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What's In My Bugout Bag?

 

I've been thinking about the apocalypse a lot lately.  Can't imagine why.  Sometimes you gotta get out in a hurry and it's best to have a bag ready to go.  Here's my top items for the perfect bugout bag.  I have almost all of these in the house, but I really do need to consolidate them all into one place.

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The Bag: 

• Sturdy backpack in a neutral tone--you don't want to draw attention to yourself.  Loops or hooks on the outside to carry extra stuff.  Something lightweight and semi-waterproof if possible. Not too big, but nothing tiny.

Food:

• 10k calories in a compact form. Meal replacement bars are best. 
• Multi-vitamins in an easily digestible form (gummy or chewable). Lack of potassium or Vitamin C long-term can be a disaster if you get stuck eating dog food for weeks on end.
• One or two bottles of water--good for short term beverages, keep the bottles for holding liquids.

Clothes/Protection:

• Socks & Underwear. Doesn't matter how dirty the rest of your clothes are if you can change these.
• Sunglasses & hat with brim
• An emergency blanket
• Bandanna or two. Can tie back hair, bind wounds, carry things...very useful
• Have a hoodie/jacket with your bag that you can tie around your waist as you leave. I'd go with something u can button or zip so when open it can be used as a blanket.  Sturdy waterproof shoes should be kept near it too. Flip-flops will not get you far if you end up hiking out of somewhere.

Other Stuff:

• Good knife or pocket tool with a knife
• Matches AND lighter in water-proof container
• Solar-powered battery pack with flashlight
• Burner smartphone & data refill card (purchased with cash)
• Power cord for phone + standard micro usb if the phone isn't one
• Metal bowl or cup (metal so you can boil your water in it) & a metal spoon (can be used to eat with or dig)
• Menstrual cup (if you have a uterus prone to bleeding of course)
• Toothbrush and toothpaste.  Neglecting one's oral health is never wise.
• Cash money in small bills
• Ziplock bags
• vodka or other potable alcohol (good for sanitizing OR drinking)
• compass (get a knife with one built into the handle)
• First aid kit
• Sewing kit
• Carabiners
• Length of rope/cord/string
• Small handgun and pre-loaded clips
• Spare car key
• Length of tubing in case you need to siphon gas. Also can use to tie things
  

Stuff to have downloaded on your burner:

• Offline maps of your area, including directions to the nearest border
• edible plant guide/survival guide
• important phone numbers and addresses
• dictionary for the most likely alternate language you may encounter (In the US I'd want a spanish/english one)

If you have the space & its not too heavy, add more food or a change of clothes, fire lighters, maybe some sort of water purification system.  Or more vodka.  I can understand wanting to go heavy on the vodka these days.

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Vulture Culture & the Migratory Bird Act

As someone interested in dead things, my friends and family sometimes...offer me dead things.  Which is totally cool and wonderful!  I am happy I have such accepting people in my life.  There's only one small problem with this.  Their favorite thing to bring me is birds and that's...kinda illegal.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 was put in place to protect native wildlife from being over-harvested for use in the fashion industry. (Yes, really. Back in the day, you were nobody if you didn't have about 50 feathers AND an entire stuffed bird on your head.)  It protects most species of North American birds and makes it illegal to own whole birds, feathers, nests, eggs, or bird parts.

Bird parts that are ok to own include domestic birds, most game birds (with proper permits), and any bird species located outside of North America--assuming its not endangered of course.  There are also exceptions made to the law for scientific and religious purposes.

So what is a carcass-happy girl to do?

The best course of action is to take a picture of the bird and leave it where you found it.  If you're in the city or suburbs and your bird is going to be removed anyway, go ahead and take it to the nearest bit of wild you can find and leave its body to go back to the earth.

Here is a picture of the last bird someone brought to me, while still fresh.  It's currently in a corner of my flower bed where I am letting it naturally decompose.  (If you want to share this picture, feel free, but please link back to this blog!)

List of birds protected under the act:
https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/managed-species/migratory-bird-treaty-act-protected-species.php

Further (quick) reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migratory_Bird_Treaty_Act_of_1918

Five Ways to Reduce Waste

I work/volunteer (sometimes they pay me, sometimes I just show up and help) for a company called
Zero Waste Event Productions. They work festivals and outdoor events and their goal is to divert as much waste from the landfill as possible. We sort through every bit of garbage by hand, dumping out the bags on conveyor belts and dividing it into recyclables, compostables, and landfill. Items that can be rescued and used are also pulled from the waste stream (people leave behind an obscene amount of camping equipment at these things). Up to 92% of waste can usually be diverted from the landfills at these events.

I've always been aware of not being wasteful but working with them, literally digging through garbage for hours on end, has a way of putting it all into perspective. One person's garbage might not seem like a lot, but when you multiply that by 15,000 festival attendees, and then see how much waste can actually be diverted from the landfill with just a little effort, you can really see how bad things are.

Large corporations are definitely a huge problem when it comes to disposing waste, but that doesn't mean what you do doesn't matter. We should all be making an effort to cut down on the amount of waste we produce, especially plastic waste. Every little bit actually does make a big difference when everyone makes an effort.

1.  Use reusable bags when shopping.  Try to use cotton bags over ones made of plastic or synthetic materials--they do eventually wear out and have to be tossed and cotton bags are much more biodegradable.  Some grocery stores (I know Kroger is one of them), also have bag recycling stations for standard grocery bags, so you can recycle instead of toss when you do end up with some.

2.  Avoid disposable household products, and when you do need to use them, get something biodegradable over plastic or styrofoam. I use dishtowels/rags over paper towels whenever possible--a roll of paper towels lasts about 6 months in my house.  I also tend not to put bags in my garbage cans and just empty them straight into the dumpster.  (I wash them out with rainwater when they get grody.)  Choose food and household items with less plastic in their packaging, or concentrated items that can be stretched out longer.

3.  Drink more water/tea/coffee.  Soda bottles and cans lead to an insane amount of waste. Get re-usable bottles and cups for when you're on the go: tap water and a filter pitcher will save you a ton in both waste and money.  Cutting down on the soda is good for you too!

4.  Buy used first. When you need an item hit up your local thrift store or local buy/sell/trade facebook group before resorting to Walmart or Amazon. Buying a used item prevents it, and the new item you didn't buy, from entering the waste stream.  Millions of pounds of perfectly good items get thrown out by thrift stores every year, so don't feel like you need to "leave it for someone less fortunate."  There's enough used stuff to go around!

5.  Start a compost pile/bin.  This can even be done in a small yard or patio situation.  Turn your food scraps into food for your garden!

Once you get into the habit it's easy to do all of these things. It's impossible to live a modern life without making a mess, but we can and should be finding solutions to make that mess smaller.

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I reuse boxes, bubble wrap, packing paper & poly bags whenever possible in my shop, so if you ever receive an item in "ugly" packaging from me this is why!  Check out my shops here: https://www.rosieleacurio.com/p/my-stores.html

Read the blog?  Get 10% off at the Oddity Boutique or my craft supply shop with the coupon code "BLOGVISIT" (minimum $5 order).

Apocalypse Scenarios in Order of Best to Worst

According to my husband being slightly excited by the prospect of the apocalypse is irrational and abnormal, but what can I say?  I saw Mad Max: Road Warrior at a very young age.  The following list arranges scenarios based on ease of survivability.  Now, that's surviving the aftermath of the apocalypse, not necessarily the event itself.

Mad Max: Fury Road

1. Plague: Preserves buildings and resources, Survivors are the "fittest" & can adapt to harsher conditions.  Might even end up doing the planet a solid as fewer people means fewer carbon emissions.

Walking Dead

2. Zombies: Again, preserves buildings & resources. More likely to have long-term danger to survivors tho.

3. Economic/Government Breakdown due to Political Unrest: Everyone's health starts out normal & there's no mass destruction, but its a total free-for-all which will lead to poverty & violence, crime lording, lack of health care, coups, and other less fun things.

4. Natural Disaster: Serves us right for ignoring global warming.  Survivors are gonna have a hard time finding resources.  Adverse weather conditions (cold, hot, dry, wet--Mad Max or Waterworld, it'll be a mess) will also put a damper on survival.

5. Robot Uprising:  Having a hard time deciding where this one goes on the list since there are a few different results. Are we just gonna end up hooked up the Matrix (not the worst thing IMO) or are we gonna be meat slaves?

Independence Day

6. Independence Day style Aliens: Totally screwed, but at least it's not our fault.

7. Nuclear Winter: If we get blown up because Donald Trump is an idiot I'm gonna be beyond pissed.  Survivors will have to deal with the long-term health ramifications of radiation, lifespans shortened across the board. Buildings and resources destroyed.

Wild Card: World took over by super-villain. There are just too many ways this could go to put it on a list.  Are they using tech? Magic? Armies? Mind control? (My preferred method of world domination.)  What are their intentions?  Dr. Horrible wanted to use evil means to make the world a better place.  Megamind had no idea what he wanted to do with the city once he had it.  Dr. Evil just wanted to be a dick to world leaders for fun and profit. 

Austin Powers

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