Make an earthquake kit

- Use old green backpack to make a “go kit.”

- Put in it: batteries, flashlights, first aid kit, food and water.

- Fill a plastic bin with a longer list of stuff like Waterfall Nymph listed.

I really need to do this. I live in California and there is always talk about The Big One.

I keep saving clippings showing all the things I should store up and all the tools I should have on hand, and these clippings get glanced at in a pile every few months, yet I still have a hundred sharp and heavy objects up high on bookshelves ready to kill us at the slightest tremor. Well, at least the kitchen cupboards have baby locks on them to keep the dishes in. In theory.

It was the lead story on the national news on the radio at midnight too. Which is weird because it was so small I didn’t even notice it at the time! But I never seem to notice the little ones.

It’s the Big One I gotta make my kit for.

I checked off “buy a shower radio” the other day, which was a worthy goal in itself (gets me out of the house faster in the morning) AND that shower radio will be good in a disaster, too.

Moved the cans out to their safe location.

I’ve still got a few things to put in once I make my next trip to the market – matches, tp, etc. But just walking down to the cans is easy enough.

And really, if disaster came tonight we’d be OK now. So yay!

I still need water, first aid kit

Consider this
TOOLS AND SUPPLIES

• Paper cups, plates, and plastic utensils
• Battery-operated radio and extra batteries
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Cash or traveler’s checks, in case banks are closed in the days following an earthquake
• Non-electric can opener or a utility knife
• Small fire extinguisher
• Pliers
• Tape
• Matches in a waterproof container
• Aluminum foil
• Plastic storage containers
• Signal flare
• Paper, pencil
• Needles, thread
• Medicine dropper
• Wrench, to turn off gas and water

SANITATION

• Toilet paper
• Soap, liquid detergent
• Feminine supplies
• Plastic garbage bags and ties
• Plastic bucket with tight lid
• Disinfectant
• Household chlorine bleach

CLOTHING AND BEDDING

• Sturdy shoes or work boots (keep near your bed)
• Rain gear
• Blankets or sleeping bags
• Warm clothing
• Sunglasses (keep your spare eyeglasses in the emergency kit, too.

DOCUMENTS

• Will, insurance policies, contracts deeds, stocks and bonds
• Passports, social security cards, immunization records
• Bank account numbers
• Credit card account numbers and companies
• Inventory of valuable household goods, important telephone numbers
• Family records (birth, marriage, death certificates)

Ordered emergency kits for both our cars and 3 days of freeze dried food for all of us.

I have a feeling that having the food will motivate me to finish this project. Gosh, I hope so!

I picked up two gallon jugs of water at the store middle of this week. Put those over in the corner next to my battery-less flashlight and a little LED flasher that runs off watch batteries.

Think I’m going to make two kits. One for each car. Will start with the big kit for the “boob-er-sue”.

For that I want the following:

- food – MREs + Granola/Power bars
- water purification tablets
- first-aid kit
- emergency radio
- emergency blanket
- small blanket
- cheap rain poncho
- extra pair of socks
- jumper cables
- fire extinguisher (5 lb., A-B-C type)
- shovel
- swiss army knife (or similar)
- kit container

By the end of October. Why? I don’t know … Halloween????

This entry leaves me with one thought, cliché as it might be it is true:

It’s better to have and not need than to need and not have.

in this case it would really suck not having.