CRAZY PREPARED

[Requia ☣]

I'm not going to go overboard and slap him with the Government approved 9/11 "Hero" definition, he doesn't deserve that.  He's a practical person with the stones to jump in and help. 

Isn't that was a hero is?

[Reginald Ret]

Ash:  Ash comes from fire.  Fire sterilizes most things.  Hence, if you need to staunch a little bleeding, ash can work.  It will also promote a HUGE keltoid scar, so don't do this where cosmetic appearances are a concern.

Your logic is flawed, its not the relation to fire that makes ash sterilizing.
It's the dehydrating.
Also, ash + water makes lye, that'll kill any bacteria.

[Requia ☣]

One I've heard of and am trying to confirm.  Cayenne (sp?) powder can be used as a coagulant and (after the initial pain) topical pain killer.

[Richter]

Ash:  Ash comes from fire.  Fire sterilizes most things.  Hence, if you need to staunch a little bleeding, ash can work.  It will also promote a HUGE keltoid scar, so don't do this where cosmetic appearances are a concern.

Your logic is flawed, its not the relation to fire that makes ash sterilizing.
It's the dehydrating.
Also, ash + water makes lye, that'll kill any bacteria.

My logic was only that the ash would be MORE clean than other surrounding muck.  Heat kills bacteria last I checked.

Good point about the lye thou!

[Richter]

Knots and ropework:
I ALWAYS take this for granted because I grew up doing it, tying, securing, or rigging things, but occasionally I meet folks who haven't.  Apparently procuring a coil of rope, cord or twine and affixing item A to point B is NOT a topic covered as well as it should be. 

From learning it myself, I quickly figured out that few people who do this with regularity are used to teaching it. 
Knots are fairly simple themselves, when someone can show you in person how they should look, should be used, and should be tied.  I've always had trouble learning from books or videos (I NEED TO SEE THAT FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE FFS!)

Suggested knots:  Bowline (static loop), Slip knot (tightening loop, like a noose), Figure 8 / stopper knot (keeps a knot from pulling through an eyelet or another knot. Also used in climbing), Square Knot (tie 2 ropes together), Half hitch (used SEVERAL at once when tying a rope off to a fixed point.), Clove hitch (a good quick way to get a rope secure on said fixed point.)

Once you've learned them, using them gets almost as tricky.  You can't just wave a bowline and a few half hitches at a couch and expect it to stay on top of your car out of FEAR.  You actually need to restrain the fucker.

Learning usually involves some crusty old salt or gruff trucker looking at your attempt, grumbling it's not right, and then doing it over themselves.  This isn't traditional teaching, but you DO over several years get the idea, almost an aesthtic sense for how to use those knots.

I'm not sure IF I'm up to writing a book on it myself, but here are a few basic idea I've gotten out of it all.

Tie it down TIGHT.  Less movement = Less possibility for disaster.  This is a bit different in the odd world of securing boats, but generally secure is GOOD.  (Nylon web straps with built in rachets can help a great deal with this, but involve little knot work.  The purist in me calls them cheating, but unless it's a classic sailing ship or Shibari, I'll use whatever works.)

Where will your load slide to?  Lash it so it DOESN'T go that way.  If your item to be secured is a large IKEA type box, then tying around corners / on diagonals works well.  A rope crossing over the box on a diagonal will keep it from sliding 2 ways at once.  Cross over it in differnt ways, multiple times to cover all potential directions it COULD slide in.

Where will your ropes slide to?  A rope tied to a smooth cross bar, or roof rack pole can still slip along it, lossening the whole works.  Loop the rope around corners or junctions of 2+ structural members to help prevent this.

Only tie to HARDPOINTS.  Spoiler / door handle / antenna / muffler / ornaments = BAD BAD things to tie off to.   Roof racks / U bolts on a car's frame / trailer hitches / Inside latches for trunks or doors (ONLY in a pinch) = Good, or at least better.

[East Coast Hustle]

I'm not going to go overboard and slap him with the Government approved 9/11 "Hero" definition, he doesn't deserve that.  He's a practical person with the stones to jump in and help. 

Isn't that what an hero is?

fixed for statistical probability.

[Requia ☣]

I'm not going to go overboard and slap him with the Government approved 9/11 "Hero" definition, he doesn't deserve that.  He's a practical person with the stones to jump in and help. 

Isn't that what an hero is?

fixed for statistical probability.

Point.

[Richter]

I'm not going to go overboard and slap him with the Government approved 9/11 "Hero" definition, he doesn't deserve that.  He's a practical person with the stones to jump in and help. 

Isn't that what an hero is?

fixed for statistical probability.

Point.

Hah!

I'd rather die from my own stupidity than someone else's. 
Not like it will make much difference to me which it ends up being though.

[Reginald Ret]

Ash:  Ash comes from fire.  Fire sterilizes most things.  Hence, if you need to staunch a little bleeding, ash can work.  It will also promote a HUGE keltoid scar, so don't do this where cosmetic appearances are a concern.

Your logic is flawed, its not the relation to fire that makes ash sterilizing.
It's the dehydrating.
Also, ash + water makes lye, that'll kill any bacteria.

My logic was only that the ash would be MORE clean than other surrounding muck.  Heat kills bacteria last I checked.

Good point about the lye thou!

flawed logic remark retracted, applied to self for missing this obvious other way of understanding it.

eta: cool info on knots.

[Requia ☣]

http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/51825116/where+there+is+no+doctor?tab=summary

The torrent of Where There Is No Doctor linked earlier is corrupted or something, so here's a 2007 version of the book.  Not done downloading it yet, hopefully it can be opened.

[Reginald Ret]

Ash + water = lye
Recipe! http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/make-lye.html

also has linkies to making soap with your lye

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Good link!

I'm thinking about getting a big, juicy binder for printing stuff like that out and storing it in.

[Richter]

I've got a few compilations on that sort of thing based on interviews with Appalachian mountain folk, useful to know how to do.

[Richter]

ATTN:  anyone who lives where it snows and owns a car:

GET A SHOVEL

GET ONE OF THESE : hxxp://www.armynavydeals.com/asp/products_details.asp?ST=2&SKU=em15555g

SOLD OUT? 
THAT'S BECUASE THEY WORK. 

Hunt around and you can find more.  I've had one for years.  Not ideal, but to quickly knock a snow drift over, clear your wheels, and get out, they do the job.

[fomenter]

i carried one of those in my car then my jeep for years they do work in a pinch, but i replaced it with a real shovel the first time i got my jeep seriously stuck. i don't know if the german version is better but the American army surplus version was a bit weak still works though.