[Ayoob]

Where have I heard this before?

link

Your Sleeping Bag

There’s only one item I recommend you buy, and that’s a good sleeping bag. A good sleeping bag is worth its weight in gold. You need a good sleeping bag for many reasons. In a true survival situation, most people die because of hypothermia, not because of lack of water or food. A person can die of hypothermia in temperatures well above freezing. Just getting cold and wet at 60 degrees can make someone go hypothermic. In any survival situation, maintaining body temperature is critical to surviving. Further, getting sleep is essential to a good attitude and essential for making good decisions. Cave men would have killed for a good sleeping bag.

How does a good sleeping bag have anything to do with peak oil? As fuel supplies dwindle, people wonder how to heat their homes without any home heating oils. The answer is easy, a $400 or less sleeping bag. I’ve slept comfortably in the snowy Italian Alps and in Alaska with no fire, no tent, and no ground pad - all I had was a good sleeping bag. I’ve spent many nights outside, and I am here to say that a good sleeping bag can keep you cozy warm in any climate under any conditions, be it rain, sleet, or snow. Even if you now live in a warm climate like southern Florida, you never know where you will be in 10 years if forced to migrate for some reason because of changes brought about by peak oil. You too will need a good sleeping bag. It is your mobile shelter.

A good sleeping bag is a survival must and first on my list of survival/peak oil equipment. For a one time expense of $400 or less, you never have to worry about electric heat, wood heat, gas heat, or where you are going to sleep. The sleeping bag is lightweight, will last a lifetime if cared for, and easily transportable. If you trust me and buy a sleeping bag, buy a synthetic bag, not a down bag. Synthetic bags keep you warm even when wet, down bags don’t. Always buy a bag with a temperature rating at least 15 degrees colder than your average winters. In my opinion, you should buy a synthetic bag rated down to minus 20 or 25 degrees (trust me). Here are some good dealers in cheap synthetic sleeping bags - "Cheaper than Dirt" and "High Peak." I recently bought three synthetic sleeping bags rated down to -20 degrees for $60 each. I can survive anywhere now. Have bag, will travel.

Food

Have a month’s supply of food on hand ($500). There are numerous websites dealing with food supplies etc. But basically, buy things you will eat. Remember, though, you are eating to survive, not for taste. When choosing foods, dry milk, white rice and dried beans will last almost indefinitely if stored right (and their cheap, a fifty pound bag of white rice costs about $13.00). Canned foods will last two years, longer if stored right. Honey is good food, stores for a long time, and is also a good home medicine. Honey is a natural antibiotic and can be used to treat wounds, even gunshot wounds and burns. Do an internet search on honey and wound care. Learn all about it. Iodized salt is a must and will last indefinitely. Pure sugar is a must, and lasts almost indefinitely. Peanut butter is the best all round survival food. You don’t have to heat or cook it, it comes in its own container, you can eat it with your finger, and its crammed full of protein, carbs and fats. It will keep you going. It lasts two years on the shelf.

Edit: Just realized who the author is

[eastbay]

Along these lines... I was wondering if anyone here knows what those living in Siberia do in really, really cold weather. I understand hot water is sometimes scarce, the houses aren't as well insulated and fuel for heating can be tough to get at times
where wood isn't plentiful.

Whatever these hardy people do in times of scarcity could be a lesson for others as we descend down the curve.

[seahorse]

Hey Ayoob,

If I would have known he was going to publish that, I would have edited it more carefully. The mistakes make me cringe. Hope everything is going well for you.

[seahorse]

In places with little wood, you can burn dried manure for fuel.

[Ayoob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'A')long these lines... I was wondering if anyone here knows what those living in Siberia do in really, really cold weather. I understand hot water is sometimes scarce, the houses aren't as well insulated and fuel for heating can be tough to get at times
where wood isn't plentiful.

Whatever these hardy people do in times of scarcity could be a lesson for others as we descend down the curve.

[Ayoob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seahorse', 'H')ey Ayoob,

If I would have known he was going to publish that, I would have edited it more carefully. The mistakes make me cringe. Hope everything is going well for you.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', 't')he Eskimos built igloos and heated them with a small cup of melted blubber with a lit wick floating in it.

[eastbay]

Thanks Ayoob, I've read the interiors of igloos were generally above 32 f which was often quite a bit higher than the outside air. A little body heat from a dozen people packed inside and a fat candle and it gets quite nice inside!

But I was thinking more of the millions who reside in the great expanse who survive frighteningly extreme cold yet have been getting by with far less then Europeans, and most Canadians and Americans who tend to whine and crank up the heater when it gets below 60 f.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'T')hanks Ayoob, I've read the interiors of igloos were generally above 32 f which was often quite a bit higher than the outside air.

[seldom_seen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f you trust me and buy a sleeping bag, buy a synthetic bag, not a down bag.

[frankthetank]

Verhoyansk(?) Russia...-52C...Better bring a thicker sleeping bag!

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', '[')img]http://www.arcticphoto.co.uk/search/previewss/rv0038-05m.jpg[/img]

Verhoyansk(?) Russia...-52C...Better bring a thicker sleeping bag!