Emergency Road Kit for your Car

Below is a list of things you will need to prepare an emergency car kit for road emergencies. Always keep the winter safety and emergency equipment in your car regardless of the season. (If you take them out you might forget to put them back in when winter comes again.)

KEEP THE FOLLOWING NEAR YOUR DRIVER'S SEAT

Food that won't spoil, such as energy bars.

Water—plastic bottles that won't break if the water freezes (replace them every six months).

Thick Warm Blanket.

Extra clothing and shoes or boots.

First aid kit.

Seatbelt cutter or other sharp tool. (Store the seatbelt cutter near your driver's seat, so you can grab it and use it quickly if the car is flooding with water.)

Small shovel, scraper and snowbrush.

Large candle in a deep can and matches. The candle will keep you warm in the event you become trapped in your car and need to wait for a rescue.

Wind‑up flashlight.

Whistle or horn in case you need to attract attention.

Roadmaps.

Backpack in case you need to get out of there on foot.

TRUNK ITEMS

Gasoline can for if you need to trek to the nearest gas station.

Car jack.

Spare tire.

Basic tools + a Tire Iron.

Sand, salt or cat litter (non-clumping), for adding grip under your tires.

Antifreeze and windshield washer fluid.

Tow rope.

Jumper cables.

Fire extinguisher.

Warning light or road flares.

Print out the Emergency Car Kit list. Cross items off the list as you put them in your car. Drive safe!

Nuclear War Survival Kit

Similar to making a Bug Out Bag, a Nuclear War Survival Kit is a good idea if you live near a major city that is likely to be a target for a nuclear missile.

Or a dirty bomb which exposes the region to radiation.

Or even a nuclear meltdown at a nearby nuclear plant.

Or the accidental detonation of a nuclear bomb at a military base.

Whatever the cause you will need things to warm you about the radiation you are being exposed to, and also ways to protect yourself from nuclear fallout (such as locking yourself in your basement and sealing all the entrances with tape and plastic to prevent fallout materials from getting in).

Nuclear fallout typically comes via water droplets from the sky, brought to the ground via rain, dust, wind, etc. Radiation can travel thousands of miles, and once it hits, it’s not going away any time soon. Chernobyl is still uninhabitable to this day.

The top 18 inches of top soil will need to be cleared away from any contaminated land before it can even be safely used, that is how bad nuclear fallout is. Otherwise you will be growing crops that will give people radiation sickness.

Your Nuclear War Survival Kit Should Contain

Geiger Counter/Radiation detector: Whether it’s an old-school Geiger counter or a NukAlert system, you need something that tells you where it’s safe.

Dosimeters: These devices will keep track of just how much radiation you’ve been exposed to.

Thyrosafe: These potassium iodide tablets will keep your thyroid gland safe from radiation.

Radioactive masks: You’ll need masks specifically designed to protect from radiation, not those masks that guard against the flu.

Safe food and water, and containment: Any survival kit you purchase for nuclear purposes will probably have some food bars and safely packaged food, but you also need to make sure that you have safe containers for food and water around your shelter.

Water filter: You can never be too safe during nuclear fallout. Make sure you have a filtration system for your drinking water.

Plastic and tape: You may need to quarantine yourself in a location such as a basement. Plastic will keep the basic fallout particles out and tape will allow you to make it even more secure from particles by blocking the cracks under doors, around window frames, etc.

OPTIONALS

Gun + ammo. Lots of ammo, as bullets will become scarce over time. Don't carry the gun openly when meeting refugees, better if they don't know you have it as refugees will be desperate people who might try stealing your food, water, weapons, etc.

Secondary weapon that doesn't require bullets (which might become scarce), such as a crossbow, bow, spear, slingshot, etc. An homemade crossbow is a fun woodworking project and fairly easy to make - and easy to learn how to use.

Fire extinguisher. Because you never know what can happen.

Stock pile of food and water for longer durations. (If you are closer to the blast you might find yourself trapped in your basement and need days to dig your way out.)

Water purifier caplets - don't drink any water from lakes or rivers, only ground water from a deep well.

Stock pile of commonly needed medicines such as antibiotics that would be useful when dealing with infections, injuries.

Shovel, handy as both a secondary weapon, but also for burying bodies, digging through rubble, etc.

A Bug Out Bag, in case you need to leave town in an hurry.

Horses - Off the Grid care and maintainence for Equines

Honestly if you are keeping horses it is going to get expensive. Expect to be spending about $2,000 per year on each horse.

Part of that annual cost will be veternarian bills, shots, etc. Without regular vet visits you increase the chances your horse gets sick and dies from an illness (horses are like 5 year old humans, they get sick easily).

Another part will be whether you are shoeing your horses. Horse shoes are mandatory if you are riding your horse over any hard surfaces (pavement, rocks, etc). Without horse shoes the horse will hurt their feet on the hard surfaces, become lame, and it will cost you way more in veterinarian bills.

If on the other hand there are no hard roads, no rocky surfaces then you will be fine. This means you will need to think ahead when it comes to where you can ride your horse.

So yes, if you have lots of soft dirt for your horse to roam around on - large grassy fields, soft riding trails, etc - then absolutely, skipping horse shoes will be a possibility.

Which will save you time and money because horses need to be fitted for new horse shoes every couple of months.

Feeding your horse is not quite so onerous. You just need adequate foods that horses can eat - and you need to avoid anything that is potentially poisonous. Because otherwise your horse will eat it, get sick and die.

Basically the long and short of it is that caring for a horse is going to be a long and difficult process - which is why most horse owners choose to hire someone else to do it for them and have their horses stabled on a farm explicitly made for horse lovers. (Such horse farms are pricey however, just a warning. But at least they reduce stress.)

So before you think you can just go out there and buy an horse and use it for transportation or as a pet, think again. Do your research. Talk to horse owners. They are way more expensive to take care of than the actual cost of the animal.

Bow Hunting Laws in Ontario

Here is a list of laws for bow hunting in Ontario.

#1. You must be over 16 years of age and have a valid Ontario Outdoors Card.

#2. You must have the appropriate tags for what you are hunting (eg. buck deer tags if you want to hunt male deer).

#3. You must complete a hunting training course and written test (the test is really easy to pass) to obtain your hunting license.

#4. You must use the minimum poundage on your bow for what you are hunting. For deer it is 39.7 lbs. For elk, moose or black bear the minimum is 48.5 lbs. Note: Most deer hunters use 45 lbs and most elk or moose hunters use 50 lbs. Bear hunters often want a little more power, typically using anywhere from 55 to 75 lbs.

#5. You can only hunt during designated bow hunting seasons. (The exact dates vary on the type of animal.)

#6. You cannot hunt in Ontario cities or near towns / you can only hunt in areas that are designated safe to hunt.

#7. Observe and adhere to "no trespassing" signs. Failure to do so can result in both trespassing and poaching if you are caught. If hunting on a farm or someone else's property you should obtain permission from the owner before going on their property. This is also a safety concern as some people might have dangerous terrain and don't want people on their land if they fall and hurt themselves. In some cases they might even have bear traps out there, so you really don't want to lose a leg by trespassing on an area with random bear traps.

#8. No hunting on Crown land where hunting has been strictly prohibited.

For recurve, longbow or compound bow archery lessons in the GTA contact CardioTrek.ca.

Traditional Archery Roving in Norway

Roving is a traditional practice of archery dating back centuries whereby you go for a nature walk and shoot targets along the way. There is even songs about it...

A Roving We Will Go, We Will Go No More A Roving, etc. There is a lot of old songs about roving.

In the olden days groups of men (usually young unmarried men) would grab their archery equipment and go for nature walks, roving as they went along - sometimes with alcohol - and have a really fun time walking along and shooting things in the distance.

Back then and even now roving was a good way to practice your hunting skills without actually injuring anything.

In the video below is a Norwegian couple who demonstrate roving in the woods.

As archery oriented sports go it looks pretty fun. Very good practice for hunting too.


Not to be confused with another archery sport, which is Clout Shooting. Clout shooting your goal is to shoot for distance, but still manage to hit within a radius of a flagpole. It is a bit like lawn darts for distance shooters. For men the clout distance is 180 yards, for women 140 yards. (These rules sometimes vary by country. The distances mentioned here are British GNAS.)

Scoring for clout shooting is as follows:

18 inches	5
3 feet	4
6 feet	3
9 feet	2
12 feet	1
> 12 feet (3.7 m)	0

Clout Archery traditionally used rope to mark the boundaries of each radius.

As archery sports go there is also Popinjay - which involves shooting at a fake bird on top of a pole.

Woods Walk with a Hummingbird Hybrid Longbow

Watch the vidoe below to see how to make your own hunting archery range for simulating hunting. Good for practicing bowhunting.

Filling your Bug Out Bag

A Bug Out Bag is for people who want to get out of town in an hurry. Other names for such a bag are a BOB, 72-hour kit, a grab bag, a battle box, a Personal Emergency Relocation Kits (PERK), a go bag or a GOOD bag (Get Out Of Dodge) INCHBAG (I'm Never Coming Home Bag). The most commonly used term however is simply "Bug Out Bag".

Essentially the concept of a bug out bag is for when you need to leave in an hurry and you want to grab everything you need all at once. So instead of spending an hour looking for things and stuffing everything into your bag, you have a prepared bag which is ready to go - which you just grab and go immediately.

The suggested contents of a bug out bag vary depending on the website or group which prepared the list, but the commonly quoted items are as follows...

Enough water to last for 72 hours. In Canada the recommended amount is 2 litres per person per day for drinking plus an additional 2 litres per person per day for cleaning and hygiene. So 12 litres of water (12 kg) will add quite a bit of weight to your bag and make it quite bulky in an hurry. To save space many people only pack 2 litres of water with the intention of finding water as they go along - but that water could be contaminated by radioactive nuclear fallout dust.

Non-perishable food for 72 hours.

Water purification and sanitation supplies (toilet paper, etc).

Cooking supplies.

A first aid kit.

Fire starting tool (eg. matches, ferrocerium rod, lighter, etc).

A pocket survival guide.

Map of the region you are in, including waterways and railway tracks.

Camping equipment.

Weather appropriate clothing (eg. poncho, headwear, gloves, etc).

Sleeping bag and blankets.

Any medicine you require for 72 hours or more.

Battery or crank-operated radio.

Flashlight (crank or batteries) or glow sticks.

Cash and change.

Positive identification, such as passport, birth certificate, drivers license or social security card.

Fixed-blade and / or folding knife.

Small tool kit.

Duct tape, rope and / or fishing line.

Plastic tarps for shelter and water collection.

Compass.

Optional Weapon / Hunting / Fishing Gear (eg. slingshot, pellet gun, firearms + ammo, archery equipment, crossbow, etc).

Camping Off The Grid

One of the fastest ways to get off the proverbial grid is to go camping - and make the tent your permanent or semi-permanent home.

In which case I have some advice and tips for you...

#1. Get a big sturdy tent.

Because having lots of space inside there is definitely a plus. Especially if you have multiple people living in there. The extra sturdiness means it will be less bothered by wind and rain. You can even get a ridiculous multi-room tent like in the photo above.

#2. Get extra tarps.

I don't know why but even the nicest tents sometimes leak - or have condensation that sneaks through. Having extra rainproof tarps going over the tent will keep out the excess damp.

#3. Learn how to build a large traditional teepee - complete with chimney and firepit.

Honestly, this is the logical progression from the "big sturdy tent" to something you can actually cook food in without having to go outside. The fire means you can have extra heat in the tent, and the chimney means you aren't choking to death on smoke. Huzzah.

#4. Learn how to cook over a fire.

 Trickier than you think. Hence why I am recommending the following book.



#5. Learn how to forage for Food.

This is the quickest and most obvious choice for finding your own food. You will need to research this in detail but in the meantime here is a book I recommend.



#6. Learn how to Fish



Or Bowfishing




#7. Learn how to Hunt / Bowhunting





#8. Learn to skin, butcher animals and COOK THEM!

Try these books!







#9. Basic Survival Skills






#10. Remember to bring lots of toilet paper.

Yes, okay, you could use leaves - but remember to learn what poison ivy and poison oak looks like before wiping it on your bottom.

Huzzah!

PVC Longbows and Double Limbed Bow

PVC longbows are a great way to make a cheap yet powerful longbow. They're very easy to make and surprisingly powerful.

They do break sometimes however, but with practice you can get really good at making them.

Another fun thing to make - if you love DIY projects - is to make a double limbed bow which is much more powerful. See the videos further below to see what I mean.

For hunting purposes please remember that your bow needs to be over 40 lbs to be legal for hunting (over 48.5 if you want to hunt for moose, elk or black bear) - otherwise you are more likely to injure the animal and not actually kill it. Most deer hunters use 45 lbs and most moose hunters use 50 lbs. Some hunters go over that, but it is unnecessary and overkill.






Below are some photos of similar double limb bows, made from wood / etc.

List of Cooling Systems for Off the Grid Living

Air conditioners use a lot of electricity, but there are other ways to keep your home cool if you are living off the grid - although having the necessary cash is prohibitive for some of these ideas below.

#1. Geothermal - Useful for both heating your home in the winter and cooling your home in the summer. Basically it recycles air from below the ground into your home, which then averages out the temperature since the temperature below ground is much cooler in the summer and much warmer in the winter. (Kind of useless in spring or autumn however.)

#2. Cross Breeze - This is an old way of doing things, but still effective. You use drapes to keep out the heat from the sun, but open the windows on opposite sides of the house to let a cross breeze go through the entire house.

#3. Water Cooled Air Conditioner - Honestly I only have a vague idea of how it works, here is the diagram below. From what I can tell it works similar to a geothermal unit, but using water as a cooling agent.

#4. Dehumidifier - Often it isn't so much the heat that is a nuisance. It is the humidity in the air that makes it feel even hotter. To solve this a Dehumidifier can be a very handy solution - and price wise they don't cost much. Energy use varies however so look for an energy efficient one.

#5. Trees - This is an old trick. You plant leafy deciduous trees on the southern side of your house and pine / spruce trees on the north side. In the summer the leafy trees on the south provide shade and absorb a lot of the heat. In the winter the evergreens provide protection from winds from the north, while the leafless trees on the south side let in warmth from the sun.

#6. Ivy - Grow ivy and similar vines (eg. grapes) on the south, west and east sides of your home. The ivy absorbs a lot of the heat from the sun and keeps the house cooler. However ivy can cause damage to the brickwork of your home over the long term.

#7. Reflective Shutters - Shutters by themselves are handy things, but what if they were designed to be more like mirrors? Reflective shutters bounce light/heat away from your windows and keep the interior cooler.

Note: You can also get reflective blinds, but they're less effective because they're inside the window, whereas shutters are on the outside.

#8. Ceiling Vent - Similar to a cross breeze, but since hot air rises this is more effective.

#9. Fans - Not the most effective route honestly. Fans work best in combination with a cross breeze or a ceiling vent. Otherwise you are just blowing hot air around. A dehumidifier is a more effective use of your electricity on a hot and humid day. If you simply must get a fan then get a ceiling fan.

#10. Start using your imagination. Everything from building an ice cellar to bringing blocks of ice out of the freezer.

Off the Grid Technology

The following is a list of technological things useful for making a green home that is off the grid.

ELECTRICITY
Wind Turbine
Solar Panels
Hydrogen Power Converter
Water Turbine / Water Wheel
Wave Power Generator
Battery System

HEATING / COOLING
Geothermal
Solar Thermal Collector
Biomass Stove

WATER
Water Tank
Water Pump
Water Filter
Hot Water Tank / Hot Water Heater

WASTE
Septic Tank
Incinerator

If your home is completely self sufficient you won't even need a connection to the electricity grid (and you pay less land taxes if you don't have the connection). However the cost of getting all of these fancy toys for your home can be daunting which is why many people prefer a DIY approach to Off the Grid living.

Instinctive Shooting for Archery

If you are looking to hunt using archery then one way to learn how to shoot is Instinctive. See the video below which explains how to shoot instinctively.

For archery lessons in Toronto visit CardioTrek.ca.

Reasons people like Survivalism

Burt Gummer - Stereotype of a Survivalist

Survivalism is a social movement wherein a variety of people (often from different backgrounds / modes of life) believe something bad is going to happen and believe in preparing for it so that they can survive.

Hollywood has a history of making fun of survivalists - and celebrating them at the same time.

Take for example the classic 1990 film "Tremors".

Burt Gummer Quote - "Food for five years, a thousand gallons of gas, air filtration, water filtration, geiger counter. Bomb shelter! Underground... God damn monsters."

Burt Gummer is a fascinating character in terms of the way that he has been stereotyped - the essential stereotype of survivalist with conspiracy theories about the government and the myriad ways "the feds" are trying to control people.

The character was so popular they made Tremors 2, 3, 4 and a tv show with Burt Gummer as the main character. (Although in Tremors 4 it is supposed to be his great-grandfather, but it is played by the same actor.)



Below a classic scene from the 1990 movie.


And now back to the main topic...

Having determined the stereotype of the kind of people who become survivalists (they are not all like Burt Gummer after all) lets look at the reasons WHY they become Survivalists. Most of it is due to fear of one of the following things:

For fun every second one is a less believable reason. :)

#1. Nuclear War - Which is certainly a possibility. Especially with countries like North Korea who have nuclear warheads and missiles capable of reaching mainland USA.

#2. Zombie Apocalypse - It will never happen, but it is a great topic for movies and TV shows like "The Walking Dead". And I wouldn't be surprised if there was a few people out there who believe it could happen.

#3. Economic Collapse - A real possibility. I would argue there is even a higher chance of this than nuclear war (although the two could coincide, one kickstarting the other). In a country like the USA for example all that needs to happen is for the American dollar to drop dramatically in value to the point that Americans are reduced to near slavery in order to make enough to survive - and when that happens people will become more militant, crime will be rampant, and society will slowly fall apart as the USA becomes one big ghetto. Although to be fair #10 will probably happen at the same time.

#4. Alien Invasion - Scientifically this is a possibility, but a remote one. More likely we would pick up alien transmissions from a distant star system long before actual first contact with an alien species. If our governments have made any communications with aliens in the past they certainly are not telling us about it. And why should they? It would cause a collapse when we would need to pull together and stay focused.

#5. Plague - Some kind of deadly super-virus could wipe out a huge chunk of the Earth's human population easily. Depending on how quickly the virus jumped from host to host the contagion could wipe out 90% of humans within a matter of a week. Depending on how deadly the virus is we can expect nation wide quarantines and the virus would likely be contained to specific regions. The real question then would be whether governments acted quickly enough to quarantine regions, or whether they would wait until it was too late and the virus was too widespread.

#6. The ATMs Rise Up - The robots are out to get us, oh no! Science fiction can come up with anything these days.

#7. Government Takeover - Government surrenders to a superior force (like in the 1984 movie Red Dawn and the 2012 remake), government turns into a dictatorship, corporate takeover of government (including privatization of police and military)... or even the government has slowly become too weak to do anything and there is really nobody in charge - and laws have become almost meaningless. Some of these are more likely than others.

#8. Government Organized Cull - This idea is somewhat farfetched, but is indeed a possibility. Basically it harkens to the idea that the various governments would deliberately kill off large numbers of the human population because humans have become too plentiful and we are fighting over resources. At almost 7 billion people the argument could be made that we have too many people, not enough water and food to go around, so lets kill off about 86% of the population in each country and then start afresh from the population we had back in 1750 (1 billion for all of the Earth). However what is farfetched is the idea that our governments would willingly seek to kill off large parts of their family and friends - and willing risk that their plan will go perfectly without screwing up somehow. What is far more likely is we will just have wars over resources - and use chemical or biological weapons against enemies in order to more quickly secure those resources.

#9. Global Warming - Rising sea levels, weird weather, the world slowly going to hell, people eventually fighting over food shortages. All certainly a real possibility.

#10. Civil War - For Canada it would be our first civil war. For the USA it would be the 2nd Civil War. The exact cause doesn't really matter. The point is that some people believe it could happen. One such group, the Hutaree, back in 2010 was mere weeks from launching their own private civil war in an effort to separate part of the USA away from the other states and make their own separate country. They thought that if they got the ball rolling that other militia groups would join them and they would be able to control Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Fortunately they got caught by an undercover FBI agent. I don't think militias could accomplish anything big however. The best they can hope for is things like the Waco siege or the Oklahoma City bombing - and while those did cause significant loss of life, they ultimately failed to convince anyone of their political motivations. Ignoring a militia led civil war, it is entirely possible a civil war in the USA could be fought if communism ever started to rise to power during a moment of economic instability of such a length that enough people would consider communism to be the better option - and this would lead to fighting against pro-communism and anti-communism states.

Conclusions?

Honestly, there are many other reasons why people might become a survivalist who lives off the grid. Reasons as simple as being a germaphobe.

Deer Crossing Lady on the Radio

I normally don't post funny things on Project Gridless but I made an exception for this because I felt the video was both "that funny" and worth sharing on here.



And Part Two below...

Archery - Uphill and Downhill Shooting Video

Archery - Uphill and Downhill Shooting Video

Useful for both exercise and hunting.

For archery lessons in Toronto visit CardioTrek.ca.

25 Examples of Off the Grid Homes + Green Architecture

There is an unlimited number of ways a person can design an off the grid home when it comes to architecture. They might design it like a log cabin, they might go ultra modern, their focus might be to make it a green home, or they might try a myriad other ways to create their own version of sustainable architecture.

Here are 25 examples of architecture being used to create different versions of off the grid homes.