Every military person knows the old axiom, "The more you spend and sweat in training, the less you bleed and lose in war". We have 50 days to go.

I declare next weekend to be a Y2K drill weekend. Note some tests may be dangerous and or illegal but should be done anyway. They are vital.

1. Go to the old first aid kit that's been bouncing around in your car trunk forever. Get bandaids and stick them on every member of your group. Did they stick?

2. light one sample of each of your lighting devices in a differnt room of the house. Chemlights, candles, flashlight, oil lamp, etc. keep a log of how long each burned on one unit of fuel or charge of batteries. Did your flashlight bulb burn out? I have heard they will if you use them continuiously.

3. make a bullet catcher by filling one of your large outside trashcans with damp newspaper. Prop it up sideways on a couple of chairs in your hall or bedroom. In the middle of the night, put a couple of Q-tips in your ears, take your house gun, the one you are willing to bet your life on. Fire 2 shots into your bullet catcher from 3 feet. Did the gun work? How long were you blinded by the powder flash? Were you deafend even with the Q-tips in your ears? Note: if you missed the bullet trap and damaged your house or if the gun/ammo you are using went through 3 feet of damp compressed newspaper, you have flunked the test.

4. Outside, pour out a quart of whatever liquid fuel you have. Lamp oil, kerosene, etc. Light it. This is to simulate a knocked over lamp or camp stove spill. With the oldest fire extinguisher in the house put out the fire. Did the fire extinguisher work? How noisy was it? How much did it kick back when you discharged it? How long did it continue to function? Did you put out the fire?

5. Try above with a small wood fire. Put it out without using a hose or fire extinguisher.

6. Dress in urban camoflage, Khaki, Blue,or black, whatever the utility workers in your area wear. Walk 5 miles in an grid pattern around your home. Carry a clip board. Make a list of things to check for. Take notes of everything of interest. Old folks that may need help. RV,s that have generators, Houses that have swimming pools. For extra points carry the weight of your Bug Out Bag or the bag itself.

7. Eat drink and prepare food from your Y2K stash all weekend. Use your emergency toilet and washing facilities.

This whole test should cost less than $50. Mostly from replacing expended fire extinguishers.

Please suggest other tests.

Please post results of the Drill to this forum on Monday. Don't forget to log and replace expended items.

-- woody (woody11420@aol.com), November 12, 1999

Answers

Make sure your radios work.

On that hike, make sure your boots are fully broken in.

NEVER put Q-Tips in your ears. Buy ear-plugs for .25 at Wally World.

Check your water supply for drinking and for flushing.

Does your camp stove work in your kitchen?

Jolly

-- Jollyprez (jolly@prez.com), November 12, 1999.

I just tried the bullet catcher. The trash can has a hole about 6" wide all the way through and the shot blew a 10" hole through the foundation block wall in my basement. I am now deaf.

-- Mr. Mossberg (don't@do.it), November 12, 1999.

Most flashlight ulbs are only rated for 10 to 50 hours. That is less than 2 days total. You would run through several sets of batteries. If you do not believe me, run it till it drops. You will be disappointed. The est way to reak this pattern is with LED bulbs. You may be disappointed with the brightness, but you have the chance to stay disappointed for 11 years or more instead of being in the dark in a vouple of days.

Do not try the ullet catcher above if you have not carefully chosen ammo to have enough power to stop, not enough to destroy the house and the people 3 rows ack.

Try the extinguisher trick outside your living envelope. Most extinguishers are almost as hard to live with as the fire itself. Using one is a great advertisement for avoiding a fire at all costs. The LED flashlight above is one way. $20 or so for 3 white LEDs for a mag light or similar from real goods, jade mountain, holly solar, etc. Or make one.

Great idea of the bandaid test.

Also for those of us more forgetful than others, try to locate one of your remote caches

-- tree (thetrees@bigfoot.com), November 12, 1999.

"Note some tests may be dangerous and or illegal but should be done anyway. They are vital. "

I think your bullet catcher test is an excellent idea, gosh, I wonder why a test like that might be illegal? Is there a possibility of innocent, non-paranoid people being injured or killed? What happens if some mouth-breathing Tinfoil misses the trash can? Can you see why society frowns on people having target practice in their own houses?

Screw the rest of us, this is a "vital" test. The Tinfoil mentality at work...

-- Y2K Pro (y2kpro1@hotmail.com), November 12, 1999.

and don't forget - everybody go withdrawal several hundred dollars this weekend, which you can put back monday. of course this won't cause any problems with ATMs etc....

-- Dan G (thepcguru@hotmail.com), November 12, 1999.

I gotta go with pro on this one. Don't go blasting away in your home, or setting it on fire. (Although it would be a really realistic test of a spilled lamp.)

If you are in doubt about any of your extinguishers, just pick up a couple of the small ones. Extras never hurt, and if you use one you will furshur have to recharge or replace it.

I agree we need to test equipment before an emergency, but let's not get carried away. No purple hearts for self-inflicted wounds.

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), November 12, 1999.

Some pistol (or rifle) ranges allow night shooting. I strongly recommend shooting your weapon (if you want one) at night. The flash from some hand guns will disorient one who is not used to it. If you are expecting it, no problem...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), November 12, 1999.

To all who responded. You MUST train, it is vital

Gene. If your wife sets herself on fire while cooking in the fireplace or the cat knocks over a lantern next January, is that when you want to try to put out a fire for the first time.

Mr. Mossberg. "If you missed the bullet trap and damaged your house or if the gun/ammo you are using went through 3 feet of damp compressed newspaper, you have flunked the test" YOU FLUNKED.

My house pistol is loaded with Glaser safty slugs and in my Mossberg, the fist 2 rounds are low base #9 shot.

JollyPrez. The Q-tips were on the dividing line between real ear plugs and hearing loss. See below.

Y2KPRO These tests are vital. Here are 2 tales why.

A few years ago a cop fired his service revolver at a criminal. The cop promptly droped his gun and the bad guy got away. When asked by his fellow officers why he had dropped his gun, he said "I thought it had exploded!!!" This 5 year vetran cop had never heard a gun fired close by, except at the police range with full ear and eye protection!

Another time an officer was found dead after a gun fight. His gun was empty. In his left jacket pocket they found shell casings. He had been fighting criminals exactly like he was on the range. Gently opening his revolver, dumping the brass into his left hand and putting it in his pocket for reloading later. While he was going through "range drills" the bad guys killed him.

Most police forces have gotten more realistic in their training.

This is my third time through the survivalist run and I hope practice makes perfect. How long will it take you to learn how to cook edible reconstituted freeze-dried food on an open fire or will you starve to death first?

Practice now while we still have FFF (Fully Functional Foundation) and mistakes can be rectified. Next month may be too late.

-- woody (woody11420@aol.com), November 12, 1999.