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by Leon Pantenburg

I don’t claim to be a survival expert – only a wilderness enthusiast with a desire to research and share knowledge about preparing for emergencies and life threatening situations. So, this website provides articles and links to great resources for anyone interested in learning how to survive an emergency situation.

The Survival Common Sense website/blog was started some 14 years ago because I was in the newspaper business and saw some tragic events that happened to very good people. Sometimes the disaster could have been avoided by using just plain common sense.

I have a lifetime of experience living in rural areas and traveling in the wilderness, and understand the need for preparedness. I get it that many people don’t have those survival/preparedness skills, and haven’t had a chance to learn them. Also, I was surrounded for years by search and rescue personnel and a group of Scouting friends who taught me even more about surviving an emergency.

Take this test to see if you’re completely prepared:

What would you do if you sprained or broke your ankle at dusk on a routine evening run on a wooded trail close to your home…. but you happened to be alone, in November and the temperatures hover above freezing and darkness was falling? Are you dependent on your cell phone?

What would happen if your car slid off a rural and lonely, icy road after dark and you wound up in the ditch in two feet of snow during a raging blizzard where temperatures were already at 10 degrees? Can you rely on your cell phone?

What if you and your kids took a rural road as a shortcut to grandma’s for Thanksgiving and your vehicle got completely stuck in the muck or your engine cut out. You’re 60 miles on a gravel road from any major freeway and it’s getting dark. There’s no cell coverage.

What if you woke up to a fire alarm and the smell of toxic smoke in your completely dark, fourth-floor hotel room?

What would you grab to go, if you received a call from an automated County Disaster Center requiring you to evacuate your home immediately?

A hurricane/flood/tornado warning has been issued for your neighborhood. What’s the first thing you do? The second? The third?

You have $100 to ensure your family is safe and prepared to shelter in place during a natural disaster. What should you purchase?

Learn more about Leon Pantenburg