Thread: BASIC LIST / SUGGESTED ITEMS FOR LONG TERM SURVIVAL

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ModernSurvivalBlog.com

Grid Down, 4 Months, 250 million dead

September 13, 2011 at 10:24 pm (PT)



The following is comment and opinion from a reader, ‘TripodXL’, regarding the dire scenario of a long term wide spread power outage. This scenario is one of the few that I respect the most when it comes to ‘real’. Given that modern society is entirely dependent upon electricity to the point of not having ‘manual’ backup systems, and given that there are a number of events that could eliminate that electricity – potentially for a substantial period of time, and given that supply chains of all sorts are of very short duration and extremely interdependent, this should inspire the thinking person to stock up and think this one through…

In a true SHTF that involves loss of the grid even for say 2-3 months, the death toll would be staggering.

The fact that Just In Time delivery of all inventory at EVERY store in the nation guarantees millions will die. The average grocery store has 3 days of inventory, max. The average home has 3-7 days supply of food. All reorders in national and regional grocery chains is all done by computers over phone lines. There isn’t even a mechanism in place to do manual ordering, it doesn’t exist!!!

I live not too far from two large box grocery store distribution centers and one regional distribution center. I would just about bet the county commission and the sheriff’s dept will lock them down. All orders to food producers will not be made. Most of the food in the modern part of the world will ROT.
So with the numbers quoted above most everyone in the city will be out of food in 10-14 days and water before that. Say a CME hit the earth and there isn’t 2% of the world’s lights on and those only on generators that need fuel, ordered by computers. If you live in the metro area post 2 weeks TSHTF and you do not have an impregnable concrete bunker or are well hidden in some odd magical place that won’t be found and you have food, guess what? Hope you don’t have any daughters and your wife is really ugly. You, you’re gonna be a slave or dead and your son will be somebody’s little puppy or a slave.

If this came to pass it isn’t just wait till they get the lights back on. The lights wouldn’t be on for years in the cities and decades outside the cities. My conservative estimate is that 80-100 million people will die in the U.S. by the end of 60 days having starved or dehydrated to death or was murdered.
The thing about it is that people will wait until it is too late to bug out cuz the gubment is gonna fix it. Until they come to the oh shite moment that they realize that the cavalry isn’t coming. When they do try to bug out it will probably be too late. They will be half starved to death, subject to now rampant disease and fetid rotting bodies and hordes of gangs in as bad shape as they are except they are going to kill them and take what little they might have. That’s also why I think that roving bands from the cities will be scarce outside of metro areas.

By the end of 3-4 months I think 150 to 250 million people could be dead and that’s just here. Those that manage to feed themselves and survive and come out to the country to look for easy pickens will not live too long. If we wind up with 60-80 million left, which would be the population level of 1880-1910, we would have a lot of room to grow, a new point of view and perhaps we could get it right this time. Who knows?

As an idealist and a romantic patriot I would like to think that the U.S.A. would survive. Unless there is some dynamic true leadership at the helm and lot of luck, I’m not sure how it will turn out. My grandaddy told me one time some gubment man came around Flora, Mississippi in the late 30s and asked how much better things were getting from the depression years and grandaddy said “what depression”? There will be areas even in our country like that, some continents, Africa, a lot of the South American interior, Siberia, rural China. India will suck as they are actually a modern country. Hopefully we will not repeat the early and mid 20th centuries in the coming decades.

If you enjoyed this, or topics of current events risk awareness or survival preparedness,


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http://modernsurvivalblog.com/emp-electro-magnetic-pulse/grid-down-4-months-250-million-dead/

ADC ADSAFE Pocket Rescusitator

Published on August 24th, 2011



CPR pocket rescuscitator with 15mm OD connector compatible with standard ventilation equipment . Safe for use on adults and pediatric patients. Disposable valve with 3M filtrete filters protects the practioner and eliminates cross contamination.

Price: $6.87

http://www.survival-spot.com/adc-adsafe ... cusitator/

SHTF America
Commentary on events impacting the lives, fortunes, and future of all Americans. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

http://www.shtfamerica.blogspot.com/

Inside the Freaky World of Next-Gen Night Vision

By Noah Shachtman
September 14, 2011
Video at the link

ROANOKE, Virginia -- A pair of buildings on Plantation Drive sits just past the tractor-supply store, right in front of the barn belonging to the local women's college. From the street, the cream-colored structures don't look like much more than typical office buildings; only a wire fence distinguishes them from their neighbors. Inside, however, is a laboratory and fabrication facility where engineers produce one of the U.S. military's most important advantages over its foes: the ability to see in the dark, when others are all but blind.

Night vision technology — and these buildings — have been around for more than a half-century. The green-tinged view from inside the goggles is now yawningly familiar. But this ITT Corporation facility doesn't make the rudimentary night-vision gear found in kids' toys or sex tapes. Here, they design and build the military-grade gear. And it can peer further into the dark, with greater fidelity, and under darker conditions, than any civilian equipment. (Sorry, Paris.)

That's not all. The latest generation of ITT's night-vision gear, issued to a relative handful of American forces, comes with thermal sensors inside; that allows troops to detect the heat from an insurgent sniper, even when he's completely camouflaged. The generation after that — currently under development here — will send digital maps, mug shots and drone footage to that same night vision eyepiece. In other words, U.S. forces will be able to ambush, apprehend and identify suspected militants — without the target ever seeing what the hell just happened to him.

The work is sensitive enough that export of the equipment is strictly controlled, and reporters are not ordinarily allowed inside these two buildings.
"People are freaked out that you're here," one ITT executive told me. "You're the first one."

Truth be told, the company didn't exactly open up the place to me, either; I was mostly confined to a lone conference room. But I was able to try out a prototype of their latest night-vision gear before many generals had the chance. And I learned about the mind-meltingly complex manufacturing process that enables troops to "own the night," as the military cliché goes. Here's what I saw.



Cleared Hot

Even in the blackest dark, there are still a few stray photons of light. Night vision works by capturing that light, and amplifying it. But the Hulk-green view provided by this "image intensification," or "i2," can only tell you so much. It can't tell you if there's someone hiding in the tall grass in front of you. It can't say which car in a parking lot full of them has just been driven. It can't find newly dug-up ground or a freshly-fired gun.

So U.S. forces supplement their i2 gear with thermal sensors, which pick up signs of heat. These new eyepieces build the sensors right in. The Enhanced Night Vision Goggles can spot hidden threats — and keep working even when i2 technology is "blinded" by a sudden flash of light.

In a specialized trailer outside the factory, ITT's Harry Buchanan shows how sensitive the thermal sensor is. He rubs his hands on the wall, then puts them back by his side. Through the eyepiece, I can still see his handprints. Then Buchanan takes his shoes off. Not only do his feet leave similar marks; his shoes continue to glow hot.


Ghosts in the Machine


The goggles' classic "image intensification" sensor is analog. The new thermal sensor is digital, which means it has a bit of latency. In other words, the amber-colored thermal image can lag behind the green i2 one, producing some freaky — almost spectral — effects. In this shot, Buchanan and I look into a TV screen, while ITT executive Erik Fox looks on. He moves his hand and head ever so slightly. But it's enough to throw the combined image off — and make it look like Fox is possessed.

For years, the Army asked for — and ITT tried to produce — an all-digital model, to get rid of the ghostly images. They could never get the digital i2 resolution right. "The technology is a lot harder than it seemed," Buchanan says. "It's hard to beat that little analog tube…. I think we're still another eight years away."

In the meantime, the Army has issued about 5,550 of the Enhanced Night Vision Goggles. (And yes, they're called "goggles," even though they only cover one eye; "monogoggle," military "monocle" and a single "goggle" all sounded too goofy to use.) Special forces units, like the Rangers, got 'em first in 2008. Other regular Army units received the rest, starting in 2009.

Now, ITT and three other firms are working on lighter-weight, cheaper-to-manufacture models. Each company could receive up to $260 million and the rights to build 16,720 systems.



So Sensitive

The thermal sensor doesn't just generate ghosts. Sometimes, it'll see stuff that was never there in the first place. The camera is so sensitive, it picks up the heat reflected off of a mirror, a window or (in this case) a television set.



Between the Lines

Toggle a switch on the goggles, and they go into "full thermal" mode. Everything that generates a heat signature lights up. Toggle it again, and they go into "overlay" mode, showing only the hottest items. Hit it a final time, and they'll only show the outline of what's radiating with thermal energy. That's the mode you see here, in this picture of me.

The thermal camera performs a different function than the i2 sensor, Buchanan says; the former is for "detection," while the latter handles up-close "identification." The outline mode allows the first job to be handled, without interfering in the second.



Head Shot

These goggles are an alpha test of ITT's future night-vision gear. (Obviously, the switch box dangling behind my right ear won't stay in the final version.) It essentially shoots footage of what the wearer sees — allowing a commander around the corner (or maybe even in the White House Situation Room) to look through his soldier's eye.

Broadcasting night vision comes with a price — namely, a sore neck. The early NVG models weighed about 14 ounces. These new ones (like the models with the thermal sensors built in), are a little under two pounds. That may not sound like much of a difference. Trust me, when you're carrying the things on your head, it's huge. Buchanan claims that, by moving the battery pack to the back of the helmet, the enhanced model is actually more comfortable than the old one. I'm not so sure.

Earlier gadget arrays could broadcast night vision, too. But they required snapping a camera onto NVG eyepiece. That not only had a habit of reducing the goggles' field of view. It wasn't exactly neck-friendly, either.



Caught!

The newer-than-new night vision gear won't just send out what a soldier sees in the dark. It'll also let him take in all sorts of new information in his eyepiece. Like this mug shot, for instance.

An 800 x 600 SVGA display — in essence, a tiny computer screen — is inside the goggles. Just about anything a soldier might see on his laptop or smartphone can go onto it: battlefield maps, buddies' locations, pictures of top insurgents, even drone footage. The difference is, a glowing iPhone will give a soldier's position away at night. These goggles won't.

For decades, the Army has tried to give its troops a wearable computer ensemble — one that pushed digital maps and soldiers' whereabouts to a monocle on the helmet.

One of the many, many problems with the system is that you'd need a second night vision eyepiece in order to move around in the dark. And covering both your eyes is rarely a good idea. Even on moonless nights, your peripheral vision is still feeding your brain information. Better to combine it all into a single gadget.



From Superman to Soldier

To make night-vision goggles, you start with one of those crystals from the Superman movies. Or perhaps it's a custom-crafted glass rod, surrounded by a hollow tube made of slightly different glass.

The combo is taken to the top of a tower inside the ITT facility, and heated up. As the glass begins to melt, it's "drawn" into thin fibers. Then the fibers are packed together into a hexagonal shape, drawn again — and packed once more.

Now, there are about 10 million fibers, or "cores," smushed into a cylinder and sliced into a disk the size of a quarter. The more cores, the greater the resolution of the image intensification gear. Think of these cores as the analog equivalent of pixels. Creating them from those Superman crystals takes 40 days.

It's one of 400 processes that ITT as to go through to make the night vision gear. The whole thing requires more than 1,150 manufacturing assembly operators, engineers, chemists, physicists, lab technicians, working in this 356,000 square-foot facility and a smaller one in West Springfield, Massachusetts. ITT builds their own semi-conductors here (they don't want to depend on a potential corporate competitor, or on a foreign government, for their key components). They coat those components with layers of cesium oxide so volatile and so fine, they're impossible to measure — getting close enough to take a look would introduce oxygen, which would cause the cesium coating to decompose.

The image intensifier has three main components. The first is a photo cathode. It works pretty much like a solar cell, turning photons of light into electrons. Those electrons are then transferred into an electrically-charged "micro channel plate" — that's the quarter-sized bundle of glass fibers, originally melted from those Superman crystals. The micro channel plate is basically a tiny amplifier; the electrons bounce around those rods, creating more along the way.

At the bottom of the rods, the electrons smash into a fiber-optic screen coated with the rare earth compound phosphor. The microscopic particles glow green when the electrons hit. Photons are created again. And that produces the classic night vision view.

Night vision's tell-tale green glow is everywhere today — from horror movies to all-too-real news reports from the battlefield. There was even a restaurant craze a few years back when patrons sat in the dark while NVG-equipped waiters brought out the food. But it's worth remembering that the process required to make these everyday gadgets is anything but commonplace.

Video: ITT

Photos: Noah Shachtman

See Also:

• Night-Vision Tech Tangles Troops in Afghanistan
• Night Vision Toy Lets Kids ‘Own the Night’
• Buying Night Vision, Nuke Gear? Too Easy, Investigators Find
• Crazy Military Tracking Tech, From Super Scents to Quantum Dots
• 100 Firefights, Three Weeks: Inside Afghanistan’s Most Insane Fight

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09 ... n/?pid=800

Ramen Noodles

Ramen Hack: 30+ Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Instant Noodles

Posted by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt,
March 21, 2011 at 6:00 PM
133 Comments / 193 Favorite this!



SLIDESHOW: Ramen Hacks: 30+ Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Instant Noodles http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... eshow.html

[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

Ramen in the U.S. has come a long way. Once known only in its 10-for-a-dollar instant-lunch form a staple of offices and dorm rooms all around the '80s and '90s high-end real ramen shops are springing up left and right on both coasts and everywhere in between. As a half-Japanese kid in the '80s, I grew up eating instant ramen at least once a week, and it still holds a special place in my gut. The real stuff is great, but sometimes only the add-hot-water pack will do.

That said, my tastes have changed and expanded considerably over the years, and sometimes that little flavoring packet just isn't enough. As such, I've spent a lot of time devising ways to upgrade my ramen in cheap, easy ways. Ghetto gourmet, if you will.

As a card-carrying member of the Ramen Transmogrification Society of Greater New York,* it is my duty, my honor, and my privilege to share with you some of our methods and recipes.

For full, step-by-step instructions on any of these dishes, please click through the slideshow above.

* Our membership is pretty thin right now - care to join?

Simple Add-ins



Mix-ins.

The easiest way to quickly upgrade a bowl of instant noodles is with ingredients that require no extra cooking. I'm talking simple sauces and condiments like:

Miso paste
Chili bean sauce
Thai curry paste
Japanese curry powder
Fish sauce
Harrisa
Vinegar
Ponzu

I'm a condiment hoarder (I've got a whole double-layered shelf of my fridge plus the entire door and a full pantry cabinet devoted to them), so this is a particularly easy thing for me to do. The key is not to go overboard with too many different competing flavors. I often make this mistake after long nights out, assuming that when it comes to hangover cures, more is better. Not the case. Keep it simple. Bear in mind that if you're using a salty condiment, you should omit some of the seasoning packet. You can also add:

Spices like white pepper, sichuan pepper, or chili flakes to the finished dish, or try adding a cinnamon stick, star anise, and coriander seeds to the simmering broth (remove 'em before serving!)

Fats like toasted sesame oil, chili oil, or an animal fat (pork, chicken, or duck are all awesome)

Citrus juices—a quick squeeze of lemon or lime right before serving can go a long way to brightening flavors.

But imagine this scenario: you're in college, the power went out in your dorm room, and you obviously had no choice but to finish all the beer in the fridge rather than let it warm up. You're hungry, but you can't use the water kettle. Keanu Reeves pops up in your brain and asks: What do you do? What do you do?

Here's the answer: Just crunch up the noodles in the bag, tear off a corner, add the seasoning packet, hold the torn corner and shake it up, then consume. Lick your fingers clean after this one. It's like eating Cheetos, but with delicious "Oriental flavor" fingers instead of "orange cheeze."

Vegetation



Spinach.

Let's face it: Ramen ain't health food. But it's pretty simple to add a bit of roughage to your starch.

Quick cooking vegetables like baby spinach, romaine lettuce, bean sprouts, thinly sliced cabbage, watercress, and scallions (amongst others) can be stirred into the soup right before serving. They should wilt in a matter of seconds.

Longer cooking vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, snow peas, shredded carrots, and whatever else your heart fancies can be added to the noodles as they're cooking. It may take a bit of finagling to get the timing just right, but I have faith in you, young grasshopper.

Frozen vegetables can work great corn and peas in particular fare well frozen (often being significantly better than their fresh counterparts!). I like to thaw them out by running them under hot water straight out of the tap for 30 seconds or so. They can then be drained and added directly to the hot soup just before serving.

Eggs


Boiled eggs.

Ramen are pretty much all starch and fat (with most inexpensive ramen brands, the noodles are dehydrated by deep-frying them!). What about adding some extra protein? Eggs are cheap, delicious, and in most cases, can be cooked directly in the same pot with the noodles or the broth. Here are a few simple ways to do it. The World Society for Ramen Egg Cookery (an organization which I founded, chair, and am the sole member of) has divided ramen-eggs into 5 levels. It is unadvisable to attempt a higher level process until you've completed each of the levels preceding it.

Level 1: Hard boiled eggs are the easiest - just add the eggs to a pot of cold water, bring it to a boil, then drop in your noodles. The egg should be pretty perfectly hard boiled in just about the same time that it takes to cook the ramen through.

Level 2: Soft boiled eggs are a tad trickier, because they involve a time. Drop them into the pot after it's come to a full boil, start a timer, and pull them out after 3 minutes for super-soft, or 5 for a fully-set white and semi-liquid yolk. I like to cut the eggs open and stir the yolk into the broth as I eat it.

Level 3: The egg-drop method creates small curds of egg blossoms that float in the broth and coat your noodles. Lightly beat an egg in a small bowl. Once your noodles are cooked, swirl the noodles and hot broth gently around the pot. While the broth is moving, slowly drizzle in the beaten egg. It should set into fine ribbons.

Level 4: Poached eggs will never come out perfectly shaped, but who really cares? Just cook the noodles until they've just started to separate from each other (about halfway through their total cooking time), pull the pot off the heat, break a raw egg into the center, place the lid on the pot, and let the whole thing sit for a couple minutes until both the noodles and eggs are cooked.

Level 5: Fried Eggs require the use of an auxiliary pan and heat source. This is hyper-advanced stuff, and not to be trifled with until you've mastered all of the first-level egg techniques.*

* Not really. It's still pretty darn easy.

Simple Simmered Meat



Flank steak with scallions.

Thinly sliced meats can be cooked in a matter of seconds directly in the pot. Chicken breast, pork tenderloin, or flank steak are all great candidates. I like to pick the pieces up one at a time and swish them back and forth in the hot broth until cooked while the noodles are simmering, then set the cooked meat aside and put it back on top right before serving. Cured meats like ham or bacon are great as well, as are cooked meats like leftover chicken or steak, or hot dogs. Want something really interesting? Add a bit of shredded up beef jerky as your noodles cook. It lends a nice smoky saltiness to the broth, and achieves a really delightful tender-chewy texture.

And that's about it for the basics of ramen cookery. Once you've mastered all of the simple methods, upgrading your noodles is simply a matter of combining various techniques to achieve delicious end results. The most obvious ones are simplified, ramenified-versions of classic East Asian dishes. A dash of fish sauce and lime juice along with some beef and herbs quickly converts a bowl of noodles into a delicious Faux Pho (pictured up top). http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147409

Add some shrimp and coconut milk, and you've got yourself a quickie-version of Thai style Tom Kha Goong. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147418



Stir-fried beef and snap peas.

With care, you can even make drier stir-fried or cold noodle dishes. The key here is to stop cooking the ramen just before it's completely done, then drain it. It'll continue to soften a bit from the residual heat, as well as cooking further when you stir-fry it or add a hot sauce. As with all stir-fries, the goal is to have your pan hot enough before adding ingredients that you get a nice quick sear before anything can overcook or turn to mush. When stir-frying ramen, I like to use part of the seasoning packet as a marinade for my meat. Cook the meat and vegetables in a hot skillet with oil before adding then noodles and whatever sauce you'd like (plain old oyster sauce with a touch of sesame oil is an easy crowd-pleaser). I like the simple combo of flank steak with snap peas. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147416

Fake ramen-based Pad Thai also makes use of this technique, adding fish sauce, peanuts, vegetables, and a touch of lime and tamarind paste (if you've got it) for a quick, easy stir-fry that's actually better than most of the oversweetened, gloppy stuff you get from second-rate Thai restaurants. Do things right, and nobody will recognize your ramen when it's wearing its new Thai hat. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147426

Aloha Ramen! combines Spam, pineapple, and a fried egg for some authentic, hyper-traditional Polynesian island flavor. Instant luau - just add hot water! http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147417

Peanut butter and coconut make for a great chilled ramen salad, http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147421

and you can get in touch with your inner Chinese-American steam table by throwing together a simple ketchup and pineapple-based sweet & sour sauce (Sriracha optional). http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147423

For more complete instructions, click through the slideshow above. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147409



Ramincinnati chili.

Of course, there's no reason to stay in Asia here. Ramen takes well to Western flavors as well.

How about some cheesy chili ramen http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147419

or a poutine-like dish of toasted raw ramen with gravy and mozzarella? http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147420 (Use real curd for authenticity's sake, or just go with the shredded stuff if you'd prefer.) Stir together cooked ramen with a simple gooey cheese sauce (see our recipe here), http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010 ... achos.html or if you'd prefer, just a block of microwaved Velveeta thinned out with a bit of water, then pop the whole thing in the toaster oven for a Ramac & Cheese with a melty center and nice golden-brown crust. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147425

Remember when Spaghetti Tacos were a thing? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/dining/06tacos.html

Well, here come Ramen tacos to take their place. Adding a pack of crunched up ramen noodles to the beef filling in a standard American taco kit add bulk, texture, and a whole boatload of fun! (and yes, that's fun! with an exclamation point!). Go Go Ramacos! http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147422

Canned soups can be bulked up nicely with instant ramen. Cream of mushroom, onion, whatever you'd like will work, but my favorite is to add a can of creamed corn, some sliced bacon, and perhaps a shot of heavy cream or milk to a pot of simmering ramen for an instant sweet and smoky corn chowder. A sprinkle of freshly sliced scallions completes this elegant soup, from a more civilized age. Wear a jacket, and don't let your tie dip into the bowl. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147424


Ramepherd's pie.

But for the ultimate in fusion-comfort food, Ramen-topped shepherd's or cottage pie is the way to go. Mashed potatoes can be a pain in the butt to make for such a simple dish. Why not just boil some noodles, and use them as your pie crust instead? The top of the noodles dry out and become super-crisp under the broiler, while the noodles underneath remain tender. It's a uniquely delicious textural contrast, and one that I believe can help bring the world together. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... how-147427

Of course, we're barely scratching the surface here. Ramen may be one of the cheapest foods in the supermarket, but with imagination and a bit of cross-cultural, cross-class love, it can be one of the most versatile staples in your pantry.

Check out the slideshow for more recipes and ideas, then tell me: What do you do to fancify your ramen?

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/rame ... ramen.html

The Official Ramen Noodle Homepage

http://www.mattfischer.com/ramen/

Ramen Noodle's by the Case

http://www.buythecase.net/products/inde ... en&x=0&y=0

http://www.ramendepot.com/






High RamenDepot.com Spirit Salute to Our Troops in Iraq!

Serious Eats

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