Of course, emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. One of the things I love about our kits is that they are useful in a variety of everyday predicaments, not just catastrophes. They can, at best, save your life, and at least save you time, money, and…perhaps the lives of your dogs, as was the case with me last Thursday.

On that day I found myself in a compromising situation and was saved by my own Mother Eagle E-Kit. After exiting the dog park, I had just loaded my dogs into my minivan (think “Get Shorty”). I was sliding the door shut when one of their tennis balls rolled down into the track of the door. The door stopped, almost closed, but not quite. It was jammed. With all my weight I couldn’t get the sliding door to budge, forward or back. The door handles, inside and out had become totally useless, as if the door was locked. I could have driven to the dealership, with the “door ajar warning” dinging and flashing the whole way (and my side mirror turn signal flashing), hoping they would have some way of fixing it, losing at least an hour of precious time, incurring an exorbitant bill and, worst of all, risking that the door would pop open when I hit a bump, allowing my dogs to jump out in LA traffic. But knowing the budget I’m working with and how much my dogs mean to me, the only real choice was to improvise. As I always do in a tight situation, I think about what is immediately available to me that I can use to fix my problem. Of course, having my Mother Eagle kits right there in the vehicle, I have a lot at my disposal to play with. Laying down on the concrete, I was able to get a view of the ball. There was about a 1″ gap where I could get a tool in. So I went to my kit, pulled out my EMT shears and my SOG PowerLock multi-tool and got to work. I was able to first make a short slice in the tennis ball with the knife on the SOG tool. Then I inserted the EMT shears and started cutting away at the ball. I was able to cut it enough to weaken its structure and get my SOG pliers in there to grip a flap and pull off a couple pieces, weakening the ball even more. After pulling several pieces off I was able to completely dislodge it and solve my problem. I think I could have done this with the standard Kutmaster pliers, but I’m quite sure the SOG-patented “compound leverage” (giving me twice my hand’s gripping power) made it a lot easier. The door worked fine after that. Problem solved, emergency diverted.

Of course, this was not a life-threatening situation (though it could have been for my dogs if the door had popped open in transit), but what I love about this story is that I know in practically any situation, I have the tools and gear to get me through it. I also know that this mini-rescue would not have been possible with the tools included in any cheaper kits. In fact, using a cheap multi-tool with the intensity and in the tight space that I was using mine in, could have easily resulted in injury. Again, my experience impressed upon me that our kits are not just for disasters. They cover all of a person’s fundamental needs, all the time, and give a person the tools to improvise. What I like to say is that if you have a real need, it is covered by our kits.

I’m looking forward to hearing many more stories like this from my customers who have used their kits to get them out of tight situations.

Give-away Game: If I wasn’t able to get the ball out and unstick the door, using the items included in our G.O. Kit, I can think of at least one temporary solution which would have ensured the door would not pop open and let my dogs out.  Can you?  The first two people who can come up with a reasonable solution, permanent or temporary, using only the items in that kit, will win a free Nite Ize LED Wand.  (One hint: I wasn’t able to fit the 4-in-1 tool into the space, so rule that out.)

At the end of each awaredness tip, there will be a free giveaway to some clever reader who correctly answers some not-so-clever question we come up with.

Let’s start today with the first installment.

This phrase can be taken on a couple levels, which is why I’m breaking it into two parts.  The first part, which we’ll cover this week, is how you may take the phrase initially.  Yeah, if you gotta pee, don’t wait.  Pull over and find somewhere to pee.  If you gotta drop some gangsta hits, find a potty and go.  Of course, it may be helpful to be prepared and have some of your own toilet paper, wet wipes and hand sanitizer handy (as you would if you had one of our G.O. Kits).  …and yes, ladies, I know, it is not fair that we men can pee practically anywhere, but let us suggest one of these to help even the score.  Ah, relief.

So what does this have to do with emergency preparedness?  Well, think about it.  You never know what will happen from moment to moment. How many times have you thought, “I can hold it till we get there”, only to be stuck in traffic for an extra 30 minutes, doing the pee-pee dance in your seat, or clenching your bum, sweat dripping?  Well, that’s nothing.  One minute you could be in an elevator, on your way up to an appointment with your shrink, coffee in hand, and the next moment there could be a massive blackout…for hours (days?).  Well guess what–when you felt that tickle in your urethra down there in the Starbucks, that was when you should have made your way to the bathroom.  Better to be a few minutes late to your appointment than a few hours stuck in an elevator with a full bladder, considering whether dumping your coffee and peeing in your grande cup is a good idea.  And that’s nothing.  Apply this to a major disaster.  What if you have to drop some bombs, but you’d rather wait till you get home, and then there’s an earthquake and half your town collapses around you, and there’s literally no where private left to go, no less working plumbing?  And then you have to evacuate.  Looks like you’ll be holding it just a wee bit longer.

In the grand scheme of all that is emergency preparedness, this subject could seem trivial, but think about it a little more.  In a disaster or emergency situation, there may be no privacy, there may be no time, there may be half a liter of pee soaking your pants and two melted candy bars in your undies after the explosion, because you didn’t do your simple duty of doo-ing your doodie when your body asked you to do it.  Any thing you can do NOW to make a disaster less harrowing is worth it.  Right?  Be your own mama and ask yourself before you get in the car or go to bed, “honey, do you have to go potty right now?”  This could be your last opportunity for who knows how long…

The same concept applies to anything, like eating or drinking water (both subjects of future awaredness tips) when you think of it, when your body asks you to.  Little is more important than fulfilling your body’s natural functions.  When you get that signal, it is time.  Pause the movie, finish the e-mail later, be late to your appointment, relieve yourself.  Now.  Go.

“When you gotta go, GO!”

Give-away Game: Whoever guesses first what the topic of part two is (and posts it as a comment) will win a free Nite Ize LED Wand!

*Future awaredness topics (vote for which you’d like to read next!):

-”Shape Up or Poop Out”

-”Hydrate or ‘Hi, Death’”

-”Get That Monkey Off Your Back!”

-”Eat Junk Food…”

-”Streeeeeeeeeetch”

We are delighted to report that since the official launch of our website, www.mothereagle.com, on March 21st, everything is coming along swimmingly. We’ve been fortunate enough to outfit a number of families and individuals with our top-quality kits, and a few more orders are in the making. Our site has been viewed in every state of the union and in 28 other countries! We now have two affiliates promoting our products and several people have helped to spread our message on Twitter. We have received very positive feedback about our kits on equipped.org, where people are serious about their survival-related equipment.

Several people have commented that our site is an excellent source of information, and with the addition of this blog (feed), it will be even more helpful and informative. Coming blogs will include a lighthearted but informative weekly emergency preparedness tip, re-posts of important and interesting articles related to preparedness and environmental changes, and our coming video series, which will highlight our unique and innovative products.

Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for more posts.

Gratefully yours,

Aaron “Eagle” Nichols

www.mothereagle.com