Prepping and the 4th of July! This 4th of July we will once again be celebrating our Independence and our freedom. While it’s very important to those of us who cherish our vanishing American Freedoms, it is also a good time to stock up on some preps that could save our lives when SHTF hits. Things that are not always available at other times of the year. Things like oh, I don’t know…say fireworks? In this post we will take a look at improvised uses for them in a post SHTF world.
Firecrackers could be used for a many things, like creating a diversion and creating flash grenades. Let’s say you are in a house at night and the Zombies show up. You may want to break open a few of your firecrackers and empty the powder on a flat piece of paper. Then when they enter the room, ignite the powder and “wala”, you have a flash grenade! Lighting a string of them and throwing them into the room with the Zombies will quickly disorient them and anyone else that doesn’t realize what is going on. You may also want to take a string of firecrackers with a long fuse and place it on the other side of the building and light it to create a diversion that would allow you to escape. You could also use them to drive small animals out of their burrows so you can kill or capture them if need be. Whatever the reason, just be sure to stock up on plenty of these!
Roman candles would make great nighttime signaling devices after SHTF hits. With a little work, they could be made into perimeter alarms. They could also be disassembled and the powder used for cauterizing wounds. I do not recommend it, but it could be done I believe. They could also be used to ignite fires from a distance as well. Whatever the reason, you should keep a few of these in your preps as well.
Mortar Rockets have always been my favorites! These are the ones sold with the large tubes and several round ball like devices that have a fuse attached. When used properly, you simply light the fuse and drop into the vertical standing tube. When the fuse burns down, the ball is propelled very high into the sky and explodes with a loud roar and beautiful sparks. These are usually the main attraction at fireworks shows. They can be beautiful when used properly and deadly when they are not! Firing them into a group of oncoming “Zombies” could quickly make them lose interest in you. Now, please note that I am not advocating that you use them in any way other than what is recommended by the manufacturer, but rather I am pointing out ways that some people may use them to their advantage after SHTF hits. If I were you, I would put a lot of these in my preps just in case they are not available to celebrate the 4th of July with after SHTF. (Wink, wink).
Party poppers would make great perimeter alarms and could be easily installed be simply tying a long string to the short one that come with it and then stretching it across an opening and securing it so that the string on the party popper will be pulled when someone trips the string. The bang of it being setoff would alert you when anyone enters the area thus making the area safer. These are very cheap and can be bought by the box. I would recommend getting at least a few boxes just in case.
Smoke bombs have been a part of the battle field for hundreds of years and are still used by Swat units today. Now granted, the ones they sell at firecracker stores are not nearly as powerful as the ones the military and SWAT uses, but by using several at one time, especially indoors, they could still provide effective concealment in a tactical situation. Because they stink, they can also be used to drive small animals out of their holes as well. I wouldn’t recommend that you use them in a confined space that you intend to stay in afterwards though. Again, these are cheap and can usually be bought by the box at most Fireworks stands.
Bottle rockets are something else that are cheap and can even be purchased for as little as a penny a piece. While these are designed to go up in the air and pop, many of them also making a whistling sound and would also be good signaling devices after SHTF happens. The whistling sound could be heard for some distance and would be distinctive enough to tell exactly what it is.
I think that by now you are probably getting the picture that Fireworks are a great addition to add to your preps this 4th of July holiday. Because we never know what to expect when SHTF hits, we need to plan for every contingency that we can think of. Now go out and have a safe and happy 4th of July and remember to keep prepping!
PS
Don’t forget to remember all of those that paid the ultimate price for our Freedom this 4th of July!
