'Roger, wilco. Received the terrorism kit at 0400 hours. Held secret briefing with 2IC in garage to discuss contents -- blackout conditions, of course. Mother-in-law asleep on picket again. Slapped her on a charge -- can't afford slackers here, what. PS: Opened kit but can't find bully beef. No instructions for fridge magnet.'' Don't know whether to laugh or cry.

By: adzuki

adzuki — Wed, 12 Feb 2003 11:41:13 -0800

All this reminds me of an animated film I saw a few days ago, "When the Wind Blows". It's the saddest film ever, featuring your normal retired British couple dying after a nuclear attack in the WWIII. Half of the film is spent in simular "preparation" for the disaster, also following governmental instructions. Of course, the instructions are fairly useless against a nuclear bomb. This is just being morbid, of course, but the simularity is a bit disturbing.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Wed, 12 Feb 2003 12:12:35 -0800

"While I put together my survival kit of duct tape and canned soup, I hope an administration spokesman will explain why we are sending 150,000 troops to overthrow Saddam Hussein when we wouldn't send in 5,000 to capture or kill bin Laden."

By: briank

briank — Wed, 12 Feb 2003 12:27:35 -0800

I have some stale toast and apple cores in the backseat of my car. That ought to be worth something. Oh, and don't forget to stock up on taco sauce packets from Taco Bell.