Since 90% of the work to be done is in the outdoors, you need to be concerned with your own personal comfort.
The "layered" clothing system has been the choice of many outdoor enthusiasts and emergency workers simply because it allows you to adjust for drastic temperture and other environmental changes.
In southwest Ohio, it is common to have a 30 degree change in temperature from daylight to dusk.
A 30 degree change without adequate clothing is enough to cause hypothermia even during summer weather.
By "layering" your clothing, it is easy to take off what you don't need during daytime heating, as you increase activity level and work harder.
When the temperture drops, wind increases, or if you go into a rest state, you can easily put additional clothing on increasing your comfort level.
A lot of people get "carhart coveralls" or a snow mobile suit for winter time operations. That works as long as the temperture doesn't change. It leaves you no choice other than to wear it, unzip it all the way, or take it completely off. This is not a very flexible means of staying comfortable.
In the following pages we will try to give some helpful hints on what you should look for in the way of equipment. Remember, each individual is differant, has variable needs.
These are basic guidelines that will help you get ready to stay in the great outdoors.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer of Liability: The conditions or methods of installation, operation, use and maintenance of this 72 hour Ready Kit information and other information on the Butler County Amateur Radio Communications website are beyond the control of Butler County Amateur Radio Communications. Butler County Amateur Radio Communications does not assume responsibility and expressly disclaims liability for loss, damage, or expense arising from, or in any way connected with any such installation, operation, use, or maintenance from information on the Butler County Amateur Radio Communications website pages.
The material within this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide to any particular situation. No representations, warranties or guarantees whatsoever are made as to the accuracy, currentness, completeness, adequacy, reliability, suitability or applicability to a particular situation of any of the materials.
The Material on this website is provided with the understanding and agreement that Butler County Amateur Radio Communications are not engaged in rendering any professional services. If expert professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. User assumes all responsibilities and obligations with respect to any decisions or advice made or given as a result of the use of any material.
Safety
Follow the safety precautions of the equipment manufacturer. Do not produce sparks when working in locations where flammable gases or vapors exist. Shield skin and eyes from battery acid and other hazardous materials and chemicals. If skin, eyes or clothing comes in contact with acid rinse thoroughly with water.
Avoid all electrical hazards.
Observe proper battery polarity throughout the process.
Work safely. Do not wear jewelry when working with electrical or mechanical equipment.
Use protective eyewear, gloves and apron when working equipment and batteries.
Avoid electrical shock. Make sure all power sources (e.g. inverter, shore power, generator, battery) are disconnected before performing maintenance.
If you are not sure about anything, seek advice from a knowledgeable expert.
Basic Contents
- Personal First Aid Kit
4-antacid Tablets
2-antiseptic cleansing pads
1-antiseptic ointment
6-bandaids of various sizes
2-cotton swabs
1-moleskin
1-quart size zip lock bag for kit
4-acetaminophen/aspirin tablets
1-single edge razor blade
1-roller gauze bandage
2-large safety pins
1-splinter forceps-tweezers
1-space type blanket
1-towelette
6-baby wipes
4-antihistamines 10 mg each - Benadryl
1-week supply of personal medications
- Personal Equipment
4-Zip-Lock bags of various sizes (sandwich, quart, and gallon)
1-bandanna or handkerchief
1-cap or other head gear
1-long burning candle
1-10' duct tape
3-large leaf bags
8-10 wooden matches in waterproof container
1-whistle (Fox Brand)
1-clothing adequate for climate
1-waterproof clothing compression bag
1-extra set of clothing for climate
1-compass orienteering type
1-role of flagging tape
1-main flashlight (LED suggested)
1-backup flashlight & spare batteries (try to get same battery size for all equipment)
1-footwear-sturdy provides ankle support, suitable for climate
2-pair of gloves (one to fit inside the other when on your hands - Thinsulate & snowmobile type gloves)
2-pair of latex gloves
1-goggles or eye protection
1-insect repellant
1-multipurpose knife (Leatherman style multi-tool)
1-lip balm with sun screen
1-tape measure minimum of 18"
1-mess kit with utensils should include a metal drinking cup
1-small mirror (this may be in the top of the compass-if so skip this item)
50 feet of twine or small rope (paracord works good)
1800 cubic inch pack to hold all the items.
1-pad pocket type
2-pencils
1-set of rainwear-durable full suit or poncho recommended
1-10' X 10' nylon tarp for shelter material
1- multipurpose Scissors
2- extra pair of Socks
1- bottle or tube of sun screen lotion
1- tissue paper or baby wipes
1- wrist watch
2- water containers each at least 1 liter in size (pop bottles)
10 feet of bailing wire
8-10 cable ties
- 72 hours worth of food, snacks and water
Wash Cloth & towel
Soap & Shampoo
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Comb or hair brush
Deodorant
Other personal hygiene equipment as needed
1- BCAREC-ARES-RACES ID & Personal Identification
Footwear
- Primary Concerns
COMFORT - usually boot style footwear is best - get them fitted wearing 2 pairs of your thickest socks so they will not be too tight.
Wear two pairs of socks, it helps to prevent blisters. You're going to be on your feet a lot and will have these boots on for a very long time.
ANKLE SUPPORT - you will more than likely be walking in some very uneven terrain, on or over debris piles, and sliding in mud, etc. The added protection around your ankle will also give some protection from being cut by sheet metal and other sharp debris found at many disaster sites.
NON-SLIP SOLE - will help you be sure footed. The big lug soles sometimes don't clean out very well when loaded up with debris and mud. The soles should be easy to allow shedding this debris by simply kicking or stomping your feet.
Some Safety Concerns - a big plus would be if the boots had a steel protective shank in the sole to help prevent roofing nails and other sharp pointed items from puncturing your feet if you step on them.
Also steel toes are a plus especially for damage assessment or CERT teams, it helps to keep your toes from being crushed should something fall on them.
If you can find the boots made of micropore laminates like Gortex etc., that would be great. These micropore laminates allow the boot to breathe without letting water in. This makes for a much more comfortable boot in wet environments because your feet will stay drier.
WATER PROOFING - seals the water out - it also seals the perspiration in - causing your feet to be wet. Poor air circulation means it will take a long time for your boots to dry too.
It is suggested that you carry a spare pair of gym shoes or sandals for your down time so your feet can "air out" and give your boots a break too. The all rubber sandal known as "flip flops" are a good idea too. They are great for wearing in public showers etc to prevent foot disease transfer, and to let your feet really air out.
Have plenty of dry socks. Polypropylene or other synthetic socks are the best.
Cotton products absorbs and holds moisture - the one thing you don't want to do is retain moisture in any of your clothing.
Bodywear
Synthetic materials should be your choice for underwear as well. Visit your local outdoor store or clothing store that outfits hunters. You'll find plenty of this type of clothing there.
Regular briefs as well as thermally insulated suits (tops & bottoms) are great to have on hand for the cold winter months. In fact, two sets is good idea. You can layer them if needed, or wash and dry one set while wearing one set. Polypropylene is a type of material some of these items are made of. They have an excellent insulation factor and ability to keep you warm even if wet.
Your outer pants should also be of synthetic material or a synthetic blend.
Your pants & shirt need to be of the Basic Duty Uniform type (BDUs) found at any army store or police supply houses like Galls. Get them a little bigger than what you actually need so when you "bulk up" during the winter-they still fit.
Generally they are made of 65% polyester and only 35% of rip stop treated cotton.
Rip Stop gives the cotton fiber strength and a plastic like coating that sheds water.
BDUs also have some other very useful features like draw string closures around the wrist and ankles to keep bugs and cold air out, warm air in. They have multiple pockets and no zippers to break or snag. No zippers present for your fingers to stick to in the cold. Also, BDUs can be easily repaired with a needle & thread.
If you're working in tall grass, weeds, or wooded areas you may want to get some gaiters to tie around your lower legs to keep the moisture off your pants.
Rain gear should be of heavy duty construction. If it tears easily or gets holes in it, it probably will not work in the environments and conditions you'll be working in.
Military ponchos are a good quick rain cover that can also be utilized as an emergency "tent-shelter", hammock, or sun shade. It can also be used to collect rain water for drinking using the hood portion to fill a water bottle or cup.
Full suits of rain gear consisting of pants and coats with attached hoods are very effective as well.
Headwear
Keeping warm in the winter is no fashion show, if it were, we'd all loose!
The knit toboggan head covering with full face mask offers wind and cold protection. Look for the real long ones that cover your neck. They can actually be stuffed inside your coat to make a complete wind resistant clothing system. The only exposure holes are for the nose, mouth and eyes.
Some toboggans have an extension at the nose hole that can be Velcro'd down or tucked in for extremely cold weather. There is usually enough of the toboggan to fully cover your mouth too. Goggles keep the wind and cold out of your eyes. They should be vented to prevent fogging up. Wind should still be minimal to your eyes.
Sun glasses are a plus all year round too. Snow blindness is one of the biggest winter eye hazards.
For summer operations, a vented ball cap will work as a sweat band as well as shade your face from the sun.
In hazardous areas, a hard hat to helps to prevent head injuries from falling debris.
In tornado stricken areas, a lot of debris went airborne during the event. Be careful and watch for items in trees, on wires and above your head, as the debris may fall at any time.
Earplugs are a good idea to bring along too. You get assigned near a chainsaw crew.
Hand Protection
GLOVES!
You should have at least 2 pair of latex gloves for dealing with injured people to help prevent blood-borne pathogens form passing to you from the patient.
You should also have a couple pairs of heavy work/garden gloves to keep your hands from being cut up or injured while working in an area heavy with debris.
For winter, find a pair or two of Thinsulate work gloves. These are usually lined with thin insulation and have a leather like outer shell. These are great for moderate temperatures or if it is raining or snowing.
Once you have your Thinsulate work gloves find another pair of non-insulated gloves that have the leather like material (to shed water) that will fit over the top of the Thinsulate work gloves.
If you have 2 pairs of this dual glove set up, your fingers will never get cold.
You are layering your gloves. This method worked well for WWII bomber pilots at 20,000+ feet where they had no heating system inside the aircraft.
Are you afraid that you can't press the push to talk switch? Use an external speaker microphone with a large PTT button.
Keeping warm is more important. You can always take a glove off for a couple of minutes to make that call.
Keep focused on what is important!
1- YOU
2- Your team and team members
3- Your mission/assignment
Odds & Ends
Some of the other things you may want to have with you:
Eye protective goggles for just about any occasions.
Sun glasses.
Spare eye glasses if you wear them.
Eye glass repair kit.
Shorts or bathing suit for public shower use & swimming, of course.
Sleeping bag rated for at least zero degrees F.
Air filled ground pad
Folding type camp chair (great for operator comfort - complete with cup holders)
Small cooler for food & drinks
Two wheeled cart to get it all there (a golf cart, quad runner or pack mule!)
Don't forget your mobile and portable radios, deep cycle batteries, charging systems, small generator, extra fuel & oil, collapsable mast, base station style antenna, spare fuses, microphones, headsets, power cords, 2-50 foot runs of RG-8/U, barrel connector, 12 volt or butane soldering iron, solder, tool kit, etc.
Have a great time doing Emergency Comms -It really is a challenge!
Health Concerns
You will need to have a non-alcohol based hand sanitizer in your gear.
Wash your hands after you go to the bathroom, before your prepare food and, again, before you eat your food.
You do not want to ingest any of the bacteria that is floating around disaster sites.
It is also a good idea to pack some painters masks to breath though.
A clear spray bottle of water dampening the mask can help to keep out the smallest of particulates.
Water purification is another aspect of survival that should not be taken lightly.
A suggestion is to use the PUR water pump with a ceramic filter, get the best you can afford-your life and health can depend on it!
If there is a high casualty rate in the area you will be visiting, you may want to pack some Vicks Vapo-Rub or similar item to help deaden the odors you will encounter.
Some hospitals utilize a variety of "fruit scents" to serve the same purpose.
Bring Your Medications!
Make sure you have enough for the time you plan to spend, plus a week- just in case!
Communications Equipment
Just in case you haven't read about battery cell standardization anywhere else, we will repeat it here.
Try to standardize the size of batteries you will be using. Most hand held radio alkaline battery packs use "AA" size batteries.
When choosing other equipment for your pack-look around for a product that uses "AA" size also. Instead of fumbling with AA-AAA-C-D-9 volt etc. it is much easier to just buy a "brick" of "AAs" each time you grocery shop or run to the local Radio Shack, and throw them into your bag!
High intensity light emitting diode (LED) flashlights are now readily available at almost any retail sporting goods store that use AAs. The LED flashlights are almost indestructible, have a long operational life, and only draw milliamps of current!
Scanners, weather radios and whatever else you pack along with you, should ideally all use one standard size battery as a power source. That way you will always know WHAT you need as far as batteries go!
Emergency Communications in The Field
Concept:
1. You can use a 1/4 wave magnetic mount or ground plane antenna (with masting) with your 50 watt mobile, to which you will need at least a 30-40 pound deep cycle battery-to get through. Figure a weight around 60 pounds.
Also, what are you using as a back up radio?
2. You can carry 8 sets of spare batteries, a 5 watt portable, and a 5 element VHF/10-14 element UHF combination VHF/UHF antenna to get your signal to the repeater. Also, toss in a 15 foot collapsable fiberglass mast to get a better antenna position.
Eight sets of eight batteries weighs ten pounds or less. The portable radio is about one pound with nicad (5-8 pounds lighter than most mobiles). The VHF/UHF antenna is about six to eight pounds . Finally the mast is four pounds. The total weight is about 25-30 pounds.
Now consider carrying your radio gear plus your personal gear 5 miles or more and switch crowded modes of transportation twice. The kit also needs to include all the common radio small parts like coax, connectors, etc.
Which would you rather tote?
#1 - over 60 pounds of radio gear?
#2 - about 25-30 pounds of radio gear? (that includes an extra pound or two for that back up portable!
"Go GAIN so you don't have to STRAIN!" Lower the output power and your available battery supply will last much longer! In other words, a lower power handheld with a high gain antenna can have nearly the same radio performance, to get the job done, as a higher power mobile radio with a magnetic mount antenna, operate for approximately the same amount of time, and weigh significantly lower.
The portable radios needed could look like the following:
1- 144-148 MHz. Portable
1- 430-450 MHz. Portable
1- Dual Band Portable
or 2-Dual Band Portables
(always have a spare radio for whatever band is predominate in your area)
Alkaline Battery packs are suggested MAINLY because you are most likely going to be working in an area that will have no commercial power for several days. Chargers will do you no good! If you have occasional power, you can keep your alkaline cells in reserve by using the factory rechargeable radio batteries.
Make sure you have:
Spare Speaker microphone or Boom-Mic headset
Power Cords for your equipment; 12v DC power cord, AC power cord and/or supply.
4- 30 foot sections of RG-58 with PL-259s and 3 double female barrel connectors to join them together to make up longer cable runs. (RG-58 vs RG-8 as a weight and space consideration- I'd rather use hard line-but I'm not hauling 100 feet of it 5 miles on my back!)
Other things in your pack, e.g. rope, tape, can be used to secure your antenna to a post, signs, on telephone poles or TV mast on the roof of buildings. You have to be imaginative and inventive during emergencies. You will seldom find an "ideal" mounting location for your antennas and will most likely have to "rig" something that is not very conventional to get it to work.