How to Clean a Wound: Irrigation With Water and a Syringe
How to clean a wound at home: stop the bleeding, flush it with clean water and a big syringe, use iodine on the skin only, and know when to see a doctor.
Latest briefing
SUPSupply Runs · November 3, 2026
Tractor Supply Prepping Items: 9 Cheap Buys Veterans Stock Up On
BLUF The best Tractor Supply prepping items are canning lids, a galvanized steel can, pine pellets for a bucket toilet, a hurricane lantern, a propane refill, a stock tank, vet wrap, 10% povidone-iodine and a large irrigation...
Read the briefing16 min read · By Mike Dawson
Mission areas
Pick what you need to get squared away
- SUP Supply Runs What to buy at farm stores, army surplus stores and big-box stores before an emergency, and what to walk past. Cheap, proven items first. 3 field notes →
- H2O Water How to store emergency water in bulk and make questionable water safe to drink, with the doses and rules official agencies give. 2 field notes →
- CHOW Food Storage Keep stored food safe from rodents, moisture and spoilage, and keep a canning pantry running when supplies get tight. 2 field notes →
- FUEL Power, Light & Fuel Store propane and gasoline safely, light a house without starting a fire, and stretch fuel through a long outage. 3 field notes →
- MED Field Medicine Battlefield-proven first aid for home: cleaning wounds, controlling bleeding and the trauma gear worth owning. Not a substitute for training. 3 field notes →
- HYG Field Hygiene Field hygiene the army way: foot care, cold and wet injuries, ticks and mosquitoes, and the habits that keep a household healthy. 2 field notes →
Field notes, newest first
More from the supply room
How to Prevent Trench Foot: Wool Socks, Dry Feet, Daily Change
How to prevent trench foot: what causes it, early symptoms, the daily sock routine soldiers use, wool vs cotton, and what to do for wet feet at home.
Iodine vs Chlorine Water Purification: What Bleach Can and Can’t Do
Iodine vs chlorine water purification: the EPA bleach dose per gallon, when iodine tablets make sense, what chlorine dioxide adds, what none of them remove.
Rodent Proof Food Storage: Why a Galvanized Can Beats a Bucket
Mice and rats chew through paper, bags and plastic. A galvanized steel can with a tight lid stops them. Here is how to set one up and clean up safely.
How to Spot a Fake Tourniquet (and Where to Buy a Real One)
Fake CAT tourniquets can snap when you need them. Here is how to spot a fake tourniquet, the red flags, where to buy a real one, and how to store it.
Are Kerosene Lanterns Safe Indoors? Blackout Lighting, Ranked
Are kerosene lanterns safe indoors? What the fire agencies say, how to use a hurricane lantern with care, and safer blackout lights that beat candles.
Stock Tank Water Storage: A 100-Gallon Backup for Under $200
A 100-gallon stock tank holds about 835 lb of water, enough for four people for roughly 25 days. Here is how to fill, cover, treat and place it safely.
How to Treat Clothes with Permethrin: Steps, Safety and Cats
How to treat clothes with permethrin for ticks and mosquitoes: step-by-step spraying, drying time, how long it lasts, what never to spray, and cat safety.
How to Store Gasoline Long Term: Cans, Stabilizer and Safe Spots
How to store gasoline long term: approved cans, stabilizer, a safe place to keep them, how long gas lasts, and how to fill and pour without spills or fires.
Can You Reuse Canning Lids? What Is Safe and What Is Not
Flat canning lids seal once. Here is what you can still do with a used lid, how to spot fakes, how long lids keep, and when reusable lids make sense.
How to Use an Israeli Bandage: Step by Step
How to use an Israeli bandage step by step: which size to buy, when to pack a wound with gauze first, when a tourniquet is better, and how to store it.
Paid for the hard way
Lessons the army learned, so you don't have to
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1898
Typhoid killed more soldiers than bullets
In the 1898 Spanish-American War, typhoid from camp latrines killed about four times as many US soldiers as combat did. Army doctors found the cause, and latrine discipline has been drilled into soldiers since.
What it means for your house: Tractor Supply Prepping Items: 9 Cheap Buys Veterans Stock Up On → -
2001-2011
Most survivable battlefield deaths were from bleeding
A study of US combat deaths found about 91% of potentially survivable deaths were from hemorrhage, many before reaching a surgeon. That is why the medical items on this list matter at home when help is far away.
What it means for your house: What to Buy at an Army Surplus Store: 11 Items Veterans Pick → -
1861-65
Disease killed about two in three Civil War soldiers
Roughly 414,000 of 618,000 Civil War deaths came from disease, often from bad water. That is why a jug of plain bleach and a pack of rehydration salts beat a cart of panic buys.
What it means for your house: What Sells Out First in an Emergency (and What to Buy Instead) →
Field tool
How long will your propane last?
Pick a tank and what you burn on it. The calculator shows the hours and days of cooking or heat you have on hand, exchange tanks included.
Run the propane runtime calculator
Your host
I'm Mike Dawson. Veteran, and the guy behind Blackout Fox.
On YouTube I walk the aisles and show you the cheap, proven gear the army learned to trust. Here I write it all down properly, with the numbers, the safety rules and the sources, so you can check it, print it and keep it on the shelf.