Review: Vesterguard - LifeStraw

I picked up a LifeStraw when I purchased a box of the Mainstay Emergency Food Rations,and for a long while, it stayed in the bottom of my bear box, untried, untested. Eventually I found it, dug it out and got ready to test it. Then the dog found it. Talk about Disaster Preparation! I heard the chewing sound and rushed into action, rescued the unit, and decided it was salvageable.

The LifeStraw is a plastic tube 31cm long and 3cm in diameter. It has a Sieve end, and a mouthpiece end, both originally with a cap. The straw, as you might imagine is operated by placing the sieve end in your water source, and through some rather strong and vigorous sucking is needed to get water flowing, but when it does, you get a steady flow of water.

The way the LifeStraw works is that water that is drawn up through the straw and passes through hollow fibers that fill the tube. This bundled mesh of fibers filter particulates down to 0.2µm across, using only physical filtration methods and no chemical components to either run out, or leach into the drinkable water. The entire process is powered by the suction of the operator, and is reported to be able to filter up to 1000L (264gal) of water safely before clogging up.

Initial models of the filter did not remove Giardia lamblia, but this model is purported to remove a minimum of 99.9% of waterborne protozoan parasites including giardia and cryptosporidium. It is also touted as Removes up to 99.99999% of waterborne bacteria. It as previously stated also reduces turbidity by filtering particles of approx 0.2 microns which significantly improves the quality of water,

You can see the sieve end here, which keeps macro-particles from entering the straw, and for better or worse, after some dog-chewing, this end cap had popped off, exposing the internal fibers in their mesh packing sleeve.

The LifeStraw
did take some practice and perseverance to get going, but when it did, I managed to get some interesting results. I didn't want to take too many risks with my dog-chewed example, (giardia infection will ruin your whole day) so I opted for a more pedestrian testing regime. I chose to filter my fruit-concentrate cordial instead. I found that whilst still coloured, and sweet, the water I drew off certainly did cut the pulp and particles that were suspended, and I managed to drink the whole glass, with some effort. I expect that from a free floating and particulate light source, like a free flowing stream, you'd get swifter hydration. You can de-crud the filter by blowing back through it, expelling the contained water, and self-washing to some extent.

To recover and reseal the unit post-dog gnawing, I wrapped it in a cris-cross of tape, to ensure the seals and tube are air-tight. I think i will try to secure myself a new one, (which due to their awesome business model, then benefits kids in impoverished places) just because having a fully-working one is better preparation than relying on my already weathered and dinged one.

Home Front: Mass transit

My daily commute takes me about 40 minutes, all up, and sees me at three train stations; my local station, a major junction station and a subway station. I'm ten stations out in the suburbs, so when I am in my way in, or getting home, the crowds have thinned considerably, but in the city, and at the junction station, there can be considerable crowds. Most of the time this isn't an issue, even at peak hour, as the trains are quite frequent and the stations laid out reasonably well.

They are, however, a nexus for people, all moving about, for the most part studiously ignoring everyone and everything. They feed into the choke-points and bottlenecks and I can only assume are unconcerned and oblivious.



When there are delays, usually for technical reasons (not pointing at the rail service provider, or the people stealing copper from signal boxes or anything), but also for environmental reasons (heat buckles the rails on occasion in summer, for example), or even safety reasons (sick passengers, people on the track), these crowds swell tremendously. Nothing new here. Station staff, roaming inspectors, even occasional Protective Services officer teams bolster incidental security, public order and safety.

However, I see this in terms of crowd density, choke points, exit placements and the potential for harm. Growing up in Thatcher-era UK, I am familiar with the specter of domestic terrorism. I see throngs of crowds on underground escalators and waiting at the platform in terms of potential casualty numbers, not to mention disease vectors.

Being stuck on an escalator, or at the bottom of one, waiting my turn on a regular 9-5 day, when everyone is polite and civil is one thing, add panic and strife, another beast entirely. I can usually just get on with my daily commute, without dwelling on it, but other times, I see and triage the risks.

What can we do to mitigate these potential risks? In regular life, we can out trust in the design and emergency response planning that the designers and operators have in place.

We have large, clear-sided waste bins in some train stations, to mitigate them as easy hiding spots for explosive devices, ubiquitous exit signage and fire prevention systems. All good ideas, however, in the event of panic, in a packed station, they may be difficult to operate or ineffective.

Too many people, too many choke points and environmental hazards.
I have similar concerns whilst on board. In regular circumstance, even the mundane issues or patient illness, technical issues, even incidental accidents are all things I have faith in the policy and procedures the operators have in place. It's in the instances of extraordinary events that I am given pause. Catastrophic power loss, or physical infrastructure failure. Major accidents or environmental disaster, or again, communicable disease come to mind. Standing room only, shoulder to shoulder, in a metal plastic and glass tube moving at 80kph. What can I do? What can anyone do?

Situational awareness is a great buzzword. I'm often engrossed in an iDevice, or a book, but I try remember to pause, look around me, watch the movements, postures and demeanours around me. I try to keep my earbuds turned down low, so I can still hear ambient noises and announcements, as well as conversations around me. I maintain control of my pack, full of needfuls and a variety of resources.I ensure my lights are charged, my kits are stocked and my head is in a good space.


[edit-update]
Power has been lost in Melbourne's City Loop, leaving passengers stuck for up to 20 minutes.

Home Front: Pervasive mentality

I know I spend a lot of time talking about gear. Packs, gadgets, clothes, pointy things, and this is a really important part of the message I like to get out there to you all, but obviously that's not all that it is about. Having the right gear is only part of being "Equipped".

For those of a gaming bent, you'll already be familiar with the idea of "stored" vs "equipped" gear and items. Having the right goodie is totally different to having it to hand.

Take this pile of loot: All on me, all day long, more or less.

Great, but what about the bag you left in your car? where IS your car, how do you get to it, and once there, how do you get away from a crisis?

I tend to take a photo of the bay my car is in, so its on my phone in the event I can't find it, or need to relay that information along.

That kind of thinking, which my friends at Oscar Delta would refer to as "Disruptive Thinking", and I am all for it. Know your exits, and as Gen Mattis, USMC (ret.) was once quoted as saying "Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet"

Harsh, perhaps, but certainly through provoking.

I live in a very permissive environment. I can for the most part, go where I want, when I want. There are some places that I can go, and things I can do that I might not be supposed to, that I am able to, without dire consequences. I'm lucky. I also know that that might change. Access might be blocked, briefly, or permanently, through cataclysm, legislation or hostility.

The best I can do, is to try to be ready. to be mentally prepared, and aware. To be trained, and tested. For me, that also includes passing this mentality on to those around me, even very subtly. Be safe, be aware, out there. 

Review: AquaYak - Aqua II tandem kayak

A little while ago, I showed you all the AquaYak Snapper-Pro, that was loaned to me by the good folks at AquaYak Kayaks. A couple of months ago, I saw that there was a sale going on at AquaYak, and we took the plunge (so to speak) and went out to check out the showroom. It was the tandem's that had caught my eye, both for load-hauling, but also for family-moving purposes. We settled on a Aqua II tandem, in their Granite Spa colour, with a full load of accessories.

Tactical Baby promptly claimed is as "MY BOAT"

The kayak is a direct extension from the Snapper Pro, just bigger.

It features the same scupper hole and circular storage hatch system as the Snapper Pro, giving self-draining capacity to each of the two, deeply molded seats which as well as adding stability, and having their own mounting points for the padded fabric comfort seats, also feature the molded foot rests, drink holding wells (between the thighs) and anchor point for lashing dummy-cords (between the calves).

The central storage hatches had bags fitted, so your personal items don't get lost in the hull-void.

Fore and aft hatches, are the main structural difference between the Snapper Pro and the Aqua II. These hatches are held in place with a clever shock-cord mechanism, and can be unstrapped and opened with minimal effort, without being a loose or an accidental release risk. These open directly into the hull-space, and afford a very spacious cargo storage area, if you first consider the width of the openings. Stuffable packs and items will work well, but larger items might need to ride on top.

I found that I made use of the Grab Lines, which are mounted by brackets running all around the hull, for both maneuvering the kayak about on the land, as well as for giving Tactical Baby and Triceratops Girl places to hold onto when they were riding with us. As part of our deal, we bought a family's worth of life-vests including a red and black and  coyote/OD Stormrider YAK PFD for the adults as well as lurid red and yellow kid and toddler sized ones (which I will cover later). I also got several 10L dry-bags to go in the hull, and scupper plugs, to reduce incidental water splashes. 

You can get an idea of the depth and size of the two fore and aft hatches with this shot of my arm, along with the padded seal that makes up the inside of those hatches.

The same propriety 'alkatuff polyethylene' material, which holds a UV certification for maritime plastics, is used to make up all the AquaYak hulls, and whilst I have noted that my dragging, and beaching has scored the keel and sides of the hull, its all cosmetic, and a very tough, resilient material. 



At 3.8m (12.5") long and 0.9m (just under 3") wide at the beam, and weighing in at 30kg, it is quite a bit larger than the Snapper Pro, and harder to man-handle when out of the water.

At 30kg it is not all that to lift, but the size of it makes it awkward. The two sizable heavy-duty handles at the bow and stern make for easy lifting and hauling, even when fully laden with safety gear, seats, paddles and even the occasional squealing child. I've dragged it up a grassy hill by looping some webbing through the front handle. Wheels might well be in order (and AquaYak offer them)

In the water, It handles really well, thanks in part to having two sets of paddlers but is very operable with only one, even being quite maneuverable when solo.

We've it out on The Bay a number of times, and whilst its bulk means loading it onto and off my vehicle can be a pain, once its in the water , it is a lot of fun.

With a stated carrying capacity of 200kg, even with two adults, and two kids riding, unencumbered by gear, we've ridden very high in the water, and have had little trouble staying course, and upright, even on our first trips, are probably largely due tot he great design, including this tri-keel, which helps with tracking and stability, even in the moderate swells we've encountered.

I feel that if we needed to get off-shore, as simply as possible, this is a real option for us, both is speed, and limited cost. Get it on the vehicle, get to the beach, onto the water, and away ... Load it up with MALICE 2 pack, a Platatac Light Field Pack, and supplies in Dead People Jars, we could have quite the getaway. 


We put the kids in their Mudlarks All-In-One suits, to keep them warm and dry, with the PVD vests over the top, and went for a paddle one sunny spring afternoon, having been visiting with friends.

You can see that there is quite a bit of room the in the kayak, and we have found that the kids can site between our knees as we paddle, but that space could just as easily be full of packs and supplies. This is the saem beach as I reviewed the Snapper Pro, with a high grassy hill from the carpark to the beach. The weight of the fully laden kayak, over grass, down a hill was no issue at all. It even maneuvered well.

Once down at the waters edge, it was a simple matter to alight and shove off.

You can see here how high on the water we were, and whilst heading right into waves gave us some spray, we were a long way off ever taking water over the side and into the cockpit. I think we could have laden the hull with a lot more kit, and still have been positively buoyant and dry.

All in all, I am really pleased with this acquisition, and plan to spend a bunch of time on The Bay over the summer, as well as trips to local lakes and rivers.

I heard recently that AquaYak are going to stock a Windpaddle sail for their kayaks, and that is a great idea...

Home Front: Atamai Eco-Village

 An old friend of mine dropped me a message, from his side of The Ditch to remind me that his home would make an excellent example of Apocalypse Equipped living. He is one of the members and developers of the Resilient Community at Atamai Village.


I, like my Viking ancestors, have pillaged their website and Facebook page to gather all the content below,  so all credit to the creators and writers.

What I liked most of all about this whole idea was the planning and conscious decisions made in its development. I think these folks have put a lot of time and effort into not only being self-sufficient, not only for food and resources, but also in the maintenance, development and management of their site.

Craig assures me that being a hard worker, in the event of zombies, all i need do is fight my way over the Tasman, baby on my back, and i'll be welcome. If it were not for the entanglements of lovers and children in Melbourne, he'd have already been giving me the hard-sell to move over. I'd be tempted too ....

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A Permaculture Designed New Zealand Eco-Village

Located within biking distance to Motueka, a small town in the northern part of New Zealand’s South Island, the village’s land provides attractive and comfortable housing sites of mixed sizes for 50+ families.
Details on sections for sale now, can be found here. You can contact us via our website form.
A village is a settlement where people move from the privacy and separateness of their individual homes and families to their daily exchanges with others – all within the village and its environs. These are exchanges for basic needs such as food and other goods, social exchanges of support and mutual interest, cultural exchanges for fun and enjoyment, exchanges where projects are planned and carried out with others, a place where goods and services are exchanged to the benefit of both parties.
Village life is filled with opportunities for exchanges with a deeper texture, where the depth and breadth of relationships is enriching at many levels; where the joys and tribulations of a full life are felt and shared. Village life involves a sense of place and connectedness – to the land and the people – where relationships to both are rich and mutually sustaining.


A village operates on a human scale

• where people know the land and each other
• where that knowledge translates into caring and support for both
• where people pay attention to the local because they depend on it for their well-being
• where there is a connection to the broader world, but where that connection is based on fair exchange rather than dependency.

Physical Infrastructure

Common Resources

A key feature of most traditional villages is land owned and managed collectively. This feature has been incorporated into the Atamai design. Most of the land already developed, or that remains to be developed, will be part of the Commons Resource that the developer transfers to Atamai Village Council (the body that owns and governs the commons resources). The Commons Land already consists of approximately 10 ha and approximately 25 ha will come into the Commons with the second stage of development.
This common land is a critical feature of Atamai's food production and more. Such lands under community control can be used to generate income for the village by renting or leasing parcels of land or specific rights (e.g. grazing) over parcels of land to villagers or other parties. Exactly how these commons resources will be used will be determined by villagers rather than the developer.
The common resources are owned collectively by all villagers.

Permaculture Features

Atamai Village is designed on permaculture principles. All freehold titles have been chosen to ensure a favourable solar aspect and enough space for at least a vegetable garden and orchard areas. Some sites are suitable for raising livestock of various sorts. Wind and water features have also been taken into account, and the entire site is adjacent to a forestry block which is being transformed into a sustainable forestry operation.
Permaculture principles are also being used to develop all Commons land to be owned and managed by Atamai Village Council.
These permaculture features are one component of a secure food supply, by optimizing the availability of productive land, and where appropriate, creating microclimates for special purpose growing.

Access and cycle ways

A large portion of Atamai Village will be car free, with access and cycle ways designed to connect various parts of the Village. All access and cycle ways will have a grade of no more than 1 in 10 to ensure ease of access by walking or cycling. When necessary, small electric vehicles can be used to move goods or people. All access ways will also be large enough to accommodate emergency vehicles.
These features will reduce our reliance on fossil fuel transport, and facilitate ease of movement when energy descent becomes more prominent. They will also make Village areas safer and more accommodating to people-scale activities, thus facilitating social interaction and a sense of community.

Building Design Guide

An extensive Building Design Guide has been prepared to describe the standards for all buildings within the village. This document addresses such issues as passive solar house designs, use of non-toxic, sustainably sourced local materials, on-site energy production, waste handling requirements, and related items.

Building Covenant     

We believe these design features are so important that a covenant is placed on each title that ensures the goals of sustainable buildings will forever occur on each dwelling site. So you can be sure that village buildings will follow these guidelines, and enjoy their long term benefits – an important part of a resilient community. 
These standards ensure that buildings will be comfortable and inexpensive to operate on an on-going basis, have a low ecological footprint, and be safe to live in. The first home built according to these guidelines is now in place.                          

Clean Land Covenant

All land within the village will be covenanted to ensure that nothing will be done to the land that would prevent that parcel of land from being BioGro Certified. This same guideline applies to both individual freehold titles and all Commons land. The guideline does not require that each land parcel become BioGro certified, but only that nothing is done to it that would prevent such certification.
Atamai and related parties also have control over almost the entire catchment area for Village lands.
These features ensure that no pesticides or other toxic materials will be used on any of the lands under village control, providing a safe and healthy environment for growing food and enjoying our natural surroundings. These features will also enhance the biodiversity potential for both fauna and flora throughout the village lands.

Water Security

One of the standards in the Building Design Guide specifies two 24,000 l water tanks for each dwelling and a roof-top collection system for domestic and garden use. Separate tanks for fire protection elevated about dwelling height are also part of the plan, and some are already in place. In addition, there are several ponds now constructed, and more to come, as well as several areas where super-wells are options should they be needed. With the local annual rainfall of approximate 1000 mm, these measures should provide adequate water security for villagers.
The rainwater collection, ponds and wells collectively provide a resilient water system to meet village needs for the foreseeable future; these measures take into account the predicted changes based on altered rain patterns induced by climate change. The ponds also provide opportunities for recreation and aesthetic enjoyment.

Food Security

Each title provides areas for a veggie garden and some food bearing trees. Some sites are also suitable for raising livestock. Options are also available to use part of the Commons for livestock or additional food production. A community orchard was established in 2007 which is now coming into production. The orchard area, along with land for community gardens, has already been transferred from the developer to Atamai Village Council. To supplement these village food producing areas an adjacent 24 ha farm operation is being established by one of the first villagers, with the objective of supplying bulk and specialty crops for the village and beyond.

Topsoil from each site has been carefully removed during excavation and then reapplied to the site. None of the land was previously used for industrial type agriculture (e.g. tobacco, etc).
The water features of the village layout are another important resource for food production.
These soil and water features are supplemented by the region’s record high sunshine levels to provide ample opportunity for each villager to produce their own organic and locally sourced food, or purchase it from another villager. Having these vital resources under direct village control (individually or collectively) provide a degree of resilience hard to match elsewhere.

Dealing with Waste

The building design standards also include a provision for each building to deal with its own waste on site. Recommended solutions include various grey water drainage systems and composting toilets. There are various versions of both to match the circumstances of each household.
Handling human waste in this fashion avoids contaminating other areas and also provides a valuable resource for the orchards.

Social Infrastructure

In addition to being responsible for the physical infrastructure of the village, the developer has also provided for some basic social infrastructure components to support village activities.

Atamai Village Council

The developer established Atamai Village Council as an Incorporated Society to own and manage the village common resources. This entity provides a basic legal structure for ownership of common resources and a means of managing them. It has been operating since 2010.

Consensus Decision Making Covenant

Village life is about more than just sharing the physical assets of the Commons - it covers all facets of human interactions and therefore has some predictable features. Owning and managing the Commons Resources will require a decision process that will benefit from both wisdom and broad support. Consequently, a Consensus Decision Making Process is included as one of the key covenants placed on each freehold title. All villagers are expected to participate in training regarding this process and to support its use in making decisions as part of Atamai Village Council.
Atamai Village Council has been functioning using this model since 2010.

Conflict Transformation Covenant

A second social covenant that goes on each freehold title deals with Conflict Transformation. It is inevitable that conflicts will arise in any collective human endeavour so it is best to have agreement on a constructive way of dealing with them when they do. This covenant deals with villagers training in conflict transformation techniques and committing to using these approaches when conflict occurs. Supportive mediation is part of this process if required so the parties in conflict have access to assistance should it be needed.
These two covenants on each title (the Consensus Decision Making and Conflict Transformation) provide two components of a social infrastructure for the village to operate successfully over the long term. These features allow for new villagers to receive training in the use of these processes and participate in village life from their earliest involvement with the village. Naturally, there is a process for modifying these processes as we gain experience with them and find ways of making them better – something all villagers can contribute to.

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So, there you have it.

A real life, functional and active resilient community, working towards self sufficiency, ecologically sound and sustainable practices, and the social engineering required to maintain it.

I applaud them all, and am quietly envious of the opportunities and challenges it presents.  It also reminds me to bone-up on my "the GPS's are gone" navigation and boating skills...

Review: North Face pants

Welcome back, readers. I've been a bit slack recently whilst working hard, traveling and generally trying to be a more rounded person. Well, I've had enough of that and its time to get back to Apocalypse Blogging! I like to pack lightly, if I can, at least in regards to what I'll be wearing. SO I often look for clothes that will serve me over several different seasons in one day. Melbourne is like that, and I like being able to move from warm to chill, indoor to outdoor, with ease and still fit in wherever I go. I've been wearing cargo-pants for years now, and cargo-kilts to boot, but last Giftmas, my lovely partner got me a set of these, which are smart looking and add a touch of slacks to my otherwise khaki wardrobe. Here they are on me, the North Face Burke pants in "NEW TAUPE" after a week-long trip to New Zealand for work, and wrangling Triceratops Girl and Tactical Baby on my return. The best parts of these pants are their ease of wearing, and how they handle a variety of use and still coming up looking snappy. I keep my pants up here with my 215Gear Riggers Belt which made it though airport security without having to come off even once, WINNING! The only drawback is the belt loops being a little narrow, I had to detach the male end of the Cobra buckle to feed it through.


So, what can I tell you about the pants? They are made of a 92% Nylon, 8% Elastine blend, which is supple, abrasion-resistant with very good stretching, whilst not feeling like wearing baggy lycra. A cool thing about the fabric is that is has been treated with a Durable water repellent (DWR) finish which I found was able to not only shed the light drizzle and fog I encountered in Wellington, but dried really swiftly when it did become damp. It also stays fairly clean, even after several crammed-into-economy-seat airplane meals and a weeks wear, and baby-dribblings. There are several pockets, which I always find very handy. One great feature of these, are the zippers that are fitted, which are reverse-coil zipped for smooth opening and were cleverly placed so that the zipper head tcked under a hood, out of the way, and snag free. The two front pockets, two at the back and one at the leg feature that zipper closure, and there is a second front of leg, unzippered pocket as well.

I really like being able to stow my needfuls, and have them on-hand when I need them, or just to free up my hands for a moment whilst I breach containment, make up a baby bottle, or crawl under a desk to find loose cabling. I wanted to show you the insides of these pants too. The waist band is Brushed tricot, and is both smooth, soft and grippy, an unusual combination, sure, but helped to keep my shirts tucked in, as well as feeling pretty good on the skin when going topless. You can also see the stitching, which was solid all the way though, and also isn't rough on the skin after prolonged wear. The waist size worked well for me, and was true-to-measure, I tend to get a size or so too wide, and belt up, in order to get legs long enough. The fit around the legs was great, and the range of motion, and their "ride" was really good too. The fabric clung to me knees a bit when clambering over obstacles, but the stretch of the fabric stopped this from slowing me down much. The material is also very light, and surprisingly good at stopping the high winds I encountered in Wellington, crease resistant and roll up nicely to convert these pants into erstwhile shorts when the need arises. They also stayed wrinkle free, which was a super bonus. So, in summary, I can heartily recommend these pans for those who want the functionality of outdoorsy clothes, pockets and durability, but don't wish to look all "tacti-cool" at the office, lab or airport-security line.

Home Front: Airports

Location Location Location: Airports

Having been in a few recently, I have given some time to thinking about airports and how they may be utilized in the event of disaster. I've been in a lot of airports around the world, and spent many hours sitting and wandering around them. I've always paid attention to the areas that passengers can go, emergency exits, emergency services and even the shops that line the through fairs. The design of airports is presumably a well documented topic, but one I am unschooled in. I'll instead discuss only my observations and suppositions, rather than points of confirmed data.

So, bearing that in mind, here are some things that I've observed. Large metropolitan airports are large, high maintenance entities. They have many service dependent features, not the least is the human element. Airports y their very nature are hubs of transport and have a heavy throughput of traveling people, as well as those picking up and dropping off. They also have a fairly significant service population; shop attendants, booking and checkin staff, customs and immigration staff, luggage staff, aircraft maintenance crews, air traffic control, cleaners, local police, emergency response crews and administration staff. Being what they are, airports also have rather unique requirements. Large expanses of flat, clear land for runways. Areas free from flooding, stable ground, with security fences sufficient to stop wildlife and deter trespassers are all aspects of airport requirements.

Much like hospitals, airports would require a certain amount of redundancy in their systems; radar and signaling being two major ones, and the electricity to run them. The movie Die Hard2 gives us a look at what kind of situation an airport without comm, radar and power could find itself in whilst trying to operate "as usual". Just in this last trip severe weather shut down one major airport and another regional one, although that was more due to high winds and poor visibility, although I did hear that the regional airport was losing power intermittently. In the event of widespread disaster, flights in or out of airports may be disrupted simply by the conditions on the ground, because whilst there are many technologies available to assist in landing under adverse conditions it may come to pass that landing or taking off may be too dangerous for the aircraft, pilots or passengers. Much like racetracks, runways need to be left clear of obstructions and have an unbroken surface.

Apart from the practicalities of the landing and taking off of aircraft, the terminal buildings themselves, and all adjoining and associated buildings, like "the tower", hangars, fuel depots and the like are all highly secured facilities due to the sensitive nature of air travel safety and security. Again, security fences, locked doors and an active security force ensure that the public don't have access to these areas.

Where am I going with all of this? Well, here goes. Airports are hubs of traffic, they may well constitute "a way out" or at the very least "the way home" in the event of a disaster. It seems likely that many people will try to get to them in order to do that, and anyone who has seen what people are like when a single flight is cancelled can imagine what an airport full of cancelled flights must look like. Multiply that by people who don't have bookings, are desperate and think how the very regulated air travel system would cope. Not well I expect. Airports are designed to facilitate the movement of people, but in an orderly and systematic fashion.

Would they be a good place to go in the event of a disaster? I don't think so, unless it's to escape widespread fires or other natural disasters where wide, flat, empty land is valuable. Maybe later on, after the initial wave of panic and chaos. As I've said, they have lots of resources, redundant infrastructure and are designed with security in mind.