Anyone interested in survival?

[Acorn_Elf]

I'm interested in learning about edible wild plants, hunting, and crafting tools. Cleaning water using evaporation and condensation. Also creating a source of electricity somehow.

 

[Kelly Campbell]

It's fun to survive.

 

[Keigan]

I have not read through the entire thread - one thing to consider for a doomsday situation is smaller clothing/belts as it is predictable that there will be significant weight loss.

 

[clg114]

That's why I like suspenders. In my case, significant weight loss might not be a bad thing.

Me too.

 

[Judge]

I have finally selected a tent for my bug-out bag.

What kind of "bug-out" ? Is that a figurative term or are you in deadly earnest? Just curious.

I ask, given you're in proximity of some major military targets that may give you lead-time of less then 30 minutes in the best of circumstances. Of course if you mean a zombie apocalypse, then no problema!

Speaking of which, "Where's Carl ?"

 

[Judge]

Even though I wanted something in camo, the color isn't bad. It's something like a sage green. I still plan to buy a camo tarp to keep in the bag. It can be used for various applications, plus it will afford me some concealment if need be. I can use it as an extra cover over the tent. It will make it harder to see my shelter in a wooded area.

You could always paint the cammo scheme against the sage green. I would.

But then I have a thing for very specific camouflage schemes.

 

[Judge]

You know, that thought crossed my mind. However, I don't know what to use or if it would do something adverse to the rain fly. I'll have to research it to see what it would take.

Get yourself a Paasche H-1 airbrush....sprays an inch wide tops and you can control it down to 1/16 of an inch. You can buy canned air for them at places like Hobby Lobby.

That's what I use to paint my tank models. I'd probably use thinned down acrylics that are usable on surfaces like nylon. (I did this recently on a leather chair with a nylon base....looks good as the original paint had faded with sunlight over the years. Though I'm not sure how such a painted surface would hold up against the elements.)

But still you could probably use a smaller brush to paint all the different colors in some kind of pattern. Here are some schemes I'm a partial to. Quite ornate...maybe it contributed to them losing the war spending all that effort...lol.

Zeltbahn.net - Waffen-SS camouflage patterns

German World War II camouflage patterns - Wikipedia

Germany - pre-1945 - Camopedia

 

[Judge]

Anyway, as for painting the rain fly, do you think there would a risk of the paint cracking or flaking when the fly would be rolled or folded? It seems that I used acrylic paint for making custom shirts years ago, so it might work.

In theory the acrylic paint is supposed to give, unlike say enamel paint which would harden and probably crack with folding canvas. With the nylon I painted on a leather chair, I can only say that it has not worn off at all, although it's not a good comparison with say canvas that is constantly folded.

I just Googled painting fabric and nylon...it's how I got to acrylic paints.

 

[Judge]

You given me some excellent ideas. I'm going to see if I can get some material similar to the rain fly and experiment before I make an attempt to paint the entire rain fly. That would be just too cool if it works.

I'm just wondering if an acrylic paint surface could be further protected with something like Scotchguard?

Maybe...

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1012105O/3m-masking-and-surface-protection-products.pdf

 

[Rayner]

sage green is a good color for hiding/ blending in a wide variety of natural landscapes. one problem of painting your rain fly of your tent is that if your camoflauge pattern is too specific it won't be effective else where.

 

[Rayner]

tiger strip would be a good probably be a good paint scheme. Would you also paint your backpack and last ditch pouch also? the only thing about camoflauge is that when it sticks out, it really sticks out. It would be cool if you could paint one side of your rain fly in one paint scheme and other side another scheme. although that would twice the work.

 

[Rayner]

would the ghillie suit blanket cover you and your pack at the same time? if it is you could at least keep it in your car or stored with your bug out bag. I've figured if you ever need to bug out, you and I both really would most likely make the drive where ever. it would have to get pretty bad for kelly and I to have to get out of dodge on foot.

 

[Rayner]

where Kelly and I live, we would most likely be able to drive out. where we would go, that's something that we don't know. depending on what the civil unrest looks like it maybe safe just to stay in our apartment. for most natural disasters we would be safer staying home,at least until what ever disaster is happening is over.

 

[Rayner]

that's one nice thing about DFW is that it's a relatively big transport hub for semi-trucks, lots of highways,interstates,etc. The likely hood of them all being rendered unusable is pretty slim. Now if everybody decides to out of dodge at the same time kelly and I do then traffic would awful for lack of better words.

as I've been putting my bug out bag together it's occurred to me that if we can drive out then we wouldn't have to limit ourselves to just ourselves to what we can carry on our backs. that opens up a whole lot more options for us. Not to mention my Avon camper, ya know my shotgun house on wheels. I've been working making upgrades and improvements to it for a while now.

I guess options are what you want to have in a crisis.

 

[Rayner]

Have you considered a Toyota 4Runner? I don't know to much about them but my grandpa has one he really likes.

I've been looking at 4-wheel-drive SUV's that I could set up for a bug-out vehicle. I wanted an Excursion, but those things are stupid expensive. My next choice would be an Explorer. My reasoning is it would be big enough to sleep in, carry my stuff, and afford me the ability to go just about anywhere. Though nice, my Crown Vic would not do if Huntsville got hit by an F5 tornado. I'd need something that can roll over stuff without any problem. The front of my Crown Vic sits too low.

Like you said, "Options are what you want to have in a crisis." That's why I bought a one-man tent. If I have to go on foot then I'd have shelter, though I would prefer something solid for the extra protection from animals, etc.

 

[Manuheleku]

I've been looking at 4-wheel-drive SUV's that I could set up for a bug-out vehicle. I wanted an Excursion, but those things are stupid expensive. My next choice would be an Explorer. My reasoning is it would be big enough to sleep in, carry my stuff, and afford me the ability to go just about anywhere. Though nice, my Crown Vic would not do if Huntsville got hit by an F5 tornado. I'd need something that can roll over stuff without any problem. The front of my Crown Vic sits too low.

Like you said, "Options are what you want to have in a crisis." That's why I bought a one-man tent. If I have to go on foot then I'd have shelter, though I would prefer something solid for the extra protection from animals, etc.

The Explorer is nice. My wife has the Edge which is a little bit smaller and she loves it. It has the feel of driving a truck but smaller so easy to get around in traffic. Plus it's got all the comforts of your Crown Vic. The Explorer is similar but a little big for urban environments.

 

[Rayner]

There's a class 3 hurricane off the coast of Texas I believe. that's what kelly just told me.

 

[Judge]

There's a class 3 hurricane off the coast of Texas I believe. that's what kelly just told me.

It just got bumped up to a category 4 hurricane. With a whole lot of motorists on interstate 37 trying to evacuate from Corpus Christi, Texas. Not looking good at the moment, with projections of record rain and storm surges.

 

[Rayner]

No. I'm not in the path. I'm the darkest shade of green right now.

Yeah, it looks like it's going to get dicey. Are you in the path?

 

[Rayner]

that's a good Idea, to keep your sleeping bag in it's own sack attached your main pack as doing that saves room in your pack. Does you're bivy cover match the rest of your pack?

Glad to hear it!!! There are some here that have had family in the path. I remembered today that I had/have a cousin in Houston. I've not seen her in over 30 years and she never liked me, so we never stayed in touch. Still, I hope she fared well.

On another note, but I just added to my bug-out bag. I had some money on my Amazon account and decided to look for a camo bivy cover for the sleeping bag I ordered. I was excited to find this for $21.00 plus shipping:

New US Army Military Genuine Military Issue GI Woodland Camo Waterproof Sleep System Carrier SSC Bag MOLLE MSS