20010515.2042  Tue , May 15, 2001,  8 42PM  3 Preparedness Hints

Old Wagon Road, Yadkinville, North Carolina

One.
Fiberglass handled tools are a good choice.  The handles are virtually
unbreakable, and they have less ring, or recoil, then a solid- metal-
handled- tool.  I have a fiberglass- handled sledge hammer, a couple of
regular hammers, and a couple of hand axes.  Over many years use, the
head of the tool will loosen up.  The choice then, in a primitive
setting, would be to fabricate some kind of other handle.  They do sell
epoxy kits made for re-gluing the heads of fiberglass- handled tools. 
These kits can be found in the tool section.  If you don't find such a
kit, a good two-part epoxy will do.  Re-glue, reset, and let the whole
thing sit about one week before you use it.

Two.
Oven mitts are a good survival item.  If you were forced into outdoor
cooking, some kind of hand protection would help.  A better choice is
the kind of glove they sell for welding.  It has a leather exterior,
and some kind of insulating cloth interior.  You can find them at a
welding supply store, and sometimes at a regular hardware store.  I
have labeled mine, in case I am not around and someone comes upon these
gloves.  I would not want then thought of only for cold-weather use. 
The label: Hot-Work Gloves.

Three.
Not all strike- anywhere matches are created equal.  I have one of
those metal containers that hold a dozen or so matches.  Using them at
work, I found that some of my matches had an extremely small white spot
on the end.  That made them difficult or impossible to strike. 
Significantly, they still will work on the box the strike-anywhere
matches came in.  If you are going to keep an emergency supply of such
matches, look them over and chose those matches with the largest white
areas on the head.  These will strike more successfully, wherever and
whenever you need them.

OK, maybe four hints.
Began to hear recently about a type of shotgun shell that produces less
recoil.  I have not found them yet, or even begun to look for them.  A
shotgun is perhaps the best self-defense weapon, provided it has a
short barrel, of minimum legal length.  The recoil can be horrendous. 
It does help if you practice and learn to loosen up, and give with the
recoil of a shotgun.  It is never like you see it on TV, when they just
point and "bang."  A shotgun always throws you back a little.