The Prepper's Complete Book of Disaster Readiness by Jim Cobb

Author:Jim Cobb [Cobb, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781612432595
Publisher: Ulysses Press

SAWS AND ROPES

For starters, many natural disasters bring with them a great amount of cleanup. Downed trees and limbs, broken windows, roof damage—all of these require a lot of work to get things back to normal. Tools that are commonly needed to handle fallen debris include chain saws, bow saws, and ropes.

Based on my experience with both types, I’d much rather have a gas-powered chain saw than an electric one. For starters, logic seems to dictate that if you’re having to deal with downed trees, odds are pretty good the power will be out. There’s little sense in having to run a generator just to operate your chain saw. However, gas-powered chain saws do require fuel, of course, so be sure you have plenty of it stockpiled.

Other extras you’ll want are spare bars and chains. The bar is the part of the saw the chain spins around. They come in varying sizes, as do the chains. The size of the bar dictates the size of the tree you can reasonably cut. Be sure you get the right size chains for the bars. You’ll want extra chains so when the one you’re using gets dull, you can swap it out immediately for a new, sharp one. Then, when all is said and done, you can either sharpen them yourself or take them in to get it done.

There are also various sizes of chain saws, based on engine size. The larger the engine, the more powerful the saw. Of course, they do get heavier as you increase the engine size. My suggestion is to get the largest chain saw you can comfortably handle, in terms of both weight and maneuverability.

Bow saws are large handsaws that are used for cutting through branches and limbs. These are nice to have for when you can’t quite get to a troublesome branch with your chain saw. They are light and relatively inexpensive.

Ropes are used for securing limbs as well as dragging them. While paracord would probably be strong enough for many such applications, do yourself a favor and get rope designed for tree trimming. You want to look for high-strength and low-stretch rope.

COME-ALONGS

You may also find a come-along useful in many disaster recovery tasks. The way this device works is, you securely attach one end to a fairly immovable object such as a tree or a vehicle, then attach the other end to a chain that runs to the thing you need to move. You ratchet the come-along and it pulls the object to you.

CUT COSTS, NOT QUALITY, ON TOOLS

No doubt about it, good tools can be expensive. The problem is, with tools as with most other things, you usually get what you pay for. Buying a set of wrenches at your local dollar store is just asking for trouble; they will likely bend before loosening a stubborn nut or bolt. Unfortunately, it is getting more and more difficult to find high-quality hand tools (i.e., not made in China) without having to sell a kidney to afford them.

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