Colony season 2 episode 6

     Well to start off this episode the group is in the hole food wise due to last weeks kidnapping / ransom ordeal, so 2 of the group head off to the canal to check their traps. Surprise, the water is contaminated beyond what they can clean up and make safe..... Good lesson here in my opinion.

     In almost any situation you want to have a backup plan or a backup source. Depending on one source in this case water, your most important element to life will get you into trouble, for something as important as this you should have at least 2 ways to either obtain or make clean a source of water. Most of us run off of a municipal supply and we take it for granted that it always works, well sometimes it doesn't. Some alternatives would be water storage, tanks are pretty cheap but you run into the issue of where to put them but that's a post for another time but if you can have one it's an option. Another option is a little more expensive but if you can sink your own well in the backyard without running into legal issues go for it, take note though that in a SHTF situation do what you have to without hurting anyone else. One other point to take into consideration, Be cautious of who you tell that you have a water supply as good neighbors now could be bad neighbors later or during certain situations.

      Having digressed with the above the group decided to take advantage of the rain that they knew would be visiting them and decided to build a cistern to collect rainwater off of the roof, A very good design if it is legal in your area ( no, I am not kidding some states and county do not allow you to collect rainwater ) so their design was made out of 4x8 sheets of plywood lined with the VOPA tent material and a rain gutter diverted into the cistern, very basic but very simple and that is what you want, simple.

     The other issue that this group seems to have is in getting a handle on security, they are just plain stupid and complacent, I will give them credit in that they did start a night watch but on the first night Michael couldn't stay awake and laid down, Damn that was the wrong thing to do, first off if he was that tired he should have got someone up to relieve him and second of all with the amount of people that they have everyone could easily take a 2 hour shift. A shift of that length should be no problem or the other thing they could do that is even better is to have 2 people up at all times. Now again I know this is just a show but if you had to do this for real you would need to be on top of these things because your life would depend on it.

      The cost for the security lapse cost the group a broken down door as the building was broken in to after Michael went to bed. Lucky for the group this time nothing was taken but it did show that their doors and windows will need to be fortified as they provided ZERO resistance to the bad guys getting in. Anyone that can sneak right up to your front door and just bust right through could easily toss in a Molotov cocktail and ruin your whole night. Secure your doors and windows, Katy bar that door as they say, plant nasty bushes below your window, make it hard for the intruder and most importantly if you are on watch don't fall asleep!!

      This episode seems to be a 2 build affair with the 2nd being transport in the form of a reverse trike/ motorcycle and right off the bat it just screams out as being a disaster of ergonomics in the making. The biggest issue is the steering from the forward platform, with this long of a bike/ trailer setup how good will your turning radius be ? How fast are you going to be able to go ? How stable will you be? They have already found out about the stability issue, the bike was dumped on the maiden voyage. I am sure they will find uses for the bike but I would have liked to see a better design, even putting a car tire on the front of the bike and hauling the trailer from behind would have been a better idea, but we all know about opinions right....

     Score of the day seemed to be finding the alligator in the pool while out looking for water, this is a great find as the group really needs a good meal of protein, while it was a small alligator they will get by for a few days with it. This is another important area where you will need to have multiple sources for your sustenance, depending on one area or supplier will inevitably leave you shorthanded when you need it most.  

     The group also decided to go on a scouting mission and it seams like they left the 10 acre area because they found a fast food joint and they decided to take a look, scavenging, looting, stealing whatever you want to call it or whatever moral issue you have with it may be something you have to confront in an extreme emergency or SHTF

     Leadership finally came to a head also and Sally was voted in to lead, about time. Decisions need to be made and people need to be held accountable. This brings me back to the words of one of my fire instructors "Freelancing on the fire ground will not be tolerated" and it think that it applies here quite well. I think Sally will have her work cut out for her though because leading sometimes is like herding cats under the best of circumstances.

     The end of the show ended with the rainstorm that the group needed and it looks like they thought they caught over 400 gallons, not bad at all. I would still filter this water due to contaminants on the roof and materials they are using but that's gravy work for them right now. In addition it looks like the human contact will increase in the next episode, always a cliffhanger huh....Later

* Note some aspects of this article or examples will vary widely depending of your region, demographics, or other criteria.

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