Things to do in April, check your Water Tank

April 30th 2014.

In the somewhat amusing video below a guy checks to see if his water tank survived the winter.



Essentially the message I want to get across here is that every April you should be checking the status of your water tank to see if there any damage to it, any leaks, any repairs that are needed, whether it is tipping in any direction (it could happen...) and the overall status of the water tank.

In the above video they used a tarp / rain water collection system, wherein the rain hits the tarp, flows into the water tank and is then stored. In theory if they ever needed more water capacity, they should simply add more tarps / a larger tank. The water is then filtered before using.

Back in the Autumn we can also assume that you took steps to make sure your water tank survived the winter in the first place. If you did not, sucks to be you.

Along with checking the water tanks you will want to check the pipes - to make sure there is no blocks or leakages.

And lastly, check your water filtration system. You may need to clean or replace any filters.

And as they say in the video: "You never miss the water until the well is dry."

In which case you we could paraphrase that to:

"You never miss clean water until the water filter breaks."

 Below are some sample off grid water systems other people have done.

The last one I really like as it is using water from a source further uphill and could potentially be used to provide electricity too.

Survival of the Smartest

Survival of the Smartest is a simple concept. And it can be applied in many ways.

Examples...

#1. Your parents were smart and got you vaccinated from many diseases.

Therefore you don't die from the measles or something silly like that because you had idiotic parents who were gullible and thought vaccinations might give you autism. (How dumb do you have to be to believe autism can be caused by a vaccine???)

#2. Knowing what to do in the aftermath of a nuclear missile attack.

You survive because you know what foods to eat, where to get safe drinking water, how to get out of the fallout cloud in a hurry, that you should avoid looking at the blast because it can blind you, knowing where to go in order to get out of the path of radioactive fallout particles.

#3. Knowing how to build a shelter so you don't freeze to death.

Let us say your airplane crashes in the wilderness and you don't know how to build a shelter and stay warm. Chances are likely you are going to die from exposure (and get eaten by a bear). But knowing how to build a shelter, how to build a fire, how to catch fish, how to hunt for food, how to forage for food... these are all things that will keep you alive.

#4. Knowing which berries or mushrooms are poisonous.

This is a no brainer. Put simply, if a person just eats random berries and mushrooms in the wilderness as their source of food, with no clue as to which are poisonous and which are not then they are really just risking their lives in a game of Russian Roulette.

#5. Knowing first aid.

Knowing basic first aid - like St John's Ambulance training - can make a huge difference when someone you know suffer serious burns, electrocuted, heart attacks, etc. If you can revive them / heal them, your group of survivors have a better chance of living over the longer term. Strength in numbers.

#6. Knowledge of animals and their anatomy.

Let us pretend you get attacked by a bear. Having a superior knowledge of a bear's anatomy will increase your chances of scoring a hit to the bear's heart and lungs, provided you also have the intelligence to make your own weapons - or know how to use weapons already at your disposal. Shooting a bear in the belly will only annoy it and make it kill you faster. Shooting it in the heart/lungs will make the difference between life and death.