by Reltney McFee, Survival Blog:
(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)
June
June is the month to assess the animals: are their vaccinations current? How is that Veterinary Medic Bag coming along? In addition, while I am out and about, June might be a nice month to function test my generator, and, following the thought that a power failure might require my generator to function, would it not be nice to have, gosh, LIGHT, while poking around getting such things set up?
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Why, now that you ask, yes! Yes, light would be pleasant! I checked the batteries in January, and this month’s check both rides on January’s coat tails, as well as specifically focuses on the lights that I carry daily. Years ago, I was an RN working ICU on midnights. On a couple of occasions, the mains power failed and (to my dismay) the emergency generator at the hospital employing me did NOT power up.
It gets might, mighty dark in an ICU at oh-dark-hundred! I now carry two belt flashlights because “1 is none, and 2 is 1”. Due to this “2=1, 1=none” calculus, I also have two pen style flashlights in my shirt pocket at all times, as well as one coin cell click light on my badge, and an Streamlight Proton Light (powered by 4 x LR 41 batteries) on my key ring.
ANIMALS
Are vaccinations current?
Veterinary care supplies: (list)(out-date)(status/condition)
GENERATOR
Function Test/Run under load (heater)
Preventative maintenance: oil change? (Belts/other) need (inspection/servicing)?
LANTERNS AND BATTERIES (see battery list for locations)
Battery charge?
Battery condition?
EVERYDAY CARRY LIGHTS
Penlights
Click Light
O Light
Sure Fire light (on belt)
Thor Fire light (on belt)
RECURRENT CHECKS
Check Radios/Batteries
Change BOB Food and Water
July
July is the month I captioned “Transport and Security”. Transport, because TDW-Mark II and I like to travel and camp. You might wonder if that might be something to accomplish in, say March or April, rather in the thick of let’s-go-camping season. You would be correct in this wondering. Your list might well juggle which task(s) get assigned to which month(s), which is as it should be.
For myself, every month, when I enter into my checks, I review just that thought, and fine tune my calendar just a bit.
Security audits consist of, fundamentally, assessment of potential threats, and review of plans to address each threat. Some of the threats are addressed by responses to other threats. For example, should you have a plan for Antifa style rioting, it is likely that your plans would prove helpful in the event of a huge uprising. On the other hand, a plan for a B & E of your dwelling might not successfully address the hazards to be found in a wildfire approaching your home. You need to triage, or rank-order, what threats you consider a significant threat, and plan for those easily thwarted, and those whose attack would be catastrophic. THAT analysis is an entirely different topic, but you ought to annually consider what threats that you may face, and evaluate your plans to address them.
TRANSPORT
Gasoline: Amount, age, condition. Stored safely? (generally, storage in accordance with fire codes maps pretty neatly onto safe storage)
Propane: Amount, age, condition. Stored safely?
Kerosene: Amount, age, condition. Stored safely?
Charcoal: Amount, age, condition? Stored safely?
Butane: Amount, age, condition? Stored safely?
TRANSPORT: Medic bags/first aid kits/Boo-boo kits (my vehicle)(TDW-MarkII’s vehicle)(Camper) (house)
Out-date check. Condition check: visually inspect.
SECURITY
GUNS
Inventory. Clean/lubricate
AMMO
Inventory. Visually inspect: condition/age/recharge desiccant packs.
Restock/shortfall list
SECURITY AUDIT:
House
Vehicles
Clean, service guns for vehicles
Recurring Checks
CHECK RADIOS AND BATTERIES
August
Abruptly changing gears, and (at least for now, on this topic) demonstrating some foresight, August is time to repack my Bug Out Bag (or, in my case, most likely to be a Get Me Home Bag). I checked licenses and documents of various sorts in May: in August I check the copies I have with me in my BOB. You may elect to carry hard copies, or copies on a thumb drive, or on an encrypted thumb drive. If hard copy, assessing condition/legibility of these documents that you elect to have with you, is reasonable. If hard drive, well, function test your drive, and make sure (a) that you can read the documents, as well as (b) that you can recall, and successfully enter, your key so as to access encrypted documents.
August is a good time to begin to change my summer load out for my winter/autumn load out. Doing so in August allows me time to address shortfalls or spoiled items, before the need for a cold weather bag drops on me.
BUG OUT BAG
Prep winter bag: inspect, inventory contents: (condition)(serviceability)(out-dates)
Change out BOB food, water
Change to winter bag 15 September
Emergency Cash: (Amount? Specie? Bills or coins?)
Documents: Marriage/professional licenses/certifications. ID. (passport copy?) Deed, vehicle titles. (thumb drive vs hard copy)
(FINISH CHECKS FROM JULY)
RECURRING CHECKS
FLUSH HOT WATER HEATER
CHANGE STORED WATER
CHECK RADIOS AND BATTERIES
SERVICE AMMO CAN DESSICANT PACKS (if not performed in July)
September
September is the month that I have selected to apply to medical and first aid matters. Should my CPR, first aid, or other training approach need for renewal/re-certification, I have 3 months to accomplish same in this calendar year. In my circumstance, my employer provides funds for continuing medical education, and this is a reasonable target for such an expenditure.
In addition, we put up the camper for the winter around this time, and that should be a trigger to inspect the camper itself, and, along with that, the supplies that go with it. Removal of the first aid kit and boo-boo kits from the camper, triggers a review of the contents of all the medic bags, first aid kits, and boo boo kits. After all, after a summer in the trunk/back seat/other of the camper/vehicle one/vehicle two, it’s reasonable to wonder what these hot adverse conditions have had on the contents. Tape, in particular, tends to coalesce into a useless gummy mass, and that ought to be identified, and replaced, BEFORE I find myself at the roadside at a rollover collision. Or, more prosaically, BEFORE I send my foot through the rotted deck of a trailer that I am loading, abrading the bejabbers out of my leg, and allowing me to provide all and sundry a continuing medical education moment on Field Care Of The Mark 1, Mod Ø Geezer-on-Anticoagulants Hematoma. Ya know, hindsight IS 20/20!
