Prepography

Andrew’s Note:  There’s been a lot of discussion in the news lately of Syria readying munitions from it’s chemical weapons stockpile and I’ve received a few questions about chemical weapons in general. There’s a good reason chemical weapons are vilified and considered a weapon of mass destruction but a chemical environment is survivable.   Much of this article discusses survival skills when faced with military grade chemical weapons, you are unlikely to encounter such weapons in the U.S. but the detection and avoidance of a chemical environment could save your life in the event of a terrorist attack similar to the Sarin attack on the Tokyo Subway by Aum Shinrikyo on March 20, 1995.  The good news is that military grade chemical munitions have a lethality difficult for terrorists to duplicate.  Here’s Chemical Attack Survival Skills which has been taken directly from FM 21-76, the U.S. Army Survival Manual [Approved For Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited].  For additional information check out the Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Attack Fact Sheet and don’t forget to seek immediate medical attention if you think you’ve been exposed. Continue reading →