So we’re into hurricane season right now and growing up in the islands were no strangers to them.  I thought I’d share some tips and tricks with you folks so that you can be better prepared in the future.

 If don’t already have a kit available or don’t know what items you exactly need you can visit the following site. They have a nice little checkoff list for your use. They also have an iPhone and Android app.

http://www.pdc.org/iweb/hurricane_awareness.jsp

Assuming you have most of your supplies together, here are some tips that the Green Bottle staff put together. NOTE We’re not disaster experts and are simply passing along information we’ve learned over the years. If you’re that worried we’d just suggest talking to the experts. Preferably one that is from Kauai.

1.)   Fill up your bathtub full of water when the sirens go off. The thinking here is that in the event that the power goes out for an extended amount of time water may become a precious commodity. Of course, you’ll need to find some means of purifying the water. Many outdoor sites sell water-purifying kits.  Alternatively, you can try this http://www.waterbob.com/Information.do?forward=home.

2.)   Fooooood. This one is a bit tricky. Growing up here we’ve all learn to buy a good amount of canned goods and nonperishable items for disaster times.  Along with that we’ve also been scolded for opening the refrigerator when the power goes out. Unlearn that. Who’s to say how long the power is going to be out. If the power is out for more than 48 hours you have a good chance of things spoiling in the freezer or fridge. The first foods you should try and eat are those out of the freezer and fridge. Never resort to your canned foods or nonperishable items. Those are meant for when they are no other means of food. Of course, don’t browse too long with the freezer or fridge door open as you’ll let all the cold air out….cause the power is out….remember?

 While most of you won’t do this we still have to recommend it. Buying a supply of MRE’s (meal ready to eat). If you live in Hawaii we’d have to recommend www.sixeagleshawaii.com. Customer service is top notch, prices are good, AND they’re a local business. They also have a 72 hour kit that contains A LOT of the supplies mentioned in the earlier link  for preparedness.  We’ll be doing a review the MRE’s from Six Eagle’s in the future so stay tuned for that.

3.)   Flashlights! Unfortunately most of us buy a cheap one from Longs or Walmart thinking why buy an expensive one? A light is a light. WRONG! You get what you pay for. A particular brand a bunch of us in GBP have are from Fenix flashlights. Depending on the model runtimes and brightness vary. The one we recommend to put in your kit is the Fenix LD10R4. It’s compact, has different brightness settings (cause you don’t need full brightness all the time), rugged, waterproof to IPX-Standard, and runs on a single AA battery. 

You can check out a nice assortment of Fenix flashlights below. The site is another local business and we have to recommend it simply to do pricing and great customer service. 
http://www.fenix-power.com

4.)   First aid kits. This will be the last section in our preparedness article but probably the most important one. We encourage all of you to take a simple first aid class through your local Redcross or other means. There’s a nice list of first aid items in the preparedness link earlier but here’s our recommendation purely on it being compact and varies depending on your needs. It’s called “Adventure Medical First Aid Kits” and varies depending on how many people and days. Cabela’s and REI’s website both have this particular company listed so you’ll just need to decide which best suits your needs.

Well, be safe and we hope this has helped some of you in getting prepared. Peace, love, and time travel.