Communication and Observation Devices Should be Part of Prepping
Most preppers put a lot of time and effort into firearms, food supplies, shelter, seeds and livestock for good reason but I do not hear much said about communication and observation devices. Not everything a prepper needs goes “BANG”.
Oldie’s but Goodies
In my stash of bugout supplies I have two older forty channel cb radio’s with hi band frequencies, an old knob dial type car Am FM car stereo and several pairs of Motorola pocket size walkie talkie radios.
One radio is a Cobra model 29 and the other is a Uniden pc122XL both were put to good use many years ago while working road patrol in a busy Florida Community. Back before cell phones several car dealership security officers used CB radios this allowed us to directly communicate with them and assisted in several in progress auto theft arrests. The CB radio has since passed it hat onto car phones and eventually the slim profile phones used to day.
Ham Radio
A fellow prepper Ray has been researching and likes the hand-held style radios manufactured by BAUFENG. He’s currently eyeing the UV82 model with Ham Radio Transceiver. With a little training this will let you piggy back off local emergency management transmission towers.
You may say what wrong with our hand-held tablets phones of today, nothing as long as your providers system doesn’t go down. I’ve already witnesses this issue while living in the San Luis Valley. Every time the wind blows our cell service goes down, at least with the walkie talkies and mini ham radio’s we will be able to communicate among ourselves. Keeping reliable communication and observation equipment is important.
Operating Distance
Depending on the radios signal strength we should be able to easily communicate among ourselves from 1 to 5 miles line of sight distances. Things like public utilities power lines, heavy foliage and mountainous terrain features will affect your transmission distances.
During several recent Florida Hurricanes, I was able to maintain communication with a neighbor several houses over on the Motorola walkie talkies. Another useful piece of equipment is a Realistic programmable scanner.
It can be set to the National Weather service broadcast channel, local aviation and military communications. AM FM car radio’s can be set up inside and wired to a 12-volt system. The dial knobs can be used to scan Am and FM channels for a signal that the newer car radios do not receive. The ability to hear any news source will improve your survival outcome.
Observation Devices
Several towns in the Colorado San Luis Valley are considered to be the lowest income communities in the state. Most of our population is hardworking individuals. We do have lesser than desirable individuals who use every opportunity to prosper off everyone else’s hard work. For that we rely on binoculars and night vision devices.
We keep several pairs of different power binoculars around the MLM base camp. I can see people approaching from a mile in every direction. Our four-legged patrol partners provide us with early warning of approaching vehicles and pedestrians.
I am able to scan the surrounding properties at nigh time using a Sony 450X digital zoom with night-shot night vision and a Pulsar night vision monocular. Most nights the moon provides our supplemental light source. IR chem sticks and an IR 9 volt powered light assist with light on the moonless nights.
Most of the IR equipment are powered by rechargeable batteries and if things get bad enough we have a John Deere tractor alternator which will be attached to a gas powered lawn mower engine as a small portable source of electricity. YOU TUBE has plenty of videos on how to build it.
Let us know if you can think of any other useful tool to make a preppers life easier . What are you’re favorite communication and observation devices?
As always be safe and healthy my friends.
Chris D.
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