Topic Areas for Operating Instructions
Topics will vary for different
groups, depending upon the extent of their preparations and unique specifics. I
live in the mountains of California. You will find earthquake instruction in my
binder, but you will not find one concerning hurricanes. Choose one or two
areas important to you, and start with them. This will allow you to learn and
test the format and save a lot of re-do time.
On the bright side, you may find
that the operating instructions and the binder provide a place to organize and
include papers and information that you have already stashed away, as
attachments. An instruction concerning caches can have inventories and maps as
attachments, for example. Here are some possible areas to get you thinking:
- Home Defense
- Family Meeting and Training Plan
- Bug-Out Vehicle Inventory and Maintenance
- Bug-Out Bags and Contents: Inventory and Review of Use/Purpose
- Alternate Routes to Safe Location
- Plan of Action for Civil Disorder
- Plan of Action for Disease Epidemic
- Plan of Action for Natural Disaster(s)
- Inventory of Supplies and Equipment
- Survival Food Pantry Inventory and Rotation (for those not constantly using and rotating)
- Wind Turbine Operation and Battery Bank Maintenance
- Solar Electrical System Operation, Maintenance and Battery Care
- Portable Generator Operation, Maintenance, and Use Log
- Critical Contacts List and Means of Communication
- Vehicle Care/Maintenance and Log
- Well Pump Maintenance, Testing for Bacteria, and Treating Bacteria
- Financial Documents Inventory and Related Instructions
- Emergency Water Supply Storage and Purification
- Tool Use Instructions and Maintenance
- Firearms and Ammunition
- Operation and Maintenance of Generator, and Fuel Storage
- Fuel Storage and Use
- Medical Supplies and Equipment
- Caches and Hidden Items
- Order of Tasks and Events for Evacuation from City to Safe Spot
- Home Security System Operation and Battery Replacements
This is just a sample list. Remove
or add those topics that are important to you and your situation or group’s
needs. A great way of identifying the need for an instruction is to ask the
person in your family or group who you think is, second to yourself, most
knowledgeable about your preps:
If this is your spouse, say
something like, “Honey, tell me everything you know about (such and such).”
Brace yourself for the response! However, this is exactly what is so valuable
about the process. You will find out who knows what and what areas are most
important to document right away. Also, you will impress upon those you ask,
the level of their own need to buff up their knowledge and take the operating
instructions seriously.
There are some things to avoid:
Too many instructions. You will either not get around to all of them, or you may
skimp on the content. You might also make updating them a nightmare. Start
small and stay focused. Only those areas you rank most important, in terms of
content or in terms of the areas your family or group members are the least
familiar with.
Too many copies at too many
locations. On the surface it is tempting to
include copies of instructions at more than one location, as a backup if a
binder is misplaced or damaged. However, too many copies increase the
likelihood of outdated information not being updated. Bad information can be
worse than no information. Operating instructions are no fun. Why make the
process more difficult for little to no gain in value?
Using electronic documents in place
of or in addition to hard copies.
Unless you are an UberGeek who has a solid plan for the use of electronics when
SHTF and even after an EMP attack, electronic copies are sensitive to being
lost to device failure. It makes it harder to ensure that sensitive information
doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, and it complicates the updating process.
Skimping on the materials you use
for the instructions. On the top end is a waterproof
copier or waterproof writing paper. On the more affordable end are indelible
ink and document protectors. Large ziploc bags are my
preference; they’re just large enough at the tab to allow holes to be punched
for my 3-ring binder. Flexible binders are generally more expensive but are
more durable than rigid binders. Plastic construction trumps paper products.
Placing the flexible binder and contents into what is called a “project” case
or container is further protection and provides a hard writing surface and
means to store writing instruments and “white-out” or to co-store
bulky items, such as related roadmaps. At the end of the article I have listed
some links to my favorite items for a minimal and durable system.
Failing to store important things
that you have referenced in your instructions along with the instructions
binder. This can be eliminated by
including all of the information in the operating instruction, of course.
However, that can turn the task of writing the instructions into real labor and
the instruction into an overly complicated encyclopedia. Why reinvent the
wheel? Attach that key owner’s manual or store it with the binder.
Thinking that operating instructions
replace skill acquisition, essential knowledge, and practice or recurring
training and review. They don’t! Survival skills are
sometimes so important that they require motor memory—our nervous system and
muscles knowing what to do quickly and without thought. This is head knowledge
that must be known and applied on the spot. You won’t have time to run to a
binder of operating instructions to find out how to use a tourniquet safely or to
apply a clotting bandage while a
loved one is bleeding out. While the less common tasks for disassembling and
reassembling one of your least used firearms can be in an instruction,
marksmanship skills and weapon operation must be so well known that they are
automatic. Key skills are for knowing and mastering without having to look them
up in time of need.
Not reviewing and changing
instructions as needed. Outdated
information can be more than simply unhelpful; it can be dangerous. It is
inconvenient, if not worse, to dig up a cache container only to find out that
the contents were moved or changed without telling anyone. Using that new air
compressor that uses oil for lubrication or cooling is not going to benefit
from the old instruction for the oil-less compressor that you replaced when it
broke.
Okay, we’ve reviewed the why, what,
where, when, and how to. Let’s look at how an instruction comes together:
___________________________________
Purpose: This instruction covers the
amount and location of water currently stored at our city home, in the 2006 GMC
Sierra 2500 truck, and at our safe location at the ranch in the mountains. It
also covers the refilling of stored supplied, and actual use during an
emergency, as well as where replacement items can be purchased.
Plastic Water Storage Containers: Refers to the blue, plastic, 5-gallon containers in the
basement of the ranch cabin and in the garage of the city house. They are
topped with white filler caps and have the date of filling with safe to drink
water written the top in black magic marker. All containers are identical.
Dates may vary.
Katadyn Water Filtration Kits: There are large Katadyn kits stored on the
top row of water storage containers at the ranch, in the city, and a smaller kit stored under
the right front passenger seat of the 2006 GMC truck for use during bug-out.
Each is enclosed in its own zippered black storage bag labeled “Katadyn”.
Explicit instructions are in the kits and this item is regularly reviewed and
used during annual family training. (See Operating Instruction on Annual Family
Training.)
Bung Wrench: This is the red, plastic, long-handled wrench stored on the
top row of water storage container at each location. The wrench is used to open
the white plastic caps on the blue containers to dispense the water.
Portable Water Container, 5-gallon: Refers to the two, folded, plastic bag-containers carried
in our truck tool box. These are used to collect water for filtration and use,
if needed, during the trip to the safe location.
2 and 1/2 Gallon Distilled Water in
Retail Containers: Refers to the 10 retail bottles of
“Spring Pure” brand distilled water carried in the tool boxes that are mounted
to the bed of the truck. The water is steam distilled. The containers are
marked on the top as to date of purchase.
Reliable Water Source: Refers to city water during normal times and well water
used from our annually-tested ranch well. (After a SHTF scenario in the city,
or if the well water has not been tested within 12 months for bacteria, the
water sources are NOT considered reliable and will require processing through
Katadyn filtration systems before consuming.)
From the Survival Blog
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