Survival Items: What You Might Need – Part 2

by Chris Vegvary

What kind of survivalist are you? Do you think that the supposedly pending apocalypse will come from nuclear devastation of some kind, or do you believe it might start with a zombie attack? Whatever you believe in terms of how it’s all going to end, you’re going to need the gear to help you survive the aftermath. There are many items to consider, and in this article, we’ll consider a survival situation and what you might need in that instance.

This time, the world has been devastated by an EMP attack. That’s electro-magnetic pulse, for you non-techies out there. All forms of communication, every electronic device, and most, if not all vehicles, have been disabled. What’s a person to do? Not wallow in self-pity, that’s for sure. Let’s consider some food first. Your fridge won’t work anymore, so all the food in there is spoiled. Luckily, you have some emergency food rations that have a five-year shelf life. These should provide you with enough nutrients and other important such and such to keep you moving during the day and resting at night, or vice-versa, depending on the situation.

Next up, you may want to find a way to stay warm. You know that when there’s no power, there’s no air conditioning for hot days and there’s no heat during the winter. How are you going to stay warm? You could pile on plenty of layers of clothing, but that may not be enough sometimes, and you’re going to want to consider starting a nice fire to stay warm by. This Zippo doubles as a lighter and a hand warmer, which can provide up to 12 hours of warmth with one filling. Just make sure you’re stocked up on lighter fluid, because that might be hard to come by once the looting begins (and it will).

Let’s also pretend for a second that you’re not as interested in survival after the apocalypse as you are concerned about being clean. With no running water, there’s not going to be any showers or any hose water for you to wash up with, so you may be relying on toilet water. That doesn’t sound too pleasant, does it? It doesn’t. It might behoove you to stock up on certain items that can keep you clean, because you’re just not too likely to find any working baths, so maybe stockpile a bunch of these “shower in a towel” items.

These few items are just the tip of the iceberg, but if you read this today and the apocalypse happens tomorrow, hopefully you will have gained some small amount of knowledge and use what you’ve learned to keep you alive until the next apocalypse. It could be fun…but it won’t be.

The Search For a Good Zippo

by Chris Vegvary

When I look for a Zippo lighter, I never look for the right things. There’s plenty of imitations out there, and I’ve been suckered a couple of times. Admittedly, I look for a good design that’s appealing to my eye without paying attention to the little details. For instance, does the flame stay lit in the wind? As in, if I were dropping it from a certain height into a crowd of zombies standing in a pool of gasoline, should I be worried the flame is going to go out before it reaches its intended target? These are the things I should be thinking about when searching for a Zippo.

Design is still important, but the finer details make all the difference. The imitations that would have you believe they’re real Zippos look the same, but they don’t function exactly the same. The lighter fluid runs out faster, and the wick seems almost flame-resistant. That should not be. At some point, the flint will probably snap off, too, and then it becomes completely useless to me, because I’m lost when it comes to replacing part for a lighter. After all, it’s just a lighter.

However, Zippos aren’t just lighters. They can be your best friend if you end up in a completely dark place with no other source of light, like a flashlight. They can help you start a fire in the wilderness when you don’t have survival tools. It’s hard to tell the difference between the fakers and the real thing sometimes, but if you follow the links throughout the article, you’ll find the real deal available for purchase.