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Disaster Duffel ™, Aviator Duffel ™, and O.A.S.I.S. Aviator Case ™
with an eye to quality, usefulness in an emergency, practicality, and
cost, and made key decisions about what to include in the Duffels
based on this analysis. Our goal at Survival Intelligence, Inc. is to
make your survival experience as intelligent as possible. We want
you to be an Intelligent Survivor ™!
Here are a few important notes about what we decided:
Batteries:
Our Duffels have them! When you need light, you need it now! Do you
honestly have the time, strength, and desire to spend one or two full minutes
cranking, squeezing, or shaking a flashlight just to get a few minutes of light?
Though flashlights that do not rely on batteries can be useful, wouldn't you
rather feel absolutely confident that when you flip the switch, the light will
come on and the radio will play? We power our flashlights and radios with
long shelf life (5+ years) brand name (Duracell, Energizer, RayoVac, etc)
alkaline batteries in our Duffels. Our "MAX!" Duffels and Aviator products
include extra alkaline batteries for both the flashlights and radio. We have
actually tested standard AA size alkaline batteries that were used for a short
period when they were new, then stored for THIRTEEN YEARS...that is NOT a
typo...and still have enough charge to power a flashlight at a useful brightness
for over 2 hours. Now, THAT is the kind of dependability we all need in an
emergency!
Water Purification:
Above all else...Food, shelter, or fresh underwear...WATER is absolutely critical
for your survival. Go three days without water, and you are in big trouble.
Ensuring you have plenty of water on hand is the intelligent way to survive.
The U.S. Federal Government and American Red Cross recommend at least 1
gallon of clean water per person per day to drink, wash up, and cook. If you
can go without washing and cooking, you need at least one pint (16oz.) of water
per day to survive. Which leads us to the tricky subject of water purification.
Boiling water does a fine job of destroying microorganisms in the water, but
will NOT eliminate toxins such as lead. In fact, boiling water increases the
concentration of toxins. Cleaning water thoroughly requires a two step process:
1) Purify the water with a chemical treatment; then 2) Filter the water with a
high quality 2 micron filtering system (there are varying opinions on the order
of these steps; in this case, filtering refers to toxins and microorganisms, not
large particles or debris). If you know the water is contaminated with both
microorganisms (bacteria, etc) and various toxins, then using chemical
purification tablets followed by 2 micron filtering is a good idea. On the other
hand, the real problem is that chemical tablets and filtering systems CANNOT
purify or filter every contaminant in the water. Following Hurricane Katrina, no
hand-held filtration system or water purification tablet in the world could
guarantee the water in New Orleans would be 100% safe to drink. We've
chosen to do away with the possibility of drinking contaminated water by
simply supplying you with enough pure, clean water to get you through for
three days. PERIOD! We've reviewed more than 15 other "survival" kits and
every one of them comes up short on the water calculation. Not the Disaster
Duffel ™! Each of our standard and "MAX!" Duffels have a Coast Guard
recommended supply of four (4) emergency water pouches per person per day
(approx 17oz. per day).
Our Aviator products are an exception as the weight of water is a limiting factor
on aircraft. The O.A.S.I.S. Aviator Case ™ contains four (4) pouches of water
(approx 17oz.) along with a 2-gallon water capture bag, and 50 chemical water
purification tablets. The Aviator Duffel ™ contains between 4 and 8 additional
water pouches. We also offer an EPA tested and approved 2 micron hand-held
filtration water bottle with filtering straw.
Stoves and Cooking:
We offer a small folding emergency stove with 24 fuel tablets in our
Aviator Duffel ™ and as a stand alone item for purchase. However, we felt that
cooking would rank fairly low on the survival totem pole over a 72 hour period
for a non aviation disaster. We just kept thinking...would a 1,300 degree (F)
open flame be wise in say the Super Dome after Hurricane Katrina? Or worse,
in an area where gas lines are broken? Probably not! Also, would it make
sense to lug around "cookable" food, like canned goods or items requiring
refrigeration which add unnecessary weight and could spoil? We decided the
intelligent survival choice was to forego the stoves and stick with a 3,600 calorie,
3-day food bar per person in the standard and MAX! Duffels. We recommend
saving the cooking for when the lights come back on and the gas lines are
repaired.
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