Hopefully
you won't get sick this cold and flu season, but you should be prepared
for that eventuality nonetheless. Here's some things you can do to
prepare for that possibility:
Get a flu shot.
Add some extra money to your emergency fund (especially if you don't get paid sick leave).
Put together a "sick kit". Include a thermometer, cough drops,
Thera Flu, Tylenol, Sudafed, a box of Kleenex, Zinc lozenges, a bottle
of Vitamin C, acidophilous tablets, Carmex, Vicks Vapo-rub, and some
echinacea,
Put together a small stock of food that you would want to eat and
drink if you get sick: canned soup, Pedialite, Gatoraid, teabags, etc.
Have a small stock of these germ-buster products: nitrile gloves, face masks, Clorox wipes.
If you have children add children's pain reliever/fever reducer to
your sick kit. Also keep on hand coloring books and crayons as well as
other activities that children can do while they are recuperating.
Know that the best way to treat your average cold or flu is to rest
quietly and sleep as much as possible. Don't forget to stay hydrated
which is also very curative.
If you get sick and have a chronic illness which requires daily
medication, be sure to ask your doctor what to do in the event that you
either vomit up your medication or forget to take it. Ditto if you are
taking birth control pills.
Don't automatically reach for an antibiotic if you become ill. Many
of these seasonal illnesses are caused by viruses not bacteria so an
antibiotic won't help (unless you have strep throat which is a bacterial
infection). Overusing antibiotics encourages antibiotic-resistant
infections and illnesses.
For a severe case of the flu which causes a very high fever,
dehydration, severe dizziness, shortness of breath, or other
life-threatening symptoms, don't hesitate to call 911 or go to the
emergency room.
A
Faraday Cage is a simple container that by its design, shelters
sensitive electronic devices from EMP Pulses (Electromagnetic Pulse) and
Solar CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) pulses or emissions that can damage
electronic circuitry.
At
least that’s what it’s supposed to do! I’ve researched this topic for a
while now and there are a lot of theories about the Faraday Cage but no
tests using an actual nuke since the 1960’s but we were not electronic
back then. So, there is much speculation and no hard and tested fact
about what would happen with today’s electronic gizmo’s, electronic auto
ignitions and our power grid using a real EMP nuke. However, the basic
science is there and I’ll go with that rather than stick my head in the
sand and hope for the best, so building a cage is worth the effort!
Inside
the ‘Cage’ is where you will store your electronic devices like extra
computers, cell phones, two-way hand held radios, ham radio, CB or
regular am/fm shortwave radios, small flat panel TV, battery chargers,
sensitive auto ignition parts or virtually any device the uses delicate
electronic circuitry to operate.
The
‘Cage’ is simply a container sometimes made of metal wire mesh covering
on all sides from the size of a shoe box to a 55 gallon metal barrel
with metal lid.
Interior Insulating:
The
inside of the cage must be electrically insulated so the electronic
devices stored inside can not touch any of the inside metal surfaces
otherwise an arc can jump to that device. Also the outside of the ‘Cage’
itself must be insulated from touching any surface that will ground it
to earth. This includes, direct contact with earth, gravel, concrete
floors or wire shelving that touches a concrete floor.
Building My Faraday Cage:
I
used a 5 gallon steel bucket with a removable lid and a rim clamp and a
5 gallon plastic bucket that will line the metal bucket to act as an
insulator.
I also used a lawn mower battery grounding strap to be sure there is electrical continuity between the lid and bucket.
As you can see here the plastic bucket almost perfectly fits inside the metal bucket.
I cut the upper rims off the plastic bucket
The
plastic bucket without the rims almost fits all the way to the bottom
of the metal bucket but not quite. The outside diameter was just a touch
to large to fit perfectly.
I
needed to reduce the plastic buckets diameter by a very small amount.
The way I did that was to make a single cut down one side of the plastic
bucket.
Now
with the cut down the side of the plastic bucket I can overlap the
excess plastic to fit all the way to the bottom of the metal bucket and
have the electrical insulation needed to keep the electronics stored
inside from touching the metal bucket walls. Simple and quick!
I ground off the paint where I will attach the battery grounding strap.
The attached grounding strap.
A quick coat of spray paint to prevent corroding of the connections.
Some of the electronics I store in the Faraday cage. Hand held radios, a “AA” NiCad battery charger and a portable CB radio.
Some more electronics, another NiCad battery charger and my 12 volt auto battery charger.
And
the total of the electronics, 2 hand held radios, a hand held CB radio,
2 “AA” battery chargers, a 12 volt car battery charger and all my “AA”
NiCad rechargeable batteries.
All
I have to do now is put the lid on and my communications and
electronics should be protected from EMP and CME pulses, I hope!
Summary:
The
5 gallon bucket has the advantage of fitting in the bucket storage
shelving units so it takes no special storage requirements, just
insulate it from the wire shelving.
Insulate the bucket or barrel from touching the ground including concrete.
A 55 gallon drum, if you have room for it, can easily hold all your sensitive electronics.
That
embarrassing scourge of elementary schools everywhere, head lice are
becoming more and more resistant to chemical means of getting rid of
them. The expense of buying all the products can be a real financial
hit, once you add in washing all your clothes in bleach, spraying the
bedding and carpet with special spray and treating your child twice with
a toxic remedy purchased from the drug store.
Not only is it expensive, chemically toxic and time-consuming, but
there may come a day when the remedy for getting rid of lice is not as
close as your nearest pharmacy.
I learned the hard way about how to get rid of head lice when a
plague of them swept through my daughter’s school. It was so bad that
the school began performing twice-weekly head checks and sending
children home with a note that they could not return until their heads
were inspected and found to be free of lice and nits. Seven year old
girls being seven year old girls, with the hugging and hat sharing and
whispering, it wasn’t long before my youngest was sent home with head
lice.
I dutifully went out and purchased the toxic chemicals from my
pharmacy and proceeded to treat my daughter and my house as per the
directions….fast forward to the emergency room where the quickly
washed-off chemical had caused a horrible burning rash and allergic
reaction on her delicate scalp. Coconut Oil Method: It
was then that I learned about more natural alternatives of ridding a
head of lice. One being, coconut oil. Coating the head in a thick coat
of coconut oil will suffocate the lice and kill them. An added benefit
of this method is it naturally conditions and softens your hair in the
process. Simply, add a generous amount of coconut oil to dry hair and
place a plastic bag or shower cap over hair and allow it to penetrate
hair for 30-45 minutes. Wash hair well to remove oils. The Wet Comb Method:
Once you have used the coconut oil to kill
the lice, then you must pick the dead lice and remove the eggs from the
hair. The wet-combing method of removing head lice is one of the best
methods to use for this process. It is virtually These are excellent
tools to add to your home first aid kit, and even your bug-out bag in
case you end up in a shelter with others.free of cost, completely free
of chemicals and can be done by anyone, anywhere, anytime (assuming you
have access to water). The one tool I’d recommend purchasing is a lice
comb with wavy, tightly-placed metal teeth (called a cootie comb at our
house).
These
are excellent tools to add to your home first aid kit, and even your
bug-out bag in case you end up in a shelter with others.
You can wet comb with just water, but if you have conditioner, the
process goes a little faster and is more effective. Coating the hair
with Vaseline is another remedy you can use to remove lice. Either using
condition or Vaseline makes the hair slippery so that the louse and
eggs cannot hold onto the hair. Make sure the person being combed has
something to entertain/distract them – this process can be very
time-consuming – up to 2 hours for the initial combing. You will gain
an entirely new appreciation for the word “nitpicker”.
Gather your supplies:
lice comb
conditioner or vaseline
wide-toothed comb
tweezers
tissues
bowl of hot water
hair clips
infested head
We generally start with a clean head – this is optional but a bit
more pleasant, if you can call picking little parasitic bugs off of a
person’s scalp “pleasant”.
Apply conditioner or Vaseline heavily to hair and comb it through with a regular wide toothed comb.
Part the hair off into manageable sections and pin out of your way using the hair clips
Take the first section of hair. Using the lice comb, separate an
even smaller section of the hair. Place the teeth of the comb as close
to the scalp as possible and pull it through the tiny strand of hair.
Examine the comb – there may be live lice or nits on the comb. After
each pass through the hair, you need to wipe it with a tissue and rinse
it in the hot water. Lice move slowly, so you can use the same tissue
for numerous passes of the comb. Flushing the tissues is the best way to
dispose of the lice.
Go through the person’s head, mini-section by mini-section, combing, wiping and rinsing.
Sometimes you will see a bug that the comb missed – use your tweezers to grab it and put it in the tissue to be disposed of.
After completing a section, use a hair clip to clip it out of the way and move on to the next section.
The most common places for lice to congregate are the nape of the
neck and behind the ears – pay special attention when you are combing
there.
Once you have finished combing all the sections take out the clips
and run through the entire head of hair with the lice comb, wiping and
rinsing after each pass.
Have the person wash his or her hair to remove the conditioner.
Quickly go over the head again with the comb – if you find more than
a couple of nits or bugs, you need to start the entire process over and
resection and comb the entire head thoroughly again.
You will need to repeat this process once or twice per day for the
next 10 days. It takes a louse egg 10 days to hatch and if you miss one,
since they breed quickly, you could be starting at square one again.
After the initial combing, the subsequent combings generally only
take a fraction of the time. In the modern world, we are lucky enough to
be able to run our linens through a sanitizing cycle in the washing
machine and throw our kids’ stuffed animals in the deep freeze to get
rid of head lice.
In an off-grid world, the key to getting rid of lice in your home is to know what lice need to live. Things that are lethal to lice:
Being deprived of a host for more than 4 days
Temperatures above 125 degrees Fahrenheit sustained for more than 20 minutes
Temperatures that are below freezing for more than 24 hours
Boiling water (in the case of brushes and combs, etc.)
Lack of oxygen for more than 24 hours (sealing things in plastic)
Lice are passed from person to person, not animal to person to animal
Some health departments recommend the use of products like Lysol on
household upholstery, while other health departments suggest that
Lysol-type sprays are ineffective on lice.
Dealing with head lice is a lot of work. Help to prevent the transmission of head lice by teaching your kids to:
Avoid head to head contact
Avoid sharing hats, hair barrettes or scarves
Put mousse or gel in her hair every single day and top it with hairspray. Lice hate that stuff and stay away.
Add tea tree oil to shampoos and conditioners. Again, they dislike the smell.
Make a spray bottle of tea tree oil and water and use this on your brushes and combs
Keep hair in braids (best) or ponytails (second best)
Keep hair covered with a bandana, hat or scarf, especially if they or a family member has lice.
My
love affair with paracord continues. Not only is it strong and useful
for a myriad of tasks, it is colorful and fun to work with while making
bracelets, key fobs, belts and other goodies.
Enter paracord into your search engine and you will be treated to a
ton of stuff – what is it, how is it use, where to buy it and more. It
seems like everyone has a stake in the paracord love-fest. What Exactly is Paracord? Here on Backdoor Survival, I first wrote about paracord in May 2012 in the article Paracord for Function and Fashion. I described paracord this way:
Paracord
is a lightweight nylon rope that was originally used in the suspension
lines of US parachutes during World War II. Soldiers, however, found
that this miracle rope was useful for far more than their paratrooper
missions. In the ensuing years, both the military and civilians alike
have found hundreds if not thousands of uses for paracord.
It is available by length, typically 50 to 100 feet (or more) and in a
variety of colors. It is also available is large quantities by the
spool. Many hikers and outdoor sports enthusiasts make or purchase
“survival bracelets” made of several feet of paracord which is woven
into a compact bracelets that can be unraveled in the field.
By the way, you will often see paracord referred to as Paracord 550
means that it has a breaking strength of 550 pounds or more. Now that is
strong!
Paracord can be used for many purposes such as securing things,
removing heavy debris and fixed objects, strapping things together, as a
harness to escape a burning building, controlling bleeding as a
tourniquet, and the list goes on. You can even unravel the cord and use
the individual strands as a fishing line or as thread to sew on a
button. Wonderful stuff.
I touched upon a number of uses in my description above but that was
merely a sampling. There is more – a lot more. What follows are 44
different uses of paracord for survival purposes. 44 Ways to Use Paracord for Survival
Secure a tent
Secure a tarp between trees
Hang tools from your belt
Hang tools from around your neck
Secure things to the outside of your backpack
Make a tourniquet
Secure a splint
Make a sling for your arm
Make an emergency belt to hold your pants up
Make emergency suspenders
Replace a broken bra strap (it happens)
Replace broken or missing shoe laces
Repair a zipper pull
Secure your boat or skiff to a tree
Make a tow line; double or triple up for extra strength
Create a makeshift lanyard
String a clothesline
Hang something up off the ground
Rig a pulley system
Make traps and snares
Replace damaged or missing draw strings in packs, bags and sweat pants
Keep rolled up items secure
Create a neckerchief slide
Tie objects together for easier transport
Make a rope
Make a hammock
Make a sack for carrying groceries or gear
Bundle stuff together
Tie tall garden vegetable plants to stakes
Make a pet leash
Make a pet collar
Secure a garbage-bag rain poncho around your body to keep you dry
Hang food in trees to keep the bears away
Tie stuff down so it will not blow away in a storm
Create a trip wire
Create makeshift hand cuffs
Tie bad guys or intruders to a tree or chair
Tie people together on a trail so that they keep together
Identify members of a group using different colored armbands or bracelets
Use as sewing thread (inner threads)
Use as fishing line (inner threads)
Emergency dental floss (inner threads)
Emergency suture material (inner threads) when there is nothing else available
Make arts and crafts to stave off boredom
The Final Word
Paracord is awesome stuff. I happen to like all of the various
colors and have a number of personal favorites. You might even say I
have become a collector. You can purchase paracord at most outdoor
stores as well as online, most notably Camping Survival
(a Backdoor Survival sponsor) and Amazon (of course). Just keep in
mind that different colors are priced differently so if you are looking
for a bargain, consider various color options. Now if you are handy and want to make stuff, free instructions for paracord projects abound on the Web. Try Instructables for their set of Easy Paracord Projects. I know that I plan on making some key fobs using their Easy Paracord Key Fob instructions. (Did I mention that these instructions were free?)
Whatever you decide, be sure to pick up some paracord for your survival kit, your car and you home. You are gonna love it! Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation! Gaye
from Modern Survival Blog - surviving hard timesby Ken (ModernSurvivalBlog)
A survival reminder for when facing a disaster, is to… STOP. STUDY THINK OBSERVE PREPARE
Stop when you realize that you have a problem or a
potential oncoming problem. Accept that you have (or will have) a
problem and are in trouble. Do not fool yourself into thinking that what
you are experiencing is not a problem, issue or obstacle. Study any information that you may have been given or have discovered. Think about what you need to do to survive. Think
about the consequences for NOT taking action. Use your brain. Consider,
envisage, surmise and understand the situation. Observe the area. Look for risk. Look for shelter
and safety if need be. Survail and inspect the space you are in, and the
resources available to you. Prepare your plan and implement it. Decide how you
are going to use your available resources. Do not delay. Remain calm.
Think clearly and acutely.
———————-
THE most important thing for survival is YOUR BRAIN. Use it.
———————-
Size and weight matter.
Whether your putting together a 72-hour Survival Pack that you can
sling over your shoulder or making a Every Day Carry Kit that you can
slide into a jacket pocket, it’s important to consider how easy the kit
will be to carry.
Consider Convenience
I can tell you from experience if it’s big and bulky, you’re survival
kit will get left behind more often than not. You’ll simply walk out
the door without it. “I’m only running to the store; I won’t be gone but
a few minutes,” you’ll say to yourself. Odds are, that’ll be when
you’ll need it. And a survival kit, no matter how well stocked, is
worthless if you don’t have it when the need arises.
Two factors that affect kit convenience: how heavy is it, and how bulky is it.
To curb unnecessary growth in both size and weight, it’s good to
carry items that can serve multiple purposes. The fewer items you have
to carry, the lighter your kit will be.
The Many Uses of a Coffee Can
That’s how a 1-pound coffee can can earn its way into your 72-hour
pack. Consider the following uses for this light-weight and versatile
survival instrument.
Purify water. As a metal container, the 1-pound
coffee can be filled with water and safely heated over a fire to kill
any water-borne pathogens that may be present.
Dig a hole. The rigidity of the container allows it
to be used to scrape the ground and even dig a hole in some soils. This
can be handy for finding food or water.
Carry fire. A small coal from your fire can be
placed inside the can along with some tinder and kindling and
transported to another campsite, saving matches or firesteel.
Cook stew. The natural wild edibles you may find in
a true survival situation may be as unappetizing as they are
nutritious. Combining your dried earthworms, grubs, and ants with more
palatable items like dandelions and chickweed will help soften the taste
and texture of your impromptu meal.
Melt snow. During the winter months, a coffee can
may be used to melt snow or ice over a fire. The warm liquid will help
provide much need heat to your body as well as lift your spirits.
Contain the kit. The coffee can itself can be used
as the container for the survival kit. You can pack quite a bit inside
the can, including a multi-tool, a trash bag, a fire steel, safety pins, some packages of oatmeal, cotton pads, a handkerchief, and some paracord to list but a few.
Table. The can may be turned upside down and the
bottom of the can will provide a nice flat and durable, albeit small,
work surface that you can use.
Make noise. Tapping on the bottom of the can with a
rock or the spine of your knife will produce a noise that can help
signal would-be rescues.
Carrying items. A can is, after all, a can. It can used to help carry small items along your journey as you survive in the wild.
With so many uses, and potentially many more, why not add a coffee can to your 72-hour pack or your get-home car kit? What uses have you found for a coffee can?
*
WINTERIZE YOUR HOME. INSULATE YOUR PIPES AND YOUR HOME, AND YOUR WATER
SOURCES. CLEAN AND SEAL AND REPAIR YOUR CHIMNEY PIPES AND FLUES. INSURE
YOUR HVAC VENTS AND SYSTEM'S ARE CLEAN IN GOOD REPAIR.
* WINTERIZE YOUR VEHICLE,GET SNOW TIRES AND NEW CHAINS.
* STORE UP AT LEAST 30 DAYS OF FOOD THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COOK.
* GET AT LEAST 5 CORDS OF WOOD PLUS WHAT YOU NORMALLY USE FOR YOUR WINTER USE, IF YOU HAVE A WOOD BURNING STOVE.
* TOP OFF YOUR PROPANE TANKS, THE BIG ONE AND THE SMALL ONES.
* GO THROUGH YOUR WINTER CLOTHES, MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE IN GOOD REPAIR, BUY EXTRA WOOL SOCKS AND WINTER UNDERWEAR IF NEEDED.
* GET YOUR ROOT CELLAR CLEANED OUT AND STOCKED.
* GET YOUR SOUP AND STEW RECIPES OUT AND READY TO USE.
* STOCK YOUR FREEZERS WITH GAME AND EXTRA MEAT.
* INSURE THAT YOUR ROOF IS REPAIRED.
* GET A SMALL SNOW BLOWER, AND SNOW SHOVELS.
* STOCK UP ON EXTRA FOOD FOR YOUR ANIMALS.
* TENT YOUR GARDENS WITH PLASTIC SHEETING.
* WINTERIZE YOUR GREENHOUSE.
*
WINTERIZE YOUR ANIMAL SHEDS, PENS, COOPS, ETC. INSULATE AND GET A SAFE
HEATING SYSTEM IN PLACE IF YOU LIVE IN AREA'S WHERE SUPER COLD WEATHER
IS A FACTOR.
* BUY EXTRA WOOL BLANKETS
* GET YOUR BOARD GAMES OUT AND READY FOR USE.
* HAVE LEAST $1000.00 EMERGENCY CASH ON HAND.
* GET OUT YOUR EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS.
* STOCK UP ON AT LEAST 30 DAYS OF NEEDED MEDICATIONS ON HAND.
* RESTOCK YOUR FIRST - AID KITS AND EMERGENCY KITS.
*
TRIM THE TREE'S AROUND YOUR HOME FOR ANY OVER HANGING BRANCHES THAT CAN
FREEZE AND FALL ON YOUR HOME OR PERSONS AROUND OR IN YOUR HOME.
Knives that sit on a drawer or box all shiny and
unused will require little care other than being stored in a dry location. Its
pretty different when a knife is used often, maybe daily, in contact with
humidity and going through the normal wear and tear any tool experiences.
There’s two facts about knives.
1)Knives have to be sharpened on regular basis
2)Knives rust when not protected with a thin layer of
oil.
Even if you maintain your knife well, in many cases a
bit of rust is unavoidable. Its not a big problem really. A bit of mineral oil
and some used sandpaper is all you need to clean it up. I show how its done in
this video.
Popout
1)Keep your knife razor sharp. A sharp knife is safer
to use.
2)WD40 and other tool oils are good for knives but
don’t use them on knives that will be used to prepare food. These are toxic and
will taint the food you use it on leaving a bad taste.
3)For knives that will be used to prepare food, you
can apply a thin layer of mineral oil or petroleum jelly for protection. Even
though you don’t want to eat this directly, they are non toxic and wont leave
an aftertaste in the knife. Wipe it dry with a tissue paper after applying it
to the blade.
4)While not ideal, vegetable oil can be used. For a
knife used for eating meat or used for barbeques, knife expert Abel Domenech says
the knife can simply be wiped clean with a paper napkin after use, leaving a
thin layer of meat fatty. While this isn’t ideal because it can eventually
leave stains on the steel, it does provide some protection from rust.
5)Don’t leave a knife stored long term in a leather
sheath, especially if wet or in locations of high humidity. Plastic sheaths are
preferable, but make sure they are dry too before leaving a knife in it long
term.
from Preparedness Pantry - Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness, Emergency Kits, Water Storageby Emergency Essentials
As
my family and I work toward building an emergency food supply, we’re
starting with a three-month supply of food we already like to eat
(especially the kids, who are notoriously picky eaters). After that, we
plan to work toward a year supply of food storage basics.In
the meantime, I thought I’d experiment with some long-term storage
items. The item I’m most interested in is wheat. It super versatile and
is a key ingredient in my favorite food—pizza. So, I obtained a small
amount of whole wheat kernels to experiment with.
There
I was with a about a pound of wheat and no idea what to do with it. I
don’t have a wheat grinder, so making bread was out of the question. I’m
not into wheatgrass. I was lost. Then I remembered a conversation I had
recently with Don Pectol, one of the owners who has been with Emergency
Essentials® since 1989 (see Don in our TV commercial here). He told me about the easiest way to incorporate wheat into one’s everyday diet. Here’s what he said to do:
1- Boil some water.
2- Pour the water into a thermos (leave some space).
3- Add ¼ cup of whole wheat kernels.
4- Close the thermos lid (tightly).
5- Leave it overnight (about 8-12 hours)
6- Drain water
7- Add hydrated wheat to any food item or eat alone (Don said it takes on the flavor of whatever you add it to).
I
tried this method of thermos cooking and it was amazing. The prep time
was about ten minutes, then I left it overnight (about ten hours). The
next morning, I had some nice hot cereal waiting for me. I added some
almond milk and stevia sweetener and it was delicious. My wife tried it
and liked it. The little ones are another story. My daughter, age seven
and our pickiest eater, refused to try the thermos-cooked wheat and I
know better than to push her. My son, age 3 and a less-picky eater,
tasted it and said, “Mmm,” then didn’t eat any more. Still, I’m going to
keep trying, adding it to other foods without telling the kids.
By
itself, the wheat has little taste, so it takes on the flavor of
whatever you add it to. This means I can add it to foods to boost
nutrition without my kids even noticing. Plus, it gets our family used
to eating wheat. Since I can prepare wheat without much effort or
energy, I can make it every day. I can even make it “on the trail,” only
using the amount cooking fuel needed to bring a few cups of water to a
boil. I could do the same thing in an emergency, which is a lot more
comforting than the thought of grinding wheat into flour on a rock. Ok, I
could use a hand-powered grain mill if I had one (which I don’t).
Still, who knew a thermos was a survival tool?
I
love our readers, always asking interesting questions. Lately, a
reader asked about making DIY waterproof matches. I know I have a few
boxes packed in my camping gear, I also know I have a lighter and a fire
steel. A gal likes to have her options.
I had never thought about DIYing the matches though, and it’s a GREAT idea.
Start with some Strike Anywhere Matches.
Set up a work space. You need someplace out of wind, well ventilated,
with a way to dry the matches. I saw one set up that used some double
sided tape to hold the matches while they dry. I saw another set up that
used corrugated cardboard set on edge, with a match in each hole.
Dip the matches, head first into some shellac. Only cover about half
the match. Let the matches dry, heads down, on the sticky tape.
Voila! When dry you have waterproof matches. The shellac is much
nicer than the wax coating some people recommend. That wax coating can
melt, it can crumble, it’s generally just a mess. Shellac avoids a lot
of that. Clear nail polish works similarly to the shellac, if you happen
to have that on hand.
Don’t forget to make some NO FAIL TINDER while you’re DIYing your fire kit.
Grab some dryer lint, add some flammable liquid to it, either some
wax or paraffin. Let it dry into little ball and then pack them SAFELY
into your emergency kit.
No need to spend crazy money on this, but do get it done, fire is too
important to ignore. Exposure will kill you every time, especially up
here in cold country. :-D - Calamity Jane
from Modern Survival Blog - surviving hard timesby Ken (ModernSurvivalBlog)
Mass casualties can result from a human stampede. A peaceful crowd
can quickly turn into a senseless panicked heaving mass in which
rational behavior by any single individual becomes nearly impossible.
What’s worse is that the stampede can be triggered while there is no
actual danger. Under certain situations, a crowd that has grown to a big
and tight enough size and density reaches a critical state at which
the slightest twitch is sufficient to send it into a stampede.
Panicked crowds move fast and release an incredible amount of energy,
usually compared to the energy generated by a running train: once a
crowd gets moving it is very hard to stop, and the flow of people could
literally sweep you off your feet.
It is interesting to note that the force of only 6 or 7 people
pushing in the same direction can generate up to 1000 lbs of force –
enough to bend steel railings and topple brick walls. During a deadly
stampede, people can even die standing up… people die when pressure is
applied to their bodies in a front to back direction, causing them not
to be able to breath. When pressure is applied to their side, they often
survive, probably because their rib cages are protecting their ability
to breath.
If you are in a crowd, a first and most important thing is to make yourself familiar with your surroundings and mentally notice alternate exits. No matter where you are, make sure you always know how to get out.
Make yourself aware of the type of ground you are standing on, and know that in a crowd of moving people wet or uneven ground can be slippery or hazardous, causing you to fall.
Be aware of the general atmosphere of the event, as panic situations
can often be anticipated. When in danger, a few seconds can make all the
difference, giving you the possibility of taking advantage of your
escaping route. Always stay closer to the escape route.
If you find yourself in the middle of a moving crowd do not fight against the pressure, do not stand still or sit down, because you could easily get trampled.
Instead, move in the same direction of the crowd; take advantage of any space that may open up to move sideways to the crowd movement where the flow is weaker. Keep your hands up by your chest, like a boxer – it gives you movement and protects your chest. If you fall, get up quickly. If you can’t get up because you are injured, get someone to pull you back up. If you have kids, lift them up.
If you fall and cannot get up, keep moving by crawling in the same direction of the crowd, or if that is not possible, then cover
your head with your arms and curl up into the fetal position (do not
lay on your stomach or back, as this dangerously exposes your lungs).
The worst scenario is to be pushed by the crowd against an immovable object. Try to stay away from walls, fences or barricades, as the crowd pressure can build up rapidly.
After you’re pushed forward, like in a wave there’s a lull. In that lull is your chance to move, and the way you move is on a diagonal, between pockets of people.
There’s always space between people. A couple of steps sideways,
another wave surge, then another couple of steps in the next lull. You
work your way out that way till you get to the periphery.
Last
month I asked you all to tell me how you store your water and boy did I
get a variety of answers! Which actually, is to be expected. There
are a myriad of different containers available for storing water and
each method has its pros and cons. Today we’re going to discuss some of
the more popular containers and their strengths and weaknesses to give
you an idea what is available and which containers might work best for
you.
Gallon jugs of water from the store.
Pros:
Relatively inexpensive (usually less than $1.00/gallon)
Easy to find at most grocery and big box stores
Not too heavy
Cons:
If the jugs are the milk jug type, the plastic can break down and
your water leaks out. The jugs are usually good for about a year.
Don’t stack
Water bottles Pros:
Easy to find
Relatively inexpensive
Portable, single serve, and reclosable if you don’t drink it all in one sitting
Great for emergency kits, either your personal kit or your vehicle kit
Can stack cases on each other, just not too deep
Cons:
Small
Need a lot of them to get your 1 gallon per person per day quota, especially for a large family
Make a lot of trash
Refilled PETE bottles like 2 liter soda bottles Pros:
Practically free, especially if you offer to clean up after a party
Small enough to fit in little unused spaces in your house
Only about 4 1/2 lbs full, so easy to carry and move
Cons:
Difficult to stack
A little extra effort required to clean them out before filling with water
Can get spout attachments to pour water out easily
Hold approximately one day’s worth of water for a family of 4-5
Cons:
At 40 lbs each full, they’re borderline on being able to haul them
around. Tough guys, or wimpy people with wagons should still be able to
move them around okay.
Some are designed to stack, others aren’t, so they can use up a lot of floor space
Relatively small footprint for the amount of water they hold
Cons:
Cost
Super heavy, so don’t plan on moving them once they’re full
Need a pump or siphon system to get your water out
Bulky–tough to find a place for one of these in a very small home. I
did see one house that had laid boards on top of their barrels and made
a laundry folding table–pretty creative.
And here are a few less common water storage choices: Waterbrick Pros:
3 1/2 gallon size is a manageable weight and they come with carrying handles
Wide mouth opening makes for easy cleaning
Stackable–in fact, the interlock kind of like legos to make a stack of waterbricks very stable
Flat enough to fit under a bed
Spout available separately makes dispensing your water easy
Cons:
Cost–about $17 each, plus extra for the spout. Not awful, but not cheap either.
Once they’re open, you can’t close them back up, so they will need consumed in one sitting
More expensive than water bottles
For me, I have a combination of the Waterbricks, a lot of refilled
soda bottles, water bottles and a few jugs from the store, and a couple
of the 5 gallon containers. We live in a super small house and those
are the options that work best for us. So give some thought to the
water storage solutions that will work for you in your own situation,
and get some water stored.
Rocket
Stoves are pretty neat. Common among campers and backpacking
enthusiasts, rocket stoves are relatively new to urban dwellers or those
that do not spend a lot of time outdoors. But wait – here come the
preppers who seek fuel efficient ways to cook outdoors when the grid
goes down. Not to make light of the situation, five years ago I had no
idea what a rocket stove was nor did I know how they worked.
How times have changed.
While there are many commercial rocket stoves (and I own two including the Solo Stove and the EcoZoom Versa) an efficient rocket stove can be had for as little as a couple of bucks as you are willing to do a bit of work. But first, just what exactly is a rocket stove?
According to Wikipedia, a rocket stove
is an efficient cooking stove using small diameter wood fuel which is
burned in a simple high-temperature combustion chamber containing an
insulated vertical chimney that ensures complete combustion prior to the
flames reaching the cooking surface.
Seems simple enough, especially when you consider that rocket stoves
are found more commonly in third world countries where wood fuel sources
are scarce so an efficient system for converting twigs, branches,
pinecones, leaves and other bits of biomass to fuel is essential to
cooking.
Now as good as I am around the kitchen, in the garden and with the
home and domestic arts, building stuff comes not so easy. So I asked
Backdoor Survival sponsor Ron Brown
who is a retired engineer and really good at this stuff to help me out
with some detailed instructions for building a DIY Rocket Stove. He has
convinced me that the process is easy and cheap, even for someone like
me! A Bit of Background
Ron told me that many years ago he made some maple syrup. Lacking any
guidance, he constructed a boiling-down arrangement consisting of a
simple campfire under a kettle. It takes 13 gallons of tree sap to make
one gallon of syrup and he made several gallons. It was delicious but he
burned a mind-boggling amount of firewood in the process. Not at all
efficient and not something you would want to do in a survival
situation.
Improvised rocket stoves that are common around the world come in
lots of designs and various configurations. Their common advantage
stems from a principle whereby three sides surround the fire while one
side remains open. This facilitates combustion of the fuel and the
ultimate creation of heat. Of course, “real” rocket stoves are
double-walled and have insulation between the walls.
What we will be describing here uses just a big, institutional-sized
tin can with one wall. Buy hey, it works. And besides, 80% of the
efficiency improvement over an open campfire (Ron’s estimate) comes from
the basic three-sided feature while only 20% comes from the insulation. The Almost Free DIY Rocket Stove
To get started, you are going to need the following:
Materials:
1 No. 10 size steel can (institutional size) You can also use a 3-lb. coffee cans or a one-gallon paint can
1 cast iron trivet (check the Dollar Store for this)
1½ cups marbles, small rocks, or gravel
1 hinge
1 “turn button door catch”
2 bolts for door-legs (size 8/32 x 3) with 4 nuts
5 sheet metal screws for door hinge & door catch Tools:
Utility knife
Hammer
Can opener
16-penny nail (sharpened) to serve as a punch
Screwdriver
Pliers
Vise
Short length of 2 x 4 (to clamp in vise and use as support when cutting/punching can)
1. Cut off the can’s top and save it. Empty the contents, rinse out
the can, then cut a rectangular hole to make a door in the side of the
can. The can shown here is 6″ in diameter and 7½” tall. The door is 5″
wide and 4½” high. The bottom edge of the door is 1½” above the bottom
lip of the can.
To cut out the door, I support the underside of the metal with a
stick of wood clamped in a vise and simply cut the sheet metal with a
utility knife (the kind with the replaceable blade). Admittedly, this
method takes a fair amount of strength and not everybody will be able to
do it this way.
An alternate method is to use a sharpened nail and punch a row of
small holes along the perimeter of where you want the door to be. Punch
the holes as closely together as possible. Then use a knife or a hacksaw
blade to cut just the webbing between the holes. It’s a bit slow and
tedious, but it works.
Tin snips are not practical for this job. Tin snips have jaws the
width of your finger. We want a narrow slit plus four square corners.
2. Put one small hinge in the bottom-center of the door. Fasten it to
the can with either small nuts-and-bolts or sheet metal screws.
3. Install 2 bolts near the top of the door to serve as legs when the
door is open. In use, the door stays open most of the time and serves
as a mini-table to support the fuel-wood that we feed into the flame.
4. Install a small metal “turn button door catch” to hold the door
closed when it’s not needed. As shown in the pictures, I fashioned a
catch from “plumber’s strap.”
5. Punch a row of holes around the bottom of the can to let in air.
Or, cut triangular holes using a church-key style can opener. These
holes are down near the bottom lip of the can but are in its sidewalls,
not in the can’s bottom.
6. Put gravel or small stones or glass marbles in the bottom of the
can. You’ll need about a cup and a half. (Marbles are best because
natural stone contains moisture which can turn to steam and split a
stone in half when it expands. POW! It doesn’t always happen but, if it
does, it will get your attention, guaranteed.)
7. Punch lots of holes in the upper can lid that we removed in step
#1. Place it inside the can, on top of the marbles or gravel. The
lid-punched-with-holes is then the floor upon which we build our fire.
Combustion air enters through the holes we punched in step #5,
circulates between the marbles, comes up through the holes in the floor,
and feeds the fire with oxygen.
8. Oh! Lest I forget. The Dollar Store trivet will come to you
painted. That paint will bubble and scorch off in its first use. Scrape
away whatever remains.
9. In use, put a flat stone or a layer of firebrick under this stove. Glowing bits of wood will leak out from time to time.
10. Think safety! This is a live, burning fire, nothing to
joke around with. Leather gloves, pliers to use as tongs, a fire
extinguisher or bucket of water . . . all excellent ideas. Some Extra Credit Hints
When used as a rocket-stove top, turn the trivet upside down if
you’re cooking with a large pot or griddle. The legs on the trivet,
pointing skywards, support the griddle. You can’t block off the top of
the can (what amounts to a chimney) completely. There must be some space
around the bottom of the pot or griddle for smoke to escape.
This stove can be used as a small charcoal grill. Despite its crude
appearance and obvious limitations, it works well. Once started, it
boils water faster than the gas range in the kitchen.
By the way, neither Ron nor I have discovered where the “rocket” part
of the name comes from. Maybe it just sounds sexy. Perhaps far more
relevant is the question, “What’s for dinner?”. The Final Word
Factory made rocket stoves are great but they will set you back about a hundred dollars on Amazon and elsewhere. These are highly efficient and look “pretty”. But as Ron says:
For my money, seeing as how we’re burning pine cones,
twigs, and scrap lumber . . . and seeing as how this is for emergency
use, not day-to-day cooking for life . . . and seeing as how the
factory-made model is just as dirty to clean out as this one . . . and
will carbon up the bottom of your pots and pans just as quickly . . .
I’m gonna opt for the improvised/free version. Free is good.
Just keep in mind the following disclaimer: Use this rocket stove
outside. If you would not start a campfire in the middle of your kitchen
countertop then don’t use this stove in the middle of your kitchen
countertop. Don’t lay your bare hand on the trivet-top to see if it’s
hot and ready to cook. Don’t pour gasoline on the flames to see what
happens. Don’t toast firecrackers on the griddle. And do be careful of
the raw edges on the sheet-metal door; they’ll cut you. This last bit is
for real. Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation! Gaye
PS – My sincere gratitude goes out to Ron for his help with this
article and especially for the photos. His wit and sense of humor
continually amaze me. Be sure to visit Ron’s website at Lanterns, Lamps & Candles. His e-book on CD is also amazing!
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from
distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little
minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience
approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death." - Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)
He has a great blog go check it out, and this is good info!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Refilling 1 lb. Propane Cylinders
1
lb. propane cylinders are very handy and great at powering camping
stoves and camping lanterns. In times of emergency these two appliances
can be life savers and very comforting. The camp stove can cook your
meals as well as sterilize drinking water and at night the propane
lantern is hard to beat with a single mantle lantern putting out nearly
the equivalent of a 100 watt light bulb. The trouble is these small
cylinders don’t last forever. After 4-5 nights for a lantern and a
dozen or so meals on the camp stove they expire. Because they don’t run
things forever you have to stock dozens of them and that’s very
expensive today.
Fortunately,
there are a number of companies that make refill adapters so we can
refill these smaller cylinders repeatedly from larger cylinders like
those used for your BBQ or an RV.
The process of refilling the 1 lb. cylinders is very simple, just do it outside in case of a propane fitting leak.
Here’s a photo of one of my 30 lb. RV propane tanks used for this demonstration.
Here’s the refilling adapter I used. They are durable and very simple. You can purchase one at, Camping World or many other outlets on the web.
I’m
using a 32 oz. kitchen scale to show the weights before and after. In
this photo is a totally empty cylinder now weighing 15 ounces. Notice
the frost on the side of the tank. In order to completely fill the
cylinder with 1 lb. of propane you must put the cylinder in your
freezer for about 1 hour before refilling.
Here’s
the small cylinder attached and filling from the large tank. Notice
the large tank must be upside-down. Also the tank is resting on a
couple scrap 4x4’s so I can easily get to the main valve to turn it on
and off. The time it takes to fill one cylinder about 60 seconds.
There’s no weighing involved or timing how much propane goes in. Just
open the valve, after a few seconds the small cylinder is full, turn
off the large cylinders valve and disconnect the small cylinder.
Here’s
the cylinder after filling and as you can see it took just slightly
more than 1 lb. of propane from the big tank for a total weight of just
under 32 ounces, close enough for me. I just saved $3.00 and now have a
full cylinder for my camp stove or lanterns.
Summary:
When you get your adapter follow precisely the directions supplied with it.
Refill
cylinders outdoors. Any mishap of say a broken valve or dropping the
large cylinder with the small one attached there is the possibility of a
serious leak. All propane is under very high pressure, between 250 and
275 PSI.
Place the 1 lb. cylinders in the freezer for about an hour. The cold will allow filling the cylinder with 1 lb. of propane.
I
have tried to fill room temperature cylinders but could only get 6-7
ounces in them. Although this will be fine if the grid is down and you
don’t have an operating freezer, you’ll just have to refill more often.
Do not store propane cylinders in your garage or in your house.
My
love affair with paracord continues. Not only is it strong and useful
for a myriad of tasks, it is colorful and fun to work with while making
bracelets, key fobs, belts and other goodies.
Here on Backdoor Survival, I first wrote about paracord in May 2012 in the article 
Now if you are handy and want to make stuff, free instructions for paracord projects abound on the Web. Try 
Rocket
Stoves are pretty neat. Common among campers and backpacking
enthusiasts, rocket stoves are relatively new to urban dwellers or those
that do not spend a lot of time outdoors. But wait – here come the
preppers who seek fuel efficient ways to cook outdoors when the grid
goes down. Not to make light of the situation, five years ago I had no
idea what a rocket stove was nor did I know how they worked.
But first, just what exactly is a rocket stove?
