Heads, you win.

With summer in full swing and the sun beating down on us, we all need to keep a simple and common item close at hand: A hat.

Exposure to the sun's UV radiation is one of the main causes of skin cancer. It's pointless to be 50+ years old and have a dermatologist tell you that you should have worn a hat more often when you were younger while he's cutting the tumors off of your nose or ears. Wrinkles and yellowing of the skin are also caused by excessive exposure to UV light. Keeping the sun off of your head, especially the ears and nose, can help minimize the risk of skin cancer and prevent painful, itchy sunburns. For those of us with little to no hair on our heads (see picture to the right), a sun burnt scalp is not a laughing matter.

Hats with brims also provide shade for the eyes, making bright sunlight easier to handle. If you're expecting to be in areas with extreme heat and sun, look for a hat with a neck drape or fashion one out of a bandanna or other piece of cloth. (See also: shemagh)

Hats come in a variety of forms, with pros and cons for each type.

Ball Caps

• Ball caps are cheap and easy to find. 
• When worn properly (with the bill facing forward), ball caps do a good job of shading the eyes and nose but offer no protection for the ears or neck.
• Many ball caps made for summer wear have the back portion made of an open mesh to allow air flow for cooling, but the open mesh will allow the sunlight in as well.
• I prefer the ones made of cotton, since it absorbs more sweat than the cheap man-made fibers and can be soaked in water to help cool your head. 
• Colors and logos will vary according to your situation, from blaze orange while hunting to a sports team logo for urban camouflage.

Cowboy Hats

• The good ones are expensive, but will generally last longer than a cheap one. 
• The wide brim that goes all the way around the hat shades the eyes, ears, nose, and part of the neck.
• A proper cowboy hat will shed rain off the back, behind your collar, and keep moderate rain off of your face. 
• Usually made of felt, they absorb a lot of sweat and do a good job of keeping it out of your eyes. 
• For summer wear I've used straw cowboy hats to keep the sun off of me, and they usually lasted about a year. Felt hats will last a lot longer -- I think I got five years of everyday use out of my last one but it was pretty ratty by the time I retired it.

"Boonie" Hats

• Soft brimmed with a flat top, boonie hats are useful when working in brush and trees because they don't get snagged on things very easily. 
• They are easy to store and wash. 
• Since they don't have any stiffeners in the brim they tend to be floppy and don't do a good job of shading the eyes.

Dress Hats

• Bowlers, Panamas, Fedoras, and Berets are all more fashion than function.
• Panama straw hats will offer good protection from the sun, but the rest are better suited to formal dress rather than work.

If you don't like wearing a hat or don't have one, a bandana or "do-rag" will keep the sweat out of your eyes and help keep your head cool. They also work well under motorcycle helmets and hard hats, neither of which are comfortable to wear in the summer.

Give me six months and I'll have my recommendations for winter hats.

Prudent Prepping : Change

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Now we concentrate on what to do in, and how to plan for, the long term via Prudent Prepping.

Change is a good thing
I have a tendency to stick to the things I know and like, and don't even attempt to change what I have. This is the situation I'm in now with my new pack. Not only have I not swapped out winter gear for summer/fall gear in my assorted bags, there are several other things I neglected to do to on my normal Prepping Checklist:

• Check for expiring food stores
• Clean out the water jugs
• Replace my stored water

The biggest one was not swapping out my stored water. I should have done this last month,  around the time the Buffet Post was written, since it has been pretty warm here. 

Water

http://tinyurl.com/o52jwon 

I have both water and time available, so I change it more often than might be necessary. My water is stored inside the house so I don't need to worry about evaporation or it tasting bad quickly, but it still gets warm. (I also add a small amount of bleach to each jug to prevent things growing in the water.)

The jugs I use are these, which I purchased from my local Walmart instead of Amazon. I like the size, shape and how there are two handles which make it easy to carry and pour. I bought mine locally as I needed jugs immediately and could not wait for delivery.

I just gave one of my jugs to a friends son, who is starting to think about prepping since he is now living on his own.

Food
The other things I changed in my packs were all the food items, especially the canned goods kept in the bags that spend any amount of time in my truck. I do know that the amount of time spent in the heat won't affect the food quickly, but if I change it regularly now, there will never be a problem in the future. So all the old canned chicken, repackaged almonds and jerky goes into the house, and fresh ones are swapped in. Coffee, tea and drink mixes stay, since they don't degrade quickly. 

Clothing

Sweaters and knit caps have to come out, and long sleeve Tee shirts go in. Windbreakers, socks and pants stay along with boonie/rain hats.

Fitness
Another item I have started to change is the amount of exercise I have been doing. I am hiking a very hilly 5-6 mile loop two days a week and swimming for at least one hour 2-3 days a week. I don't seem to be losing weight yet, but my clothes are getting a bit looser. I tell people I don't really mind my weight, just where it's at. 

I find that I'm sleeping better, my digestion is better and there are fewer things that stress me out when I get outside. Funny how that works.

The Takeaway

• Get a calendar or set alerts on your phone for regular checkups on your stored pantry items. 
• Change out items that might be degraded by high temperatures. 
• Do seasonal gear swaps before the season is over.
• Lose weight to improve your health and mood. 

Recap

Nothing was purchased this week, but good karma was boosted with some equipment given to a friend.


As always, if you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it, Feds.

Let's Talk Tires

Tires are one of the most critical safety items on your car. Sadly, they're also one of the most frequently neglected. Poor tire maintenance can lead to decreased fuel mileage, accelerated vehicle wear and costly repairs. If tires degrade too far, they can experience catastrophic failure, leading to severe accidents and injuries. Luckily, a bit of time and some simple checks can detect problems before they get to dangerous points.

These are our cutting-edge tire checking tools. On the right is a stick-type tire gauge. They're cheap enough to keep one in every vehicle, plus I have a couple knocking around the garage. If the stick type isn't your speed, there are also digital and dial-type gauges available.

On the left is a standard US quarter. In addition to being used to buy things, it also makes a handy gauge to measure the remaining depth of your tire tread.

This is a tire in very good shape, a textbook example of how tires should look.

Flip George head down, and insert him into the grooves in your tread. If you can see the top of his head, it's time to start shopping for new rubber.

Tires should wear evenly. The slanted wear on this tire indicates a suspension issue requiring professional correction. If fixed in time, the tire can be saved.

See the excess wear on the left?

If suspension issues are not corrected, they lead to rapid tire degradation as shown in the above two pictures. At this point, driving on these tires is quite dangerous.

The highlighted area shows wear down to the steel belts in the tire. Catastrophic failure, likely in the form of tire separation or a blowout, is imminent. This tire needs immediate replacement, otherwise a major accident is almost certain to happen.


Improper tire pressure is one of the most common and most serious causes of tire failure. Both over- and under-inflated tires can bring about dangerous situations. Over-inflated tires wear more along the center of the tread, and tend to heat up and build dangerous pressures. Under-inflated tires wear on the outside portions of the tread, and break down and fall apart at an accelerated rate.

The manufacturer's pressure specifications are molded into the sidewall of the tire, as pictured above. Pressure is checked by placing the port on the gauge over the valve stem and then reading the gauge results.

On this stick-type gauge, each small mark is two PSI. They can be quickly and easily read with a bit of practice, and stow neatly in the vehicle's glove/storage area. The pictured gauge took a reading of 35 PSI, which is right on for recommended pressure.


Keep an eye on where the rubber meets the road, and keep yourself and your people safe.

Lokidude

Guest Post: Yukon Outfitters Delta Territory Pack Review

by Brian Garrett

Erin: You used my link, you have to write a review.
Me: What?
Erin: I found an awesome deal for you, so you have to review the product.
Me: Seriously?
Erin: Yup. Hop to it.
Me: You know I am new to prepping and am horrible at writing, right?
Erin: NO EXCUSE!

A Little Background

This served me well in hunting season and high school. 

Not bad for a $20 pack from Sunny Surplus, right?

My experience with this type of gear is as a hunter. I have no military training, and I am new to prepping. I have been following Blue Collar Prepping for a few months now, and the articles here make a lot of sense.

After reading the articles Erin wrote on her pack, I came to the conclusion that my old hunting pack (over 20 years old, and not that good to begin with) just would not cut it as a bug-out bag. So let’s take a look at the replacement.

Yukon Outfitters Delta Territory Pack

http://www.woot.com/offers/delta-territory-pack-7

There it is, in all its glory. My first impression on this ruck was "Wow, that looks big",  and I was right. The main compartment has 4500+ cubic inches of space! I could have filled my old pack and put it IN this pack with room to spare! 

• There are 2 entries into the main compartment: at the top, and under the upper pouch on the back. 
• There are zippers around the back of the pack and around the bottom pouch to allow a little bit more space for the main compartment.
• The upper two side pouches are easily a foot deep with MOLLE straps on the side, and have an overhanging covering which will easily keep anything inside them dry.
• Underneath these are two smaller pouches, 4 to 5 inches deep. These have no top covering, but would be good for a water bottle or similarly sized items. 
• The shoulder straps are nicely padded, and the waist belt fits me with room left over, which is amazing considering that I wear size 56/34 pants.

The rifle case can fit a "full size hunting rifle" according to the webpage, and has a detachable top held in place by heavy Velcro and four buckles. Unfortunately I do not have a hunting rifle to test that claim, but it does fit my AR-15 carbine with room to spare. The AR sits so low in the case that I could detach the top piece and close it in with just the Velcro. 

My only complaint with this bag is the lack of a hydration system storage. I know there are MOLLE bladder pouches out there, but I feel that one should have been included in this pack's design.

Recommendation

I don’t have a fleshed out grading system, but I would recommend this pack. It’s big, sturdy and easily customizable. Normally priced at $199.99, but thanks to Erin, I got it for under $100!

(Editor's Note: It would appear that Yukon Outfitters has discontinued this pack, which is why a $200 was on sale at sport.woot.com for $90. 

I periodically post deals like this on the BCP Facebook Page. If you have not become a member, I encourage you to become one. -- Erin)

Gun Blog Variety Podcast #47

Another excellent episode of The GunBlog VarietyCast.

• Adam and Sean compare notes on how carrying a gun has changed their lives. 
• Erin Palette talks medical treatment of heat injuries with Kelly Grayson
• Nicki Kenyon is on assignment and will return next week
• Special Guest Rob Reed tells us about his adventures as a cub reporter for a radio station who got sent to cover the Kalamazoo air show
• Barron B has been released from Facebook Jail in time to tell us how to guard yourself from Kickstarter scams
• And Weer'd does another patented Weer'd Audio Fisk. This time the target is the Minister of Propaganda for the Coalition to Stop Gun Ownership, Ladd Everett.

Thanks for downloading, listening, and subscribing.

Listen to the podcast here.
Show notes may be found here

A special thanks to our sponsor, The Law of Self Defense. Make sure to use discount code "Variety" at checkout for 10% off training seminars and merchandise.

And please, share us with a friend.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

While interviewing Kelly "Ambulance Driver" Grayson for this week's BCP segment of the Gun Blog Variety Cast, he mentioned water intoxication, which is something I'd briefly heard of via murder shows like NCIS  and CSI. Since this has turned out to be an unofficial "water week" on the blog, it seems only proper that I discuss what happens when you over-hydrate. 

LD50
Before I begin, I need to explain some terminology. In toxicology, there's a metric known as Median Lethal Dose, and abbreviated as LD50. The definition for LD50 is a bit complicated for some people, so I'm going to break it down as a process:

1. Scientists decide to test the lethality of a substance. 
2. They administer carefully calibrated doses of it to an animal population. 
3. They stop when these doses have killed 50% of the animals. This is LD50, aka "lethal dose, 50%."
4. The dosage is then measured against the body weight of the animals. 
5. This allows the scientists to extrapolate a formula for how lethal this substance is to humans, again based on body weight. 
• Example: Aspirin has an LD50 rating of 200mg per kg of weight in lab rats. Therefore it is generally assumed (because lethality testing on humans is illegal) that 15,000 milligrams (or 15 grams, or about half an ounce) will kill a 165 pound (75 kg) human 50% of the time. 
6. Of course, as Evelyn likes to point out, humans are not widgets. We all have different diets and biochemistries, so none of this is exact; it's just a rough guideline for how bad things are for you if you ingest enough of a substance.

With all of that said, it's very hard to achieve a lethal dose of water; part of that has to do with water being very benign, and part has to with the fact that our stomachs can only hold so much of it. According to the American Chemical Society, the LD50 for water is 6 liters, or 1.5 gallons, for a 75kg (165 lb) person. 

Water Intoxication/Hyponatremia

What is important about this dosage is that you have to drink all of this water at the same time. The human body is very, very good at processing water, as anyone who has gone out for a night of drinking will attest, so simply drinking this much water over the course of day, or even a few hours, is fine. The problem occurs when it happens all at once, and it's not because the water itself is poisonous; it's because that much water dilutes the salt concentration of your blood and results in a condition known as hyponatremia -- in other words, you have flushed out vital nutrients and chemicals with all that water. 

However, just because it's hard to take a lethal does doesn't mean that you can drink 1.45 gallons and expect to be fine. Past a certain point, too much water can make you essentially drunk (hence the term water intoxication), which can render you helpless or a danger to yourself and others, especially if you get behind the wheel of a car while so afflicted. 

It's also very easy for babies up to 9 months to become hyponatremic. Because of their small bodies and low sodium reserves, they can easily take in too large of a dose if drinking water from a bottle. In a bug-out situation where milk or formula is not readily available, it may be tempting to give your baby water -- be very careful doing so. According to Grayson, "Hyponatremia has happened to infants whose parents were mixing too dilute a formula. I saw it once with an indigent mother who was trying to stretch her powdered formula as much as she could."

It is recommended that babies 4-6 months old should have no more than 2 ounces of water per day. For more information, please read this PDF.

Treatment

Symptoms of water intoxication are similar to those of heath exhaustion or heat stroke: feeling hot, nausea, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, and feeling unwell. This can cause problems because the first thing people do when they thing their friend has a heat injury is to offer them water to drink, so the first question you need to ask a potential sufferer is "Have you been drinking enough water?"

In addition, the patient may be confused, irritable, drowsy, or have significant changes in personality or behavior. This is due to the brain swelling from increased water pressure. Left untreated, this can result in seizures, coma, and death. 

The recommended treatment for water intoxication is slow, regulated injection of saline into the patient by medical professionals to restore sodium balance to the blood. This is not something a typical prepper can perform, however, 

According to Grayson, if this happens post-STHF, the victim will "either live through it, or won't, on his own."  Now, I'm not the type to just sit back and do nothing, especially when it comes to a loved one -- but I'm not going to give you bad medical advice, either. If you want to find a way to increase their salt content or decrease their water content, that's up to you.

Summer Fun

Since we seem to be posting a lot of summer topics lately, I thought I'd write one about one of my favorite ways of staying cool when the temps head for 100 and the humidity is 50% or more:

Swimming

I posted a map of the county I live in a while back to show how much water there is near me. A good percentage of the surface water around here is deep enough to swim in, and is generally clean enough that you don't have to worry about contracting diseases or chemical reactions if you get into it. Drinking it unfiltered would be unwise, but for recreational purposes it works just fine. We have several parks/lakes with swimming areas and a few municipal swimming pools, but a lot of people like to swim wherever they can get into the water. Leeches aren't much of a problem in flowing water, and they don't eat much anyway.

Hygiene
Walking into a lake after a day of heavy physical labor serves to cool the body and clean off the worst of the dust and debris that sticks to sweat. (Never dive into any body of water that you haven't checked for depth; I know of two people lucky enough to have survived doing so and they're both in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. The human spine was not designed to take the impact of your body weight if your head hits the bottom of a shallow lake. Spinal injuries don't heal, and are often fatal.) Scrubbing the top layer of grime off in a lake or pond will reduce the amount of clean water that you'll need for hygiene purposes. As long as the weather and water temperatures allow, going swimming can reduce bathing without sacrificing hygiene.

Hypothermia
Water conducts heat very well, so immersing your body in room-temperature water will feel a lot colder than the air above it. Cold water survival is another topic, but be aware that hypothermia can occur in cold water a lot faster than in air at the same temperature. Very rapid cooling of the body can also lead to cardiac shock (stuns the heart) in people with weak hearts or poor body temperature control, so avoid diving into that cold water if you're overheated.

Learn to Swim
Water isn't just for drinking or swimming, and knowing how to swim can become a life-saving skill if you have too much water. This is a skill that I consider so very basic that it gets overlooked. We're not born knowing how to swim, but the resources are available and it is something that everyone should know how to do. Almost every YMCA in the country offers swimming lessons for all ages, and the Red Cross can steer you towards other sources since they're the main certifying agency for swimming instructors. Cub/Boy Scouts also teach swimming as a basic skill; I'm not sure about the Girl Scouts. 

Learn how to swim at whatever level you feel comfortable with: We're not looking to win an Iron Man competition, just being able to get ourselves out of a sticky situation. Hurricanes, flash floods, earthquakes, and various other disasters can create water hazards that you may have to deal with. If you don't know how to swim and get stuck in a flooded area, you're going to be the person being rescued by the National Guard on the nightly news. 

It is my opinion that nobody should be allowed on a boat of any size, on any body of water, until they know the basics of how to keep themselves afloat; flotation devices are nice, but they have their limits and may not be available in every situation. Canoes and kayaks are fun, but they tend to tip over. Fishing boats can almost sink; they're built with flotation chambers in them so they won't go completely under unless they break up. Need I mention the Titanic? 

Swimming is a stealth prep, something you can train on, practice, and learn without scaring the neighbors and have fun at the same time. Equipment costs are minimal (swim suits are sometimes optional) and it's a great way to unwind at the end of a day.