Test run your generator?
Rotated you gasoline stores?
Tested your smoke and/or carbon monoxide detectors?
Checked your household and vehicle fire extinguishers?
Given your dog his heart worm pill and flea/tick treatment?
Changed your HVAC filters?
Test run all your small engine equipment?
Using My Gear
Today I went fishing with some old friends (including Ryan Hood, check out his debut album, Coming Home, for some great songs inspired by the rural lifestyle), on a rented pontoon boat on Lake Anna. Lake Anna is a 13,000 acre man-made lake that was built primarily as a cooling supply for the North Anna nuclear power station. Not being a regular fisherman, I had to put together a small emergency kit in case it hit the fan while we were out on the water. I used a small backpack and included: cell phone, toilet paper in a ziplock bag, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, Sport Berkey water bottle, my EDC kit including my Nuk-Alert, CRKT Sting 1A, fleece jacket, the rain coat I reviewed a couple days ago, and I slipped my NAA .22 mini revolver into my tackle box.
They were calling for 85 and sunny today, so all I expected to need was the sunscreen. I don't know what the temperature was, but it was overcast, chilly, and windy. I pulled on the fleece and rain jacket within minutes of leaving the dock, and kept them on all day. The layering functioned great and the rain jacket is an excellent windbreaker. It would have been miserable without both of them. My NukAlert was a comfort. I obviously did not expect it to go off when we were around the power plant, but I felt better just having it. Finally, I used my Sport Berkey to have clean drinking water from the lake with no worries of contamination. Plus, the Sport Berkey and the NukAlert provided some conversation starters about preparedness.
After all that, I only caught one fish, a channel cat, but enjoyed the outing and putting a few items of prep gear to practical useage. We also had a great time catching up and shooting the breeze.
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Checked the smoke alarms, after reading this I went and checked my hose extinguisher and the one in the truck. It sure is a secure feeling to know that if something happens like a weather change or anything else that you are prepared for it. Great post and thanks for the reminder on the fire extinguishers.
ReplyDeleteGlad to be of service. A lot of the reason I post this each month is that this is stuff I need to remember to do. I figure if I need reminding, other folks could too.
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