Live the war with relative comfort
Remember: Saturday is for man, not man for Saturday. So in our topic: preparing for war for a man, not a man for preparing for war
There is a wonderful Jewish proverb: Saturday is for man, not man for Saturday. Unfamiliar with the intricacies of Jewish rituals, I will explain its meaning.
Every faithful Jew should celebrate Shabbat (or Saturday), which begins with sunset on Friday and ends with sunset on Saturday (day). Shabbat is formalized by a series of rites and prayers, but its most characteristic feature is a categorical ban on any physical work on this day. In the Talmud there are detailed explanations on this subject written by authoritative rabbis. For example, it is forbidden to make fire. Modern rabbis instruct that clicking the switch means breaking the Sabbath. You can read, communicate, walk, but no physical work, even the most insignificant.
These Talmudic oddities can be mocked, but I recommend listening to the experience of the Jewish people. One day a week without any physical work is a complete rest, which greatly adds energy and completely relieves fatigue. Shabbat can be arranged on any suitable day. Sometimes, when I don’t have the strength to work, I resort to the “forced” Shabbat, that is, I do nothing all day, kindly recalling the rabbis for such a successful invention. Therefore, the Jewish proverb about the Shabbat means that the Shabbat was not introduced for rituals and prayers, but for a person to have a good rest and regain his strength.
This Jewish wisdom, which the faithful Jews adhere to in the most stubborn manner, allows us to approach the question of what should be stocked up in case of a major war. Discussion previous article, which examined the procurement of clothes, shoes and food, showed that many survivors think that people are for the Sabbath, and turn survival into an end in itself, and the blanks into accumulation of different junk. But no, Saturday is for man, and blanks in case of war are designed to make it easier and simpler to transfer various household inconveniences that usually arise in wartime. Of course, everyday problems can be solved this way, but it will require extra time and effort. For example, your pants are torn, but there are no needles with a thread, and there will be a non-trivial task to find or to beg a needle with a thread from someone to sew. Why put yourself in the face of such unnecessary efforts?
Therefore, I will not even argue with the survivors as carriers of a clearly incorrect worldview.
Medical supplies
Often you can find the opinion that you need to stock up different medicines. I do not agree with this opinion - you will not foresee everything. You need to stock the minimum that you need.
In general, a large first-aid kit is worth starting up if you have a medical education, at least a medical assistant, and you are going to become a doctor in wartime. Then that makes sense. It is worth reading the literature on military medicine, where there are recommendations on the composition of the first-aid kit of a military doctor, and purchase what is indicated there, or similar.
For the rest, it’s worth creating a certain supply of medicines, depending on the shelf life of those that you regularly use. If you often use pain medication, then you need to purchase the appropriate drugs, if you often catch a cold, then antipyretic, vitamins and drugs against colds. If you have serious illnesses, it is better to take the time to consult with a therapist about what kind of supply of drugs you need in order to survive interruptions in the supply of drugs to pharmacies. It is also worth making friends among doctors or pharmacy pharmacists through whom you can get the necessary medicines.
Now about what everyone needs and everyone. This dressing, antiseptic and food poisoning. Injuries, such as cuts or abrasions, can always be, and they need to be taken seriously, because a festering wound can cause a lot of problems. Accordingly, in stocks should be sterile bandages in the package, cotton wool (including sterile in the package), adhesive tape. The latter is best stocked in rolls, since the bactericidal adhesive plaster, although very good, is quickly consumed.
Antiseptic agents and treatment of festering wounds: sulfonamide (aka streptocide), chlorhexidine (aka anti-STDs), hydrogen peroxide. The surgeon who did the surgery advised me to use potassium permanganate. After some hysteria and prohibitions, they again began to sell it in pharmacies. Divorced to a dark purple color, it is suitable for quick processing of tools, and for washing wounds, including festering ones.
Potassium permanganate. To treat wounds, the solution must be of this color.
Cologne can also be used as an antiseptic. Also, experience has shown that ointment “Rescuer” helps well against suppuration. Even a very impressive abscess, smeared with this ointment, is quickly opened, pus flows out, and it heals without any problems. Against abrasions, it is better not to come up with this ointment.
I can also advise you to buy some instruments: a surgical scalpel, a dental probe with an acute sting and tweezers. This is so that you can open and clean the abscess yourself (you must first rinse the tools in a strong solution of potassium permanganate), remove dirt and dead tissue from it. Tweezers are needed both for treating wounds and for removing splinters.
On the left is a scalpel and tweezers, and in the center lies a probe
Against food poisoning, there is a good old activated carbon, which you can buy a lot, and all the same potassium permanganate, diluted to light purple (usually a couple of crystals per mug of water).
This is quite enough for medical self-help without going to the doctor in the most typical cases.
kitchenware
In a war, there may well be power outages, lack of fuel, water outages that will require cooking, so to speak, in a campfire way. This must be borne in mind and be prepared for this.
The first and most necessary is water tanks. It can be various plastic bottles with a capacity of 5 liters with a handle, cans with a lid. Soviet experience has shown that a milk flask with a lid of 50 liters is very convenient for water. It provides a supply for simple hygiene and food needs. In any case, you need to have tanks for water about 30-50 liters per family.
From kitchen utensils you need to have a pot or pot, which is not a pity to put on fire, as well as a kettle for boiling water. What to boil and cook? Primus and other kerosene are very good, but there may be difficulties in acquiring fuel. Primus in the USSR was widespread due to rather curious circumstances. After the Civil War, when the Donbass was severely destroyed and forests were cut down, the population had an acute shortage of fuel for domestic needs. Only oil was available from Baku, in which the oil fields suffered little. Therefore, in 1922, the production of stoves was established and a network of oil depots was deployed in cities in which kerosene was sold to the population. For the urban population, primus turned out to be a salvation and a solution to many domestic problems.
But now there can be a tense situation with kerosene, so it is better to put it on firewood. As an ersatz oven, a folding compact barbecue is suitable, which will also make it possible to collect wood ash, from which potash can be made - the simplest detergent. If anyone has the opportunity to buy a samovar, a real one, for firewood, then I highly recommend that you always have hot water.
Compact folding grill. Simplicity and grace. The best way to cook porridge or make boiling water
For firewood, you also need to have a small saw, at least a tourist chain saw, and also an ax or, as an ersatz ax, a machete. Without them, the handling of firewood will result in a serious problem.
Sewing supplies
Any person should have sewing supplies, and especially in wartime. Needles, threads, pins, scissors - all this should be available, does not take up much space, is inexpensive. Be sure to get a thimble - a thing very useful. It is also worth buying various buttons and fabrics for patches. It is better to walk in darned and wired than in rags.
In general, the ability to cut and sew is a very valuable skill in wartime conditions. It is very advisable to learn in advance and acquire for this everything you need, including, of course, a mechanical sewing machine, this indispensable attribute of the economy of our great-grandmothers. You can be sure that a folk trail will not grow up to you (along with products for repair and tailoring services). The shoemaker, who knows how to repair and sew shoes, will also survive the war times without any problems. An experienced shoemaker will always be at hand with groceries; he will not be sent to a meat grinder.
My opinion is based on a study of diverse military experience and on conversations with those who survived the war years. The analysis shows that the main thing is not stocks of junk, but the skills and ability to do something useful for life: cooking, sewing, repair, treatment. It is they, and not stocks, that will better prepare a person for a big war.
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