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Picture cheat sheets
Tap one to open it, then press and hold to save it to your photos. Prices last checked November 2026.
CHEAT SHEET
Making water safe
- Boil
- 1 minute rolling boil. 3 minutes above 6,500 ft.
- 6% bleach
- 8 drops per gallon, wait 30 min
- 8.25% bleach
- 6 drops per gallon, wait 30 min
- Cloudy water
- Double the bleach. Filter or settle first.
- Never
- Flood water, or scented bleach
CHEAT SHEET
How much to store
- Water
- 1 gallon per person per day
- Adult
- About 2,000 calories a day
- Child
- About 1,500 calories a day
- Minimum
- 3 days. Goal: 2 weeks.
- Pets
- About 1 oz water per lb per day
CHEAT SHEET
Fridge & freezer in an outage
- Fridge
- About 4 hours if closed
- Full freezer
- About 48 hours
- Half freezer
- About 24 hours
- Danger
- Above 40°F for 2+ hours: toss it
- Order
- Fridge, then freezer, then pantry
CHEAT SHEET
Heat illness
- Exhaustion
- Heavy sweat, clammy skin, nausea. Cool down, sip water.
- Stroke
- 103°F+, hot red skin, confusion. Call 911 and cool them now.
CHEAT SHEET
Cold injuries
- Hypothermia
- Shivering, confusion, slurred speech, sleepy. Warm, dry, get help.
- Frostbite
- White or waxy, numb skin. Warm gently, don't rub.
CHEAT SHEET
Carbon monoxide
- Signs
- Headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, sleepiness
- Do
- Get everyone outside to fresh air and call 911
- Prevent
- Generators 20+ ft outside. No grills, stoves or ovens for indoor heat. Battery CO detector.
CHEAT SHEET
Flood water
- 6 inches
- Of moving water can knock you down
- 12 inches
- Of moving water can carry away a car
- Rule
- Turn around, don't drown
CHEAT SHEET
Home rehydration drink
- Water
- 1 liter, clean
- Sugar
- 6 level teaspoons
- Salt
- 1/2 level teaspoon
- Use
- Sip often for diarrhea or heat. Measure exactly.
CHEAT SHEET
Six knots
- Bowline
- Fixed loop that won't slip or jam
- Clove hitch
- Quick tie to a post or rail
- Taut-line hitch
- Adjustable tension for tent and tarp lines
- Trucker's hitch
- Cinch a load down tight
- Sheet bend
- Join two ropes, even different sizes
- Square knot
- Bundles and bandages only, never for loads
CHEAT SHEET
Building a fire
- Needs
- Heat, fuel and air. Take one away and it dies.
- Tinder
- Dry grass, cotton balls, birch bark, dryer lint
- Kindling
- Pencil-thin to thumb-thick sticks
- Fuel
- Wrist-thick and up, added slowly
- Safety
- Clear the ground, keep water close, check burn bans
CHEAT SHEET
Dutch oven coals
- Rule
- For about 350°F, use twice the oven's diameter in briquettes
- 12-inch
- 24 briquettes: 16 on the lid, 8 underneath
- Baking
- More on top. Stews: more underneath.
- Turn
- Rotate the lid and pot a quarter turn every 15 min
CHEAT SHEET
Fire extinguisher: PASS
- Pull
- the pin
- Aim
- at the base of the fire
- Squeeze
- the handle
- Sweep
- side to side
- Get out
- if the fire is bigger than a trash can, or spreading
CHEAT SHEET
Family comms
- Text
- Texts get through when calls can't
- Out of state
- One contact everyone checks in with
- Meet
- Spot 1 near home, spot 2 outside the neighborhood
- Radios
- Pick a family channel and check in at set times
CHEAT SHEET
Bug-out bag
- Weight
- Aim for under about 20% of your body weight
- Water
- 1 liter carried plus a filter
- Days
- Pack for 72 hours
- Check
- Twice a year, when clocks change
- Test
- Walk a mile with it on
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