I’m sure there are much tougher dudes walking around- although those who know me do know I am basically a totally bad ass.  That being said this bad ass lived through the swine flu with no shots, no nasal spray and only about 5 bucks worth of over the counter meds.  Take that flu!

I have been missing from the site for a few weeks while dealing with this flu, which was in fact H1N1.  I cant speak for kids or the elderly but i lived to tell the tale with no help but some good common sense, although I may be guilty of spreading the disease to about 5 of my close friends, but they are tough and should be ok.

As a normal healthy adult I can say this- get the vaccine if you really want, but chances are you will deal with this thing just like you would the normal flu (which kills all kinds of people every year as it is).  There are probably bigger issues to worry about unless you fall into the high risk groups.  There you have it.

Google is great for all kinds of reasons, other than the fact if they ever go away I will basically loose all the information I have created or gathered in the last 8 years, but that aside….
Google has come up with google flu trends.  Based on google search criteria in different regions of the US google is attemping to predict the severity or flu infection across the world.   From Google:

We have found a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms. Of course, not every person who searches for “flu” is actually sick, but a pattern emerges when all the flu-related search queries are added together. We compared our query counts with traditional flu surveillance systems and found that many search queries tend to be popular exactly when flu season is happening. By counting how often we see these search queries, we can estimate how much flu is circulating in different countries and regions around the world. Our results have been published in the journal Nature.

Check out http://www.google.org/flutrends/ for more info and all kinds of cool graphs proving that you will get sick and that you will be googleing while in bed.

A while back I posted about how excited I was to see zombieland, because well it looked bad ass.  So last night I checked it out.  Here’s the deal:

I still don’t get the whole omission with Zombies attaching us,  maybe I have too many realistic things to worry about, or maybe im just not that easily scared (take that future zombies!).  The entire movie focuses on shooting zombies and that geeky guy from Adventureland in yet another amusement park trying to make out with yet another hot girl that wouldn’t ever talk to him in real life.

Like most Hollywood movies Zombieland is entertaining and totally ridiculous. no one ever gets hurt, no one reloads, no one stops to try to figure out how to eat or why everything is still powered or they are driving a cadillac instead of, I dunno, a tank or something…really thats as much as you need to know.

If you like a genuine portrayal of the human struggle or something with substance don’t watch this film, If you want to watch Woody Harrelson kick a lot of ass, then check it out, thats really all I got.

Im just going to explain the photo reference now so you wont spend the whole day confused….above is a picture of Kool and The Gange…the band..get it? the gang…..ugh get with it.

The urban survival what if debate often ends up with a scenario of gangs and looters roaming the streets.  I dont generally buy the what if hype, but this time we should all be listening up.

A while back I wrote about knowing your community, and who is in it to develop a realistic survival plan based on who and what is in your community.  To stress the importance of this understanding check this out:

According to CAL/GANG, a statewide database maintained by the California Department of Justice, the city of Los Angeles is home to 463 gangs with 39,032 members — about the same number as residents of Encino.

Among those, Latino gangs are the most numerous, with 22,309 members. Predominantly African American are the so-called Crip gangs, with 10,306 members, and Blood-affiliated gangs, with 4,209. The rest are smaller gangs. These numbers are down from 1997, when the database showed 64,000 gang members.

Countywide, CAL/GANG estimates there are 1,108 gangs with 85,298 members. About 53,121 are members of predominantly Latino gangs, while the Crips, with 210 cliques, have 17,542. The numbers include those for the city of Los Angeles.

To be listed in the CAL/GANG system, a person must meet two or more of the following criteria: be an admitted gang member, be named by a reliable informant, wear gang attire, display gang signs or tattoos, frequent gang areas or be arrested with known gang members

So if you live in a large city or urban area, even if you don’t agree with the position of preparing to be attacked by your own community the fact remains that in a large city  setting like LA your enemy might not be the natural disaster or the economic downturn, it might be the gangs that already roam your streets every day.

What am I saying exactly? I’m not saying go out and stock pile weapons but I am saying you should try to  understand the threat level on the street in its current condition and them multiply it significantly to understand a glimpse of the threat level you may face when dealing with a large scale disaster.  This is a problem that is mostly unique to the urban survivalist and we need to prepare for real world situations.  Like it or not they are out there and like it or not you should build your preparedness around real world foreseeable threats.

More more information about gangs check out www.streetgangs.com

Thanks to the avid stumbler/ doggie blogger/ all around good guy Brad over at www.goschnauzer.com I have learned how to make a belt, that looks and feels like a normal belt into (drum roll please…..) a 50 foot stash of paracord that you have ready at the moments notice!

Why would you do this? Because its cool, and that’s really important. Also because paracord can be used for near anything, like building a shelter, hanging a clothes line,  repairs etc..

What you need:

about 11 bucks of paracord

a belt buckle

The rest is explained in the link below.  I would credit it and inset it into the blog but these guys, no matter how cool the project has a super strict policy about using their content with out approval, and I have bigger things to worry about…so click the link below to see the step by step guide to making a paracord survival belt.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE A PARACORD SURVIVAL BELT

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE A PARACORD SURVIVAL BELT

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE A PARACORD SURVIVAL BELT

Yay there is an H1N1 vaccination! Hooray the government has bought basically the entire availible supply with the intention on supplying to to Americans!

But wait….where do I get vaccinated?  You could ask your doctor, but he/she dosnt know yet..ok ok why not ask your friends…because they dont know yet…ok, lets ask the CDC they should know about this stuff right? Sorry guys, they dont know yet either.

So what DO we know? Well we know that the first series of 45 million vaccinations are due to land mid October, but I also do know there are 159 million people who fall into the CDC’s recommended for vaccination list (based on age, and health condition)

Colleges and universities will offer the vaccine to students and, in many cases, to faculty as well, either free or for a nominal charge of perhaps $10 to $15 to cover administrative costs.

Most elementary and high schools will not offer the vaccines, however. “Schools have told us that it is too logistically complicated to send a permission slip home and have it returned,” Fielding said. Some schools may serve as vaccination sites, but only as part of a broader community program. Orange County has not yet determined whether it will run school programs, said county health director Dr. Nancy Bowen.

Other vaccination sites in Los Angeles County may include fairgrounds, civic centers, community centers and other facilities that can handle a high traffic flow, provide security and have sufficient parking. They should also be near bus stops or Metro stations, Fielding said. At most sites, the vaccines will be free, but pharmacies and physicians will most likely charge a small fee for administration of the vaccine.

Thanks LA times! that clears it up…or wait..so I can get a shot at a metro station? And the fair ground?

Here is the point I am making, no one has a plan that has been published on how to distribute this thing, no one knows if its going to be free for everyone of if we have to pay, all we do know is the first round isn’t enough and that WE DONT KNOW.

I am not too worried, I ve gotten many a flu and lived to tell the tale, but in the end its very concerning to realize that we plan to help cover the hisk of a large population being infected is not really done yet…with three weeks left before the first round of vaccinations land where ever it is they are landing.

Keep you ears open on this one and I will do the same, until then we can count or selves in the same boat as the rest of the gang…we just don’t know.

There is a good chance that if you are an urban survivalist you live above the street level somewhere.  I live on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a place downtown.  I am very aware that the possibilities of my one exit being blocked, especially after an earthquake are high.

If need be I can jump out of my lowest floor, but with a loaded pack it might be a bit tricky, with a few dogs it will be even trickier.  If you live even higher you may need a little help.

There are a few options out there to help you escape a high rise.  You can stock up on rope, they even make these parachute type things for super high rises, but if you are practical or don’t know how to tie a good knot you should consider buying an Emergency Ladder.

Bold Industries makes emergency ladders that are good for emergency escapes up to the 6th floor, above that you are on your own for conventional collapsible ladders (but you still have that rope right?).  These ladders are a great additional to your emergency plan especially if you have children or someone who may not be willing or able to jump from a window or shimmy down a rope.  Emergency ladders are not for static use but can be used for emergencies and practice runs of your escape plans.  Regardless of what brand you buy these ladders are a great buy, most of the ones that are any good range from 30-60 bucks (the higher the floor the more money you need to spend), which is a small price to pay for a safe easy way to get out of your home in a hurry.

Click the link check out more emergency ladder options

Click the link check out more emergency ladder options

Click the link check out more emergency ladder options

Every year around this time all of San Diego ALWAYS catches on fire…all of it…ALWAYS.  So maybe its time we stop worrying about terrorist and zombies and focus on something that ALWAYS happens.  Fire safety is one of those things that many of us take for granted.

If you life in a high risk area like southern California you NEED to educate your self about fire safety, and I’m not talking about the ‘ i just lit a hot dog on fire in the microwave stoned’ im talking about the ‘ my community is on fire and I don’t know what to do’ kind of fire safety.

A good place to start is www.firesaftey.gov.  There they cover the basics which include:

Get a Smoke Alarm

Make an Escape Plan

Practice Fire Safety

Residential Fire Sprinklers

What to Do After a Fire

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

One thing I cant stress enough, especially to us urban survivors living in places that we wont be able to fight fires in ourselves, is to make an escape plan.  Its critical to know the safest way to get out of your high rise, where to meet your family if you are separated and what to take in a hurry.  Its basically a classic bug out but with less what if’s.  You still need a bug out location, a bug out bag and potentiality a bug out vehicle to get you to your safe location.   Survival isn’t about the super bad ass shoot your way out stuff and is simply about preparing for things that really happen all the time.

Click here for some practical tips on how to stay safe in a fire.

Click here for some practical tips on how to stay safe in a fire.

There was a lot of confusion about swine flu a few months ago, and now although flu season is upon us no one seems to be that concerned.  Recently the CCDC hosted a 2 day work shop dedicated to the H1N1 virus, in attendance was Newsweek who compliled this great list of 11 things you need to know about swine flu…and here they are:

I’m a healthy adult. Do I need to be vaccinated?
Federal officials do not want to discourage anyone from getting the shot. But the CDC is only specifically recommending vaccinations for people at high risk for complications. “More than half the U.S. population is in these risks groups,” says Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). The groups are:

1) Health-care and emergency workers
2) Pregnant women
3) Children and young adults, from 6 months to 24 years of age
4) Parents and caretakers of babies under 6 months old (since infants under 6 months have a poor vaccine response, the best defense is having parents who are flu-free)
5) Adults ages 25 to 64 who have underlying medical conditions, including diabetes, asthma, and chronic lung disease or heart disease

So the answer to the question is generally no. As a healthy adult with no underlying conditions, you do not need a shot. But according to Schuchat, “Most adults don’t think of themselves as having risk factors, even when they do. They feel fine, they go to work.” If you have diabetes, consider getting a shot. If you have asthma, consider the shot.

When will the vaccine be available?
The government has ordered 195 million doses of vaccine, 45 million of which will be delivered by mid-October. But because most people lack prior immunity to the new H1N1 virus, officials expect that two injections will probably be necessary, spaced three weeks apart. Clinical trials are currently underway to  confirm whether two shots are actually needed and to determine the optimal dose. Re-sults from those trials will be available in late September or early October. But even after receiving the vaccine, a person will take at least five weeks to develop full immunity. (Preliminary reports from some drugmakers suggest that there may be swine-flu vaccines that work with just a single shot, but it’s unclear how that would af-fect the global vaccine supply; the World Health Organization has yet to review the data.)

So even if I get the shots right away, I won’t have proper immunity until December. Isn’t the swine-flu season supposed to peak in October?
Officials don’t know how the swine flu will behave this year. “The only thing that’s certain is uncertainty,” says Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC. Officials suspect that the flu season will strike early this year because—in contrast to seasonal flu—H1N1 continued circulating in the United States during the summer. The fact that school is coming back into session will likely fuel the spread. But it’s common for flu to continue infecting people through March or April.

Why are two shots thought to be necessary?
People born after 1957 have not been exposed to a similar virus. The first dose “primes” the immune system to respond, but it’s the second shot that triggers the production of antibodies. This is not unusual. A number of vaccines are given for the first time in multidose series. For example, the seasonal flu vaccine is given in two shots to children under 9 if they’ve never had the flu.

If I receive the swine flu shot, do I need the regular flu shot, too?
Yes, if you’re in the risk groups for both types of flu. That would mean a total of three shots—or four for a child under 9 who has not previously had the flu or been vaccinated for it.

Why does it take so long to produce a vaccine?
It is a multistep process, just as it is for seasonal influenza vaccine each year. However, the new H1N1 virus did not emerge until April in this country, so the process started later than usual. In May, scientists produced a recombinant version of the virus that would grow well in eggs. Vaccine manufacturers take that new virus and inject it into millions of eggs, where the virus replicates. When enough virus has formed, manufacturers harvest the virus, inactivate it, extract individual proteins from the viral coat, and combine those segments with other ingredients to produce a vaccine. (The process at this stage is slightly different for the nasal vaccine, which uses a live, if weakened, virus.) The vaccine then has to pass tests for potency and sterility. And clinical trials are needed to determine the optimal dose and number of shots that people will need. Trials for the H1N1 vaccine were announced in late July and should wind up around late September.

How effective is the vaccine?
It is expected to be very effective. The problem with normal flu vaccines is that influenza viruses are notorious “shape shifters,” says Dr. Jay Butler, director of the CDC’s H1N1 Vaccine Task Force. They mutate rapidly and can even exchange genes with other strains of flu. However, federal officials know from monitoring H1N1 in the Southern Hemisphere this summer that the virus has been unusually stable. Therefore the immune response generated by the vaccine should match the circulating strain of swine flu. “The vaccine will be effective,” says Butler.

Is it safe?
In 1976 more than 500 people contracted an autoimmune disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome after receiving swine-flu shots in response to a small outbreak in Fort Dix, N.J. Some people understandably fear a repeat of that tragic episode. However, vaccine-production techniques have changed since then. Today, vaccines are highly purified to eliminate any potential contaminants. In addition, scientists use only selected viral proteins in the shots, not the entire virus, as they did in the 1970s. “The public is comparing this vaccine to the 1976 swine-flu vaccine,” says CDC spokesperson Abbigail Tumpey. “In fact, the best comparison is to the seasonal vaccines of the last ten years.”

I’m concerned about reports of autism caused by vaccines.
Sore arms and mild fevers are not unusual after receiving seasonal flu shots. “But the science is extremely reassuring” that vaccines do not cause autism, says Kris Sheedy, director of community outreach for NCIRD. Anyone who’s concerned about the mercury-based preservative thimerosal (which is added to multidose vials of flu vaccine to prevent contamination) can request one of the thimerosal-free versions: the nasal vaccine or a single-dose preloaded syringe. The government anticipates having enough of these to meet the demand for young children and pregnant women. (There are some individuals who cannot receive the nasal version, including children under 24 months, children under 5 with asthma or recurrent wheezing, and asthmatics in general.)

This vaccine is egg-based. What if I’m allergic to eggs?
You should avoid the vaccine. If you’re in a high-risk group and you come down with the flu, see your doctor immediately. Antiviral medications, given within 24 to 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, can dramatically improve one’s outcome.

Until the vaccine is available, what should I do to protect myself?
It’s most important is to wash your hands frequently and well—20 seconds with soap and water—and avoid touching your eyes and nose. Alcohol-based hand gels are also effective. Second, to avoid spreading germs, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, preferably using your sleeve or a tissue. And third, if you’re sick or your child is sick, stay home until the fever has gone away for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.

If you have children there is a lot more gear involved in your day to day lives not to mention an emergency.  Children are very susceptible to trauma in an emergency and its our job as adults to make sure they are ok as they can be.  Survival for children is less about cool knives and that sniper school I went to that one time, and more about bringing a piece of the safety of home with them to an uncomfortable place.

FEMA has published some great basic material guidelines for childrens survival, much of it includes packing things to keep the kids busy, mentally stimulated and to give them an outlet to express themselves in a difficult time.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT FEMA FOR KIDS

CLICK HERE TO VISIT FEMA FOR KIDS

CLICK HERE TO VISIT FEMA FOR KIDS