Reader Question on Water Purification

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following email from Norman,..I scored some points with my wife during that recent big storm as a public notice went out in our city telling people to boil their water before drinking as there was damage to the city water company's back flow preventers due to several broken water mains. And we had several power outages so we couldn't boil water consistently if we wanted to. Didn't need to anyway, as I had four cases of bottled water in the garage and some water purification tablets. I think now my wife is more inclined to listen to me about Survival readiness since she has now seen the value in being ready. Now I need to buy some more water purification products just in case I don't have enough bottled water next time. What do you suggest? Should I rely on the pills?

UrbanMan replies: I have water purification means in depth. Meaning I am not relying just on one technology or one means. I have individual and group water filters, as well as water purification tablets (which I think you are calling "pills"), and can build field expedient water filtration methods when necessary.

I have several Aquamira Water Bottle and Filter units which is like a sports drink bottle with a filter,..just fill up with questionable water then drink. Best to run dirty water through cloth before hand to help prolong the filter. The filter removes 99.9% of Giardia, Cryptospordium and other contaminants as well as removing the chlorine taste. Each bottle filters up to 50 gallons.

I have several larger, group sized units, one a Katadyn hand pump unit and another a Katadyn Base Camp Water Filter System which uses a gravity feed water filter system, which I really like. It can filter 200 gallons or more.









For my Bug Out Bags, I have added the Frontier Pro Ultralight Water Filter, which is approx 6 inches long and one inch in diameter.  This uses a straw not shown in the picture (right) so you can directly drink water from a bad source.  You can also remove the bite valve and gravity filter water from common bottle.  It comes with 4 replacement pre-filters that will extend the internal filter life. This will filters up to 50 gallons.





Click here for prices and more information

Urban Financial Survival Planning - Gold Confiscation Start

Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge, makes the following report on new beginnings of the Government, in this case the State of Washington, to set in place a type of registration which would be necessary to make Gold confiscation by the government even half effective. 1933 all over again.

As Mike Dillard of the Elevation Group writes: "The US Government is broke. They need your money, and whether it's through taxes, inflation, the seizure of your precious metals, or the nationalization of your retirement accounts, they are going to take it from you. And when governments get desperate for money, they turn to the one thing they're best at... They start writing new laws."

The Zero Hedge article:

Prepare To Give Up All Private Data For Any Gold Purchase Over $100

A week ago, when we reported on a move by the Dutch central bank that ordered a pension fund to forcibly reduce its gold holdings, we speculated that "this latest gold confiscation equivalent event is most certainly coming to a banana republic near you." And while we got the Banana republic right, the event that we are about to describe is not necessarily identical. It is much worse. A bill proposed in the State of Washington (House Bill 1716), by State Representatives Asay, Hurst, Klippert, Pearson, and Miloscia, whose alleged purpose is to regulate secondhand gold dealers, seeks to capture "the name, date of birth, sex, height, weight, race, and address and telephone number of the person with whom the transaction is made" or said otherwise, of every purchaser of gold in the state of Washington.

Furthermore, if passed, Bill 1716 will record "a complete description of the property pledged, bought, or consigned, including the brand name, serial number, model number or name, any initials or engraving, size, pattern, and color or stone or stones" and of course price. But the kicker: if a transaction is mode for an amount over $100, which means one tenth of an ounce of golds, also required will be a "signature, photo, and fingerprint of the person with whom the transaction is made." In other words, very soon Washington state will know more about you than you know about yourself, if you dare to buy any gold object worth more than a C-note.

How this proposal is supposed to protect consumers against vulture gold dealers we don't quite get. Hopefully someone will explain it to us. We do, however, get how Americans will part with any and all privacy if they were to exchange fiat for physical. And in a police state like America, this will likely not be taken lightly, thereby killing the gold trade should the proposed Bill pass, and be adopted elsewhere.

While we are confident that representatives Asay, Hurst, Klippert, Pearson, and Miloscia have no clue why they are even proposing this bill, we would also be delighted to find out which moneyed interests they represent, and what happens to precious metal trading in America should Bill 1716 become a legal precedent which is effectively the first step before the final implementation of Executive Order 6102 version 2.

Reader Question - What We are Planning For?

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received an Anonymous comment in reference to a recent post entitled: Survival Preparation - Getting Others to Prepare..........."Okay, this blog warns us about what exactly? What the he** am I supposed to do now? I am not afraid, so I will not go out and buy a gun. I already have "food" stored. It's called a pantry. Can you please be more explicit about the so-called threat that you are warning against?" Thanks.

UrbanMan replies: Fair enough question. Maybe one that those of us who have been preparing for years ought to revisit from time to time. The short answer is that bad times are coming and the most likely catalysts, not in the order of likelihood, are:

* Economic collapse
* Infectious Disease Pandemic
* Terrrorist attack with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) such as nuclear or biological weapons
* Terrorist Cyber or Electro Magentic Pulse attack
* Nuclear attack by a Nation-State.
* Natural Disaster on a National scale

Think of families who live in Hurricane country. They have bottled water, food, plywood cut for windows, tarps, rain gear and a plan to pack up and go somewhere safe. Planning for the possible/probably threats I mentioned in the above paragraph just require Hurricane planning x ten.

There are near 300 posts on this site. I would think at least 30 of them articulate a particular threat,.....giant recession into hyper inflation then into a greater depression; terrorist attacks with nuclear or biological weapons; conventional nuclear attack; etc.

By most accounts the economic collaspe model is most probable, given our current state. Look at various financial analysis sites and what their advisors are saying,....Sandy Leeds, Gonzalo Lira, Chris Martenson, Peter Stansberry, Robert Kiyosaki, Simon Black and many, many others. These are mainstream advisors not some nameless blooger (like me). All are predicting a super collapse of the economy. I have even seen predictions for a collapse beginning the end of this month. However it may not be a day (time period) or recognized event that marks the beginning,...it may just be a gradual collapse and if so, then we are in it now. Look at the the giant price increase in consumer goods. Look at the strength of the dollar against foreign currencies. Look at the never before reached levels of people in poverty. The world is looking to replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency,........

Many states (California, Wisconsin, Illinois and others can't pay their state workers, can't pay their creditors nor even balance the budget when their survival is on the line. The Middle East and North Africa is in turmoil, placing our oil supplies in jepordy. Fuel at $5 even $7 a gallon will destroy this economy.

Our financial infrastructure is electronic in nature. A significant cyber attack or an attack on our power and utilities infrastructure could devastate our economy. However it may be unnecessary as we are doing to ourselves,.....massive federal borrowing; deficit spending;....

So we are preparing for a time when food is not as available as it is now,...we are preparing for a time when our security will be our responsibility to a much larger extent than it is now.

We are preparing because it is an individual responsibility, and we are preparing by planning to cover the four basic areas of food, water, shelter and security.

To be certain there are people out there that equate survival planning with guns, more guns and camouflage fatigues. To be more certain, a portion of security, therefore guns, is the mean to protect yourself and your family. The reader's comment: "I am not afraid, so I will not go out and buy a gun. I already have "food" stored. It's called a pantry," begs the question, how long will your pantry food last? and are you neighbors going to protect you?

Urban Survival Planning - Growing Your Own Food

Growing your own food. Our ancestors, or at least their neighbors, did it. Doesn’t sound too hard, does it? After all, most of us are planning on being able to grow our own food and most of us stock plenty of non-hybrid seeds to achieve that goal. I sure have a good stock of non-hybrid seeds. Plus I always buy a pack or two other vegetable seeds when I am in the local hardware store. Been doing that for so long, I now have a large ammunition can full of hybrid seeds packages. I plan to use the hybrid seeds first and especially at locations that I may have to vacate (Bug Out from) so I won’t waste the seed generating capability of the non-hybrids. I can also use the hybrid seeds as barter material.

Many people I talk to are basing their stockpile of food, e.g.. dehydrated – vacuum packed – canned goods,....on what they feel is a necessary 6 months supply. Their reasoning is that, worst case, food supplies will dry up in the fall – too late to plant, so they only need six months supply to get them through to where they can grow their own food in the spring.

I have two comments to that:

1. Growing food is not as easy as you think. I would not base my existence and my family’s survival on being able to grow all the food I need.

2. Growing food is so important, and if successful, allows you to save at least some of your stockpiled food, that starting to grow food need to be immediately when a collapse hits, if not starting now. You need to be able to preserve your crops as well, through canning and dehydration.

Starting now allows you to do a rehearsal for when you really need it to survive. And the simple fact is that growing some of our own food is enjoyable and rewarding. Note: I have had some people tell me “I ain’t no farmer! I’ll barter with someone for the food they grow”. I say okay and good luck. I’m thinking in the back of my head,……if you’re hungry enough to eat another person, I think you’d be hungry enough to grow your own food.

Being prepared to start growing food immediately when a collapse hits means you need the ability to erect and grow crops out of a green house as in many places the growing seasons may even be a short 3 months. On my immediate purchase list when indicators are strong that a collapse is imminent, are materials to build a green house. It would be great to have an acre crisis garden under glass, but the simple reality is that this is just not affordable without multiple survival families putting up the funding and effort. But what is possible is a small enough green house that you can afford to build or purchase and maintain.

Probably a lot of you have heard about Northern Tool and Equipment with all their excellent deals on solar panels, wind generators, fuel storage units and such. Northern Tool also offers a wide variety of greenhouse kits. I am now looking at buying one these kits and either erecting it now, or building it when the time makes it necessary.

Much like the novel “One Second After” where the people started much too late in planning for a continued food supply…..don’t get caught like this. It is obviously much better to be ahead of the curve, especially where you you help other people and keep them from becoming a burden on you.

Northern Tool advertises this hobby greenhouse as having a strong aluminum frame that supports UV-stabilized twin-wall polycarbonate panels. These 4mm-thick walls provide excellent heat retention and create even, diffused light that your plants will love. The corrosion-resistant aluminum frame is easily assembled and stays sturdy thanks to bolt-together connections. This kit includes a galvanized base kit to anchor the greenhouse to a concrete or wood foundation. With an adjustable roof vent and sliding door provide it provides ventilation.

There are many other models to choose from. The fact remains if you buy a greenhouse kit or build your own, this will come in handy unless you have many years of stocked food in your supply.