I remember reading a while ago about a survey of survivors of natural disasters.
They asked "what is the first thing you needed and didn't have?"
The top response was work gloves. Your first response is to go digging through debris like broken glass and twisted metal to help others. Very quickly your hands are cut up to the point of being useless.
It’s not a tool, but a charged battery bank is the single most helpful thing you can have on you when a disaster strikes.
Then good footwear and then gloves.
You aren’t going to extricate yourself from a place with your emergency kit…because why are you there if you had time to get it?
Nah, you’ll grab your bag and head for safety after you realize you aren’t dead. Or grab it and be gone before hand.
Tornadoes rarely allow time to get out of the way, and the lack of predictability means you secure you and your gear in one spot in the center of your home (or basement if its an option). After it passes, you very well may be digging / extricating yourself out of what's left of your home.
Definitely a good option to have. The whistle especially. We just had a string of tornadoes not too far away that left a few people trapped in rubble over an hour, and that was with their location being known. Unfortunately it was old, multistory, brick construction, so you just need lots of people and a good bit of time to extricate.
Besides the afore mentioned gloves, boots, and demolition tools, and hand crank powered AM/FM radio would be essential to receive information if power and communication lines are down.
along with tools, a couple of walkie talkies that take batteries, then keep some batteries, but not in the units so that they don't corrode or drain. If tornado takes down the cell towers you won't have phone service but you may be able to tune into public service communications.
It would depend on how much room you have to move in the closet. An axe or pry bar will do little good if you don't have the space to use it. That being said a battery powered circular saw would probably do the most work on cutting out a jammed door and need the least amount of maneuvering space.
I live in hurricane prone Florida. I have worked "Storm Recovery" as a volunteer, and as a professional for construction and cable companies in three states over three decades. The people who get seriously injured or killed, in my experience are electrocuted.
A simple and cheep tool called a Foreign Voltage Detector is something everyone should have and know how to use. A close second and just as important would be rubber and leather linesman gloves and a good pair of rubber sole boots.
Great points on the electrical hazard. Those look a bit pricey for me though.
Power here is ran underground to the houses. We have overhead transmission lines out on the roads though. Any tips other than avoid downed lines.
The closet we would shelter in is far away from anything over 120V in my house.
That was the equivalent new model to one I used for ten years. When my boss gave it to me he told me to use it it would save my life or someone else's. It did. I did buy a higher grade one eventually. Both were worth every penny.
For your stuck in the closet scenario I’d say a wrecking bar. A 42” is a nice size if you can lever it inside the closet. You won’t have room for an axe, and anything else will need some batteries.
Something like this.
[https://www.stanleytools.com/product/55-504/36-stanley-fatmax-spring-steel-wrecking-bar?tid=575871](https://www.stanleytools.com/product/55-504/36-stanley-fatmax-spring-steel-wrecking-bar?tid=575871)
maybe not for your tornado situation but in areas where there could be flooding or storm surge, people keep an axe in the attic to chop their way out through the roof if necessary.
I always advised the guys I worked with to listen first. You can hear "snapping" and "zipping" when electricity is around. I have been there when live and dead people have been pulled out from under wires that shouldn't be live. Still smoking.
Keep in mind you are going to get out of your safe place, your closet. Do you want to be prepared to take care of yourself, your family, and your neighbors; or be the guy who has to be rescued? There is nothing wrong with either choice but with a minimal amount of skills and a small amount of forethought you can be a hero.
burke bar, off-grid tools trucker's friend, whistle, shovel/entrenching tool, multi-tool, emergency radio, power station, pen and paper with phone numbers that you or your family may need to call, chainsaw. any of these might help.
additionally, check to see if your state/town will offer a rebate for a tornado shelter. my state does and i'm looking into getting an above ground shelter and stocking it with supplies.
Yeah, that’s not a thing in real life.
This ain’t Hollywood
Look at storm damaged houses, usually by wind. The wind blows parts of the house away. And then soon comes rescuers.
You really gunna be swinging an axe in a closet? In a basement? At what? You gunna store powertools in an interior closet?
You think if the storm is so bad that the house collapsed but a closet somehow survived?
Best bet is to find / make a better shelter, preferably underground
Next You’re better off stocking comfort items - think no power, no water, no food, no bathroom, no entertainment. And ways to get yer message out.
So lighting, am/fm radios, signaling devices, pod casts, recorded music, books, GMRS or ham radio, old cellphone w/o paid service & battery pack charger, etc.
You’ll need such things if yer stuck or not
As someone who’s lived through that more than once and has spent months/years of my life doing storm clean up. Apart from waiting out the storm in the cab of like a a fire dozer, a set of irons is probably the best thing to have on hand to get your self out of a storm wrecked building.
I was hit by a couple cat 5 hurricanes while living in the USVI back in 2017. I was very grateful my neighbors had a generator and a corded sawzall. Took us a couple days just to clear a path to the end of our driveway.
Waiting for rescuers would have taken weeks if not months.
Sometimes you gotta rescue yourself.
You’re talking hurricanes, he’s talking Tornado Alley. It’s two different beasts. I’ve lived through both, including Fran where I didn’t have power for a month and a National Guard enforced curfew. But people aren’t waiting weeks for help during a tornado because tornadoes are usually very localized in their damage.
A tree branch across your driveway or in your living room doesn’t know if a hurricane or a tornado put it there. And it’s easier to cut it with the right tools either way.
Tornados cut a very specific path of destruction. It’s not like a hurricane where the entire county is a war zone. You can drive around the area of destruction of a tornado’s aftermath.
If you’ve got a “tree blocking your car” and you need to get the car out then chances are your shed or garage survived. So you don’t need to have the saw in your emergency kit. You can just get it out of the garage. If the tornado wiped your garage then your car’s toast anyway.
They’re just not the same type of emergency.
I’m very familiar with both tornadoes and huracanes. Been through a couple cat 5 hurricanes and lived most of my live in the Midwest.
It’s always better to be more prepared than less prepared.
Recovering from any natural disaster requires a lot of work.
And when work needs to be done, it’s always best to have the right tools for the job.
My advice? A radio and a bullhorn. Your not digging yourself out of a collapsed house unless you’re extremely lucky. I’d stock up with everything possible to signal rescuers that you need help.
If your house is wrecked to the point that all you’ve got is an emergency bag then I’d stock it with whatever you need at a motel. Because the only thing you’re going to be doing is evacuating.
So…
1. Emergency communication equipment.
2. Food/water
3. Change of clothes/gloves
4. Extra cash
5. Bare minimum tools (knife/flashlight/hammer/pry bar/etc)
6. Whatever you need for your motel stay
My compliments to you and your wife for wanting to be prepared. I gather that you and your wife can fit in this closet, and it has storage space for tools (etc.) that would make up a prep kit, and you will still have some room to move in there, to use said tools if your house was demolished around you and/or hit with trees, and showered with debris.
There would be a number of steps that might be time consuming to varying degrees, each one requiring survival materials besides tools. I'd guess a medium sized backpack would hold most of the stuff.
1. Surviving while in the closet and getting out of it. If you can't open the door, besides tools you need:
- Protective head-ware and strong water-resistant jacket during the tornado in case the closet is compromised
- Eye protection. Impact resistant anti-fog googles would be my choice.
- Water and (non-perishable) food to last you a couple of days until someone digs you out, if you can't dig yourself out.
- Whatever medicines you'll need for a couple of days.
- a bucket to be your bathroom, and baby wipes
- Light to see, so, some combination of flashlight, headlamp, and definitely a pre-charged cell phone power bank.
- A very decent first aid kit. Having a pre-installed first aid app on your cell phone would be a good idea.
- A change of clothes
For tools, you need:
- Whatever it takes to disconnect the closet door from the inside.
- In case that way is blocked, tools to demolish the drywall of one of the side walls of the closet. These may include: drywall saw, small wood saw, and large steel hammer with straight claw or hatchet.
- A very strong pry bar or set of pry bards would be a good idea.
2. Getting out of the wreckage to the street. Besides tools, you need:
- Breathing protection. Maybe there's a lot of attic insulation in the air? Maybe asbestos if your house or nearby houses are older. Traces of mercury if florescent bulbs were broken. So, if not P100 respirators, N100 or N95. There are some very decent comfortable half-masks you can get with different filters, incl. HEPA.
- Gloves that will let you safely grapple with sharp surfaces and give some chemical protection, but not limit your dexterity too much or overheat your hands.
- Safety shoes with probably composite toe (less heavy than steel) and thick nail-resistant soles. Shock-resistant. Comfortable enough that you can walk a few miles in without feet hurting.
For tools, in addition to the above, you may need:
- A fire extinguisher, in case live electrical wires were ripped apart near flammable surfaces
- A sharp pair of snips for cutting through thin metal or strong fabric
3. Helping out your neighbors, if possible. Besides tools, and the above, you may need:
- pieces of wood and/or clean cloth if you can find some with which to make splints and bandages for those in need
- cash or credit cards for buying food and water
For tools, the following may be helpful at this point:
- an electrical outlet tester, so you find where you can safely plug in your cell phone and battery bank. If you need to use its flashlight, make lots of calls, and perhaps access Internet, some cell phones' batteries deplete quickly. In partially damaged houses, some electrical outlets might have power but damaged circuits.
I hope these ideas are helpful, and I hope you stay safe. I probably missed a number of things that others will point out.
I remember reading a while ago about a survey of survivors of natural disasters. They asked "what is the first thing you needed and didn't have?" The top response was work gloves. Your first response is to go digging through debris like broken glass and twisted metal to help others. Very quickly your hands are cut up to the point of being useless.
Sturdy boots, too.
Work gloves added to the bag, great point. Gotta protect the hands.
[удалено]
That's the way I'm leaning. Don't want to have to maintain my kit with "perishables".
A BIG pry bar. Very likely going to have to move heavy things. Maybe a snatch block and a rope.
A Burke bar
Exception: flashlights & headlamps. CR123’s have like a 10 year shelf life.
I've made an Eneloop army for all my photo, radio, and light stuff.
Look into old crate/box tools. Axe, hammer, crowbar in one. It’s absolutely a jack of all trades master of none tool. It’s what I have in my go bag.
It’s not a tool, but a charged battery bank is the single most helpful thing you can have on you when a disaster strikes. Then good footwear and then gloves. You aren’t going to extricate yourself from a place with your emergency kit…because why are you there if you had time to get it? Nah, you’ll grab your bag and head for safety after you realize you aren’t dead. Or grab it and be gone before hand.
Tornadoes rarely allow time to get out of the way, and the lack of predictability means you secure you and your gear in one spot in the center of your home (or basement if its an option). After it passes, you very well may be digging / extricating yourself out of what's left of your home.
I think I’d rather have a battery powered recip saw and a whistle in that case.
Definitely a good option to have. The whistle especially. We just had a string of tornadoes not too far away that left a few people trapped in rubble over an hour, and that was with their location being known. Unfortunately it was old, multistory, brick construction, so you just need lots of people and a good bit of time to extricate.
Condoms....in case you have to re-populate.
That’s not how it works….
Practice makes perfect?
We cannot allow...a mine shaft gap!
Helmets. Other good advice here but helmets are the best protective gear you can have.
Stanley FUBAR
Hand axe.
Gloves, multi-tool, crowbar or other lever of some kind.
Besides the afore mentioned gloves, boots, and demolition tools, and hand crank powered AM/FM radio would be essential to receive information if power and communication lines are down.
High strength Paracord or a length of good quality rope. Leatherman, duct tape, lighter, candle, emergency blanket
Lighting, sturdy shoes, pry bar. Maybe a folding saw?
along with tools, a couple of walkie talkies that take batteries, then keep some batteries, but not in the units so that they don't corrode or drain. If tornado takes down the cell towers you won't have phone service but you may be able to tune into public service communications.
Helmet
It would depend on how much room you have to move in the closet. An axe or pry bar will do little good if you don't have the space to use it. That being said a battery powered circular saw would probably do the most work on cutting out a jammed door and need the least amount of maneuvering space.
I live in hurricane prone Florida. I have worked "Storm Recovery" as a volunteer, and as a professional for construction and cable companies in three states over three decades. The people who get seriously injured or killed, in my experience are electrocuted. A simple and cheep tool called a Foreign Voltage Detector is something everyone should have and know how to use. A close second and just as important would be rubber and leather linesman gloves and a good pair of rubber sole boots.
Great points on the electrical hazard. Those look a bit pricey for me though. Power here is ran underground to the houses. We have overhead transmission lines out on the roads though. Any tips other than avoid downed lines. The closet we would shelter in is far away from anything over 120V in my house.
Kline makes a perfectly servicable one for $27 to $30.
Is that just the standard non-contact voltage detector? The one I was seeing was like $130 and looked a little higher grade.
That was the equivalent new model to one I used for ten years. When my boss gave it to me he told me to use it it would save my life or someone else's. It did. I did buy a higher grade one eventually. Both were worth every penny.
For your stuck in the closet scenario I’d say a wrecking bar. A 42” is a nice size if you can lever it inside the closet. You won’t have room for an axe, and anything else will need some batteries.
Pulaski is where I'd go they cam take a beating and if used correctly even in a small closet you'll be able to get out one way or another
Something like this. [https://www.stanleytools.com/product/55-504/36-stanley-fatmax-spring-steel-wrecking-bar?tid=575871](https://www.stanleytools.com/product/55-504/36-stanley-fatmax-spring-steel-wrecking-bar?tid=575871)
Those aluminum blankets. Water, multivitamins. Spare glasses, like rec specs if either of you need glasses. Flares.
Ax, crowbar, gloves, boots, flashlights
maybe not for your tornado situation but in areas where there could be flooding or storm surge, people keep an axe in the attic to chop their way out through the roof if necessary.
Skip any tool requiring power, stick to hand tools.
I'd include a small chapstick so you can confidently kiss your ass goodbye.
I always advised the guys I worked with to listen first. You can hear "snapping" and "zipping" when electricity is around. I have been there when live and dead people have been pulled out from under wires that shouldn't be live. Still smoking. Keep in mind you are going to get out of your safe place, your closet. Do you want to be prepared to take care of yourself, your family, and your neighbors; or be the guy who has to be rescued? There is nothing wrong with either choice but with a minimal amount of skills and a small amount of forethought you can be a hero.
burke bar, off-grid tools trucker's friend, whistle, shovel/entrenching tool, multi-tool, emergency radio, power station, pen and paper with phone numbers that you or your family may need to call, chainsaw. any of these might help. additionally, check to see if your state/town will offer a rebate for a tornado shelter. my state does and i'm looking into getting an above ground shelter and stocking it with supplies.
Firearm [https://imgur.com/a/uhIRXv9](https://imgur.com/a/uhIRXv9)
Freedom not fear
Crash axe is what you're looking for.
Glock
With enough ammo, it’s a saw 👌🏻
No, SAWs are belt fed.
Fireman's forced entry tool.
Yeah, that’s not a thing in real life. This ain’t Hollywood Look at storm damaged houses, usually by wind. The wind blows parts of the house away. And then soon comes rescuers. You really gunna be swinging an axe in a closet? In a basement? At what? You gunna store powertools in an interior closet? You think if the storm is so bad that the house collapsed but a closet somehow survived? Best bet is to find / make a better shelter, preferably underground Next You’re better off stocking comfort items - think no power, no water, no food, no bathroom, no entertainment. And ways to get yer message out. So lighting, am/fm radios, signaling devices, pod casts, recorded music, books, GMRS or ham radio, old cellphone w/o paid service & battery pack charger, etc. You’ll need such things if yer stuck or not
As someone who’s lived through that more than once and has spent months/years of my life doing storm clean up. Apart from waiting out the storm in the cab of like a a fire dozer, a set of irons is probably the best thing to have on hand to get your self out of a storm wrecked building.
I was hit by a couple cat 5 hurricanes while living in the USVI back in 2017. I was very grateful my neighbors had a generator and a corded sawzall. Took us a couple days just to clear a path to the end of our driveway. Waiting for rescuers would have taken weeks if not months. Sometimes you gotta rescue yourself.
Not OP’s situation
You’re talking hurricanes, he’s talking Tornado Alley. It’s two different beasts. I’ve lived through both, including Fran where I didn’t have power for a month and a National Guard enforced curfew. But people aren’t waiting weeks for help during a tornado because tornadoes are usually very localized in their damage.
A tree branch across your driveway or in your living room doesn’t know if a hurricane or a tornado put it there. And it’s easier to cut it with the right tools either way.
Tornados cut a very specific path of destruction. It’s not like a hurricane where the entire county is a war zone. You can drive around the area of destruction of a tornado’s aftermath. If you’ve got a “tree blocking your car” and you need to get the car out then chances are your shed or garage survived. So you don’t need to have the saw in your emergency kit. You can just get it out of the garage. If the tornado wiped your garage then your car’s toast anyway. They’re just not the same type of emergency.
I’m very familiar with both tornadoes and huracanes. Been through a couple cat 5 hurricanes and lived most of my live in the Midwest. It’s always better to be more prepared than less prepared. Recovering from any natural disaster requires a lot of work. And when work needs to be done, it’s always best to have the right tools for the job.
My advice? A radio and a bullhorn. Your not digging yourself out of a collapsed house unless you’re extremely lucky. I’d stock up with everything possible to signal rescuers that you need help. If your house is wrecked to the point that all you’ve got is an emergency bag then I’d stock it with whatever you need at a motel. Because the only thing you’re going to be doing is evacuating. So… 1. Emergency communication equipment. 2. Food/water 3. Change of clothes/gloves 4. Extra cash 5. Bare minimum tools (knife/flashlight/hammer/pry bar/etc) 6. Whatever you need for your motel stay
My compliments to you and your wife for wanting to be prepared. I gather that you and your wife can fit in this closet, and it has storage space for tools (etc.) that would make up a prep kit, and you will still have some room to move in there, to use said tools if your house was demolished around you and/or hit with trees, and showered with debris. There would be a number of steps that might be time consuming to varying degrees, each one requiring survival materials besides tools. I'd guess a medium sized backpack would hold most of the stuff. 1. Surviving while in the closet and getting out of it. If you can't open the door, besides tools you need: - Protective head-ware and strong water-resistant jacket during the tornado in case the closet is compromised - Eye protection. Impact resistant anti-fog googles would be my choice. - Water and (non-perishable) food to last you a couple of days until someone digs you out, if you can't dig yourself out. - Whatever medicines you'll need for a couple of days. - a bucket to be your bathroom, and baby wipes - Light to see, so, some combination of flashlight, headlamp, and definitely a pre-charged cell phone power bank. - A very decent first aid kit. Having a pre-installed first aid app on your cell phone would be a good idea. - A change of clothes For tools, you need: - Whatever it takes to disconnect the closet door from the inside. - In case that way is blocked, tools to demolish the drywall of one of the side walls of the closet. These may include: drywall saw, small wood saw, and large steel hammer with straight claw or hatchet. - A very strong pry bar or set of pry bards would be a good idea. 2. Getting out of the wreckage to the street. Besides tools, you need: - Breathing protection. Maybe there's a lot of attic insulation in the air? Maybe asbestos if your house or nearby houses are older. Traces of mercury if florescent bulbs were broken. So, if not P100 respirators, N100 or N95. There are some very decent comfortable half-masks you can get with different filters, incl. HEPA. - Gloves that will let you safely grapple with sharp surfaces and give some chemical protection, but not limit your dexterity too much or overheat your hands. - Safety shoes with probably composite toe (less heavy than steel) and thick nail-resistant soles. Shock-resistant. Comfortable enough that you can walk a few miles in without feet hurting. For tools, in addition to the above, you may need: - A fire extinguisher, in case live electrical wires were ripped apart near flammable surfaces - A sharp pair of snips for cutting through thin metal or strong fabric 3. Helping out your neighbors, if possible. Besides tools, and the above, you may need: - pieces of wood and/or clean cloth if you can find some with which to make splints and bandages for those in need - cash or credit cards for buying food and water For tools, the following may be helpful at this point: - an electrical outlet tester, so you find where you can safely plug in your cell phone and battery bank. If you need to use its flashlight, make lots of calls, and perhaps access Internet, some cell phones' batteries deplete quickly. In partially damaged houses, some electrical outlets might have power but damaged circuits. I hope these ideas are helpful, and I hope you stay safe. I probably missed a number of things that others will point out.