There was an episode a few years ago where Matt put the container of a semi truck (maybe, or just big storage container), in the woods in case of emergencies. Anyone have any idea about what happened to that, or if it's still on their property? On the episode they stayed the night in it. I remember Aud telling Jeremy that they should bring condoms in with them.
TL:DR: Lotto winner neighbor asks my dad and friends to help him bury a water tower under his house to use as a emergency shelter, they know it’s a stupid idea but lotto guy offers up big money. Rains come and tower gets pushed up through the floor, destroying the house.
So this actually happened to my dad a few years ago. He lived in an area right along the Texas/Oklahoma border in fairly rural area. My dad primarily worked in pipeline construction.
One day my dad noticed someone had purchased a very large property not too far down the road. Turns out, that the new neighbor was actually from the suburbs around Columbus, Ohio and had just won a lottery prize. The man hadn’t won the jackpot but had won a smaller prize around $2 million. My dad was also originally from Ohio so he decided to say hello. A few days later he meets the lotto neighbor, we’ll call him Jim. Jim starts telling my dad about his dream to build his own self sustaining homestead far away from the rest of society. Jim was very interested in prepping and convinced of a soon to come global societal collapse. He used his lotto winning to purchase the land and begin building his homestead. My dad honestly didn’t find this that odd because many people in the area had some tendency toward independence and those prepping shows were popular at the time.
About a year later, Jim reached out to my dad to ask for help with a construction project that involves burying a large water tower in the ground. My dad is a little confused but decided to go take a look. Turns out Jim bought an old water tower (about 15 ft in diameter and about 15 high) for the purpose of reusing it as an underground shelter. Jim had recently completed the build of a prefab home on his property and wanted the water tower buried partially under the new home with a trap door built in a closet to access it.
My dad immediately thought this was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard and proceeded to tell Jim all the potential issues with his plan. Jim cut him off and told my dad that his contractor for the home had basically told him the same and so had several others he’d contacted to try get get them to bury this water tower. However, Jim believed this was simply laziness on their part and had the utmost confidence in his plan. My dad left but a day or so later Jim contacts him again and asks about paying my dad to let him rent some construction equipment he had on his own property. My dad again goes over with
Not technically illegal, but it’s generally not encouraged to lie to providers about medical/mental health conditions.
Anyways, I work in the emergency department and we often see a lot of patients who come in and are clearly homeless (they come in with multiple coats on and often with a shopping cart of their belongings) and have the chief complaint of SI/and or HI. Many of the ED providers don’t believe that these patients are actually suicidal or homicidal, but whenever someone claims to have either they have to be admitted and placed under psychiatric evaluation (at least at my hospital). I’ve also seen many homeless patients do this to avoid sleeping out in bad weather.
As an inpatient you’ll be placed under constant observation, but you’ll officially be able to order hospital food, wash up, brush your teeth, watch tv, etc. until your provider moves forward with your plan of care (which can be something like an outside mental health facility, recommended counseling, etc.).
By federal law, EDs have to see patients regardless of things like insurance and at the end of the day, you’ll likely be referred to a social worker who’ll help you get back on your feet. Don’t worry about your stuff getting taken away either since we bag all your items and keep your shopping carts/bags/all belongings safe and secured for when you’re discharged.
I really feel for people who go through these type of situations, though many ED nurses will have attitude with anyone they suspect is “faking” SI/HI.
I recommend only claiming SI, coming in the late afternoon so you’re guaranteed an overnight stay, and being as kind and reasonable as possible to your care takers so that you’re more likely to have your needs met. :)
What do yall do when you either (A) don't have trees or structures to hang from or (B) nothing suitably spaced? Asking because I recently went backpacking and like an idiot forgot to call rangers ahead of time and turns out alpine windstorms break trees so I was fresh outta luck at camp.
How many of you carry an emergency shelter (tyvek tarp) when you have a reservation at an AMC hut (in July)? I'm inclined to carry something, but this year the huts aren't supplying pillows or blankets. And my typical shelter space in my pack is begging for a quilt & pillow instead. I'd rather not carry a larger pack if possible.
Shelter can be the most important short term survival need. Without it we can die in a few hours.
Many people like to carry a small pocket sized survival kit and rely on their skills to construct a shelter from natural materials if an emergency arises. There are lots of books and plenty of YT videos showing how to do it, and it can seem like the convenience of a mini kit is worth the effort of construction if needed. But there’s a problem with that strategy.
Building a properly wind and waterproof shelter takes a long time and a lot of energy.
A debris shelter is the quickest and most efficient style, with a simple frame, but it needs around 2 1/2 to 3 feet of debris to effectively block prolonged, heavy rain. Building one properly takes typically 3 hours, if all the materials are close by and you’re practised. Considerably longer if you’re injured and only able to use one hand/arm/leg effectively. This means starting the build 3 hours before dark or before a storm hits. Which is 3 hours less time to walk. It is possible to build a shelter in less time but not one that’s reliably dry in heavy rain.
The ‘Rule of Three’ reminds us that 3 hours of exposure to wind and rain is enough to cause moderate to severe hypothermia.
The physical effort involved, with lots of bending, raking, scooping and carrying is very similar to ‘light aerobics’ which burns 1200+ calories in 3 hours. So not only are you exposed to wind and rain but also burning valuable calories that you may not be able to replace, especially if relying on wild food like fish or cat tail root which only have 250 calories per kilo.
The alternative is to carry a shelter, but there again many people prefer to carry the smallest, lightest shelter possible that barely meets the description. A space blanket, disposable poncho or trash bags, for example. The time when we most need shelter is in the worst conditions, and all around wind and water protection is vital in a worst case scenario, so surely it would make good sense to carry a better shelter than a small, open tarp with no groundsheet, for example, even though it’s heavier.
The US Army has carried out extensive tests to see how much energy is expended when carrying gear, and it turns out that for a moderate load it’s not much. Walking itself is a very efficient mode of travel and carrying a 2 pound shelter only uses an extra 2 calories per hour. That’s only 16 calories over a day’s walk!
Compared to 3 hours’ work and 1200 calories b
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Literally millions of people across Texas will be without power through days of freezing weather. This is a legit disaster. Where is the emergency response, at any level? I saw a story about 10 minutes ago that the city is opening warming stations, but no overnight shelters. Beyond that, they postponed the Stars game. It seems like this is being treated like an inconvenience, please be patient while we correct the problem situation.
Anybody with some relief information feel free to share it here.
EDIT: let he who had power cast the first stone. I actually had power for almost 40 mins and the heater got me up to a balmy 56 degrees. Anybody in north Irving/valley ranch facing freezing temps pm me and I can offer up a couple couches or a room if you bring an inflatable bed or cot.
It's dangerous driving, but PM me if you want to risk it. Again, no power, but I'm above freezing.
EDIT2: The hotel is closed. gonna go hibernate under a pile of blankets. Good night and good luck
