tc556guy

Yup, I'll admit I missed both of those in the original post

I wouldn't toss your mylar blankets, but I would keep those as maybe spares and get them some real wool blankets and some of those hand/foot/body warmers.. A headlamp to use when your hands are occupied doing other things is useful. Some chemlights. I might think of other things and add to the list

I guess that would depend on what your skillsets are. It wouldn't be useful, for instance, to stockpile plumbing parts if you're no good doing plumbing work..unless you can rely on friends or family to help with the work as long as you supply the materials

You're not just buying the product; you're buying their know-how and experience. In the end. experience isn't free. If you're truly looking for nothing more than a storm shelter, why don't you buy a drop-in pre-fab unit like this http://pylesconcrete.com/stormshelters.html

As others have said, you can't carry literally everything you'll need for a series of medical emergencies One single event can go through an amazing amount of supplies I was second or third to pull up on a car / pedestrian accident a couple of years ago A passing doctor had stopped just ahead of me. She went through her car kit, I went through mine, and additional responding officers threw their med bag contents towards the effort before the ambulance arrived The guy pulled through but I heard he was never back to his old self. My car bag is this container ( not purchased from here, just an example ) http://uspreppergear.com/combat-lifesavers-medical-bag/?gclid=CjwKEAjwkui7BRCf64DNtfDupgoSJAA_0LOoobW6wH3usnP2Q2Mt_5GSWsIcpV2JWoxIza8Rlyih6BoC1mrw_wcB Each subpocket is labeled with the major contents of that pocket. Gauze in one, ashermans in another, for instance Leaves a lot of guesswork out when you're under pressure Outside of the bag has my name and the last inspection date ( annual inspection ) At a major event when multiple peoples medical stuff is on the ground you want your bag to get back to you...... BOB med kit is substantially smaller and basically just a glorified GSK with some other small med stuff added...

I am 52 as well. Old injuries are really creeping up on me and I recognize that I need to get back into the fitness game Any advice I would give Op at this point would sound like do s I say and not as I do. I've slacked off on fitness since I got out of the Guard a few years ago and I'm starting to notice it this year

Mask fit is important. I guess my best suggestion would be to read some of the mil pro mask TMs/ FMs on the topic. Some of the commercial sites selling masks may have information on approximate mask sizing Buying is only half of the process. Proper fit and maintenance is an on-going thing with pro masks

The life expectancy of the filters under adverse conditions or in storage? There aren't very many pediatric/ child options. Whats your budget and how many family members and ages of kids?

1LT: The problem with the M24 and similar canister masks was that now you were dragging around a whole additional pouch the size of your NBC carrier and that hose constantly got caught on stuff.

I used the M17, the M24 and the M40 series while I was in. The M24 was nice because of that full face as you mentioned, but you also had the canister on a long ass hose to deal with that you didn't have with the 17 or 40 The important thing with any mask regardless of model is proper fit and maintenance Not exactly something you want to just buy and throw in a corner thinking you don't need to do anything to it til your moment of need. Our units masks were constantly being checked by the unit NBC NCO

For those of you who haven't been in the military, the military issues corrective vision inserts The suggestion on the M17 and "current filters"..I don't believe there ARE any "current filters for M17s because the masks have been out of US military inventory for over a decade For any mask you want to use filters that have been in packaging for serious business, so keep a filter for training purposes if you want, but realize that for serious business you'll want to use a filter that was still in its packaging until very recently.

The ability to e-publish has resulted in a lot of eager guys with an idea for a story to get themselves found by the Kindle Crowd A lot of it wouldn't have seen the light of day in the old print -only era. Lights Out, the Deep Winter trilogy ( particularly the last book in that series ), Rawles and so many of the other books that often get touted by the prep community, aren't in my mind all that great. They have the seed of a good idea within their basic premise but in an earlier day would have undergone some more re-writes before gracing the shelves of bookstores.... I've been collecting post-apoc lit for thirty years now. Yeah a lot of its horrendous stuff. Some of it's good stuff.

Are you looking for stuff set in the immediate aftermath, or years/ centuries later?

A mix of hard copy books and stored e-books. There's already what I think is a big draw-down on what's available for prep info on the web. Quite a few sites I've downloaded from in the past are gone I am sure its mostly under the guise of copyright protection, but it really does have the effect of leaving you with really old reference stuff, books you've paid for e copies of, or pirated scanned copies of newer copyrighted works.

Absolutely. Cuts down on the amount of stuff you might have to provide for them out of your own bag