Thread: BASIC LIST / SUGGESTED ITEMS FOR LONG TERM SURVIVAL

How to Make Charcoal Briquettes

By Heidi Braley, eHow Contributor

Make Charcoal Briquettes There is something wonderful about the smell of a charcoal fired grill cooking away during the summertime. The fresh air and sunshine combined with the aroma of roasting meat just makes you want to stop and taste. However, have you ever thought about trying to make your own charcoal instead of using commercially prepared ones with the potential of harmful additives? With a little planning ahead, you can have your own reserve of charcoal ready for some tasty grilling.

Difficulty:Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1 Gather some hardwood pieces. If they are long, cut them into small chunks and split them. If you really want them to look like the briquettes you will need to chunk them into really small pieces, but that is not necessary. The wood should be dry and preferably seasoned for three months or more.

2 Get a metal barrel or bucket with a lid. Remove any rubber gaskets, as they will just melt. Punch a few holes in the bottom for air intake. They will need to be about an inch and a half wide and somewhat close to the center. Place the bucket or barrel on top of some bricks or concrete blocks to get it up off the ground.

3 Wad up a bunch of newspaper or cardboard and through it into the bottom of the barrel or bucket. Toss in a good bunch of kindling and light it. Allow it to come to a full flame and add some longer sticks of hardwood. Once the fire is going well, start adding your prepared wood for charcoal. Don't pack it in too lightly or it will have a hard time charring. Let it burn hot.

4 Watch the smoke. Once the smoke has changed from billowing yellowish white to wispy blue and there is more heat than smoke, start shutting it down. It is this action of depriving the wood of oxygen that will stop the burn and cause the charring. Put the lid on and kick out the bricks holding it up off the ground. Place a weight on the top to close off any air passage and kick some dirt around the base if necessary.

5 Let it sit. Don't touch it for 24 hours, when it should be cool to the touch. Open the lid and carefully pick out your charcoal chunks and store in a dry container for your next barbecue. Be careful not to breathe in the charcoal dust at the bottom of the barrel. This charcoal will burn hot and long with very little smoke or ash, preserving the taste of your meat.

6 Cook up a batch of cornstarch and water until it is thick and pasty. Stir in your charcoal dust and finely crushed charcoal bits until you cannot add any more. It should be quite thick. Spoon it into Styrofoam egg cartons and let dry for several days. This is now ready for use as any commercially made briquettes - almost totally smokeless.


http://www.ehow.com/how_4473349_make-ch ... ettes.html

How to make charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/ ... FORM=LKVR3

Peterson Press Demo

Demonstration of making fuel briquettes with a newly designed Peterson Press. This is appropriate technology for developing countries to use agricultural waste

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/ ... briquettes

Fishing knots / Lures

Improved Clinch Knot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV2baROgoPc



How to Tie a Uni Knot Fishing knot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6SvMYun ... ature=fvwp



Informative Fisherman - Beginner fishing knots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qruFBAkS ... re=related



Informative Fisherman - Bass Lure Basics 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHAotcbT ... re=related



Informative Fisherman - Beginner Introduction to fishing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTG1alSV ... re=related



Informative Fisherman - Beginner Catfishing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YpV-dtn ... re=related



Easy catfish bait for everyone! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_G5RK4 ... re=related



How to Cook Fish : Make Batter for Fried Fish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd5Dnf1gJAQ



how to make coconut fish - Cooking for dads http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MwQaqp2 ... re=related

NO BULL SHIT SURVIVAL
Your Survival Guide To The 21st Century

http://www.nobullshitsurvival.com/

bttt

Suburban Survival, by The Suburban 10

By James Wesley, Rawles
April 10, 2010 8:33 PM

I am a public school teacher with five kids and one income. There is little in the way of extra cash to protect the family, but I will do my best to prepare for TEOTWAWKI. If you want to plan well; plan as if it was a lesson plan and you are going to teach it to a class. My class is my family the the goal being not to get anyone panicked (Refer to # 9 below). Having a receptive audience is difficult, because of what I deem…complacent comforts. These are built into the core and routine of our everyday lives that we depend on all to often (you know what they are).
Suburban survival is a surreal world of isolation. You feel alone although you are surrounded by tens of thousands of complacent people who are very comfortable in their grid dependent homes and lifestyles. Try living in suburban New York in which neighbors think you’re getting wacky because you talk of preparing for an event that they deem impossible or extremely remote.
You ask that I provide what works. I provide to you what may work and what does not work when trying to explain to neighbors the concept that more people prepared the less people in need . Going Social and leading a group of individuals is not an option. Sorry, but human nature is 90% reactive and 10% proactive. If you are reading this wonderful blog and this story I tell, then good for you, welcome to the proactive10%. But does anyone really know what will work? You ask for what is proven. Nothing is proven when it comes to TEOTWAWKI. Just prove to yourself that you have prepared for the worst and hope for the best to the greatest of your ability without losing your mind.
What may work is what I have planned for this summer.
1. Two years ago, this house I bought has a chimney with the wood stove removed. I have since bought a wood stove on eBay and will install it this summer. Contact local tree services for what is known as a hook (someone who can give you free wood because around here it costs them money to get rid of it).
2. The back 6 feet of my garage is walled off as a walk in pantry and safe room. Steel racks from target $80 to store the basic recommended foods and three 5 gallon clear water containers. Stores such as Target.com and Harborfreight.com sell a nice three bottle storage rack and a $4.00 hand pump.
3. We like to go camping, so the escape gear is packed and ready to go in the garage. I have three day MRE food packs for each child. Books, games, toys and blankets. I like the items from www.lifesecure.com if you want it all pre-packaged.
4. The Aqua Rain Gravity Water Filter will be used for long term water consumption because I have a fifteen diameter above ground pool that maintains 5,000 gallons of water. Fun to play in and a nice supply of water when filtered. Five gallon clear containers will be wheeled to and from the pool to a basin and then filtered and stored.
5. As an alarm. We have a small barky Cairn Terrier. He has proven to be very territorial. I have encountered many dogs in my life and the small ones seem to bark at strangers the best. Not to scare them off but to let you know there is an intruder.
6. Pray. With the Lord there is confidence and the resolve that you are giving it your best shot and some things are just plain out of you hands and in His.
7. Stay fit. Run and stretch. Exercise with you family. Personally I run and work out with a 1” by 3’ wooden staff. [These are commonly called "dog chasers'] It is cane-like and there are many defensive and offensive forms that can be used.
8. I have friends who are police officers and have never fired their weapon in the line of duty. Do you really want to shoot someone? I train my family for a chaotic attack. We have code words and all have set actions when the code word is mentioned. No matter how crazy things get remember that everything is negotiable. Have a planned system for dealing with a threat other then sending bullets all over the neighborhood. If you can offer an item or two to the desperate individual (who may truly need help) then do so. If they really look like trouble or if they are armed then at least have pepper spray ($11.99 per can here in New York). If you are going to shoot someone, then expect to be shot at as well. You can always think from the other end of the barrel as well, by checking out this web site.
9. Communication - The FEMA and Ready.gov have suggestions on how to communicate to you kids so they know that what you are preparing for is legitimate. The other type of communication Midland Nautico NT3VP VHF 88-channel Two-way radio covers many of the important radio bands as well a my CC SWPocket AM/FM Shortwave Pocket Radio From C. Crane Company.

10. My preparedness approach, in a nutshell:

Heat- Wood
Cook- Wood Stove
Light – Oil Lamps
Food – Stocked bulk items
Water - Aquarain Water filter 2000gallons per filter
Books - Survival (I own three right now), and fiction
Kids - Lots of Books Games, Toys (Legos) and art supplies

Long Term:
Food – fishing and trapping (raccoon/squirrel, locally)
Barter – Lots of practical things and 1 ounce US Silver Eagles (Currently @ $19 each)
Money - $5 Bills (x 50) as a cash reserve
Protection - The Lord gave us our eyes, ears and intuition.


http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/04/...the_subur.html

TheSurvivalBlog.Net

How To Put Your Food Storage into Hyper Drive

by M.D. Creekmore
Thursday, April 21, 2011

We all know or should know by now that hyper-inflation is coming rapidly and we need to put our food storage preparations into hyper drive.We have discussed using coupons for acquiring food storage but I want to show you how to hyper drive it and get you that much more ahead in your goals. I call it hyper drive couponing. Yes I made it up and am getting frugal by the day especially when I see the prices nowadays at the store.

Hyper drive couponing is the art of acquiring things for free or as close to free as possible using coupons. Coupons are free money and most of us never use them but we could all use free money. This type of coupon clipping is a growing trend across the United States although I had no idea others were doing it until recently by seeing a program on television but they call it extreme couponing. I am not as weird as most people think as there are many others like me in the good ole USA (tongue in cheek) doing this.

Hyper drive couponing is addictive especially once you go to the store and get $1000.00 worth of food and necessities for around $10.00 ! Yes you read that right ten dollars and yes its true it can be done. You will need more storage space so plan accordingly. Let me show you my plan on hyper drive couponing from which you may use or use to adopt your own plan for your family and individual needs. Start with a budget whether it’s a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly one and stick to it. $10.00, $20.00, $30.00 etc.

Here goes:
(1) Never buy anything that isn’t on sale and preferably only if you have a coupon.Your basics should be purchased first and then use your hyper drive couponing to add to and expand your food storage and necessities to a years worth or more quickly and as cheap as possible.

(2) Acquire your coupons from many sources, manufactures online like P & G, Sunday newspapers, I get newspapers for free each week from a friend that has a newspaper route and he gives me the old ones that didn’t sell, try online coupon sites to print out coupons, get them in stores, from family and friends. Just ask. You can find all you’ll need or want. It is work though so be prepared. As my grandmother use to tell me nothing in life is free but boy would she faint if she saw this plan and could go with me to the store just once. It is work but the payoff is great and sometimes FREE !

(3) Get yourself a binder for your shopping list and flexible file folder to hold all of your coupons and arrange them by category. You may choose to make this simple like adding categories like meat, milk, eggs, butter, cookies, cereals, soups, laundry detergent, etc. This makes finding the coupons easier. Get a medium size box, a shoe box will do I’ll tell you what to do with it later on.

(4) Check newspapers and online for weekly sales at your neighborhood stores or stores close to your location as possible. No sense in burning more gas than necessary. I usually shop on days that the store(s) I shop will double or triple coupons. Call your local store to inquire about their coupon policies, how many they will take? Some stores do have a limit of like 200 coupons per transaction. Do they double or triple them? Up to what amount will they double or triple? Most will double all coupons up to $.50, which would give you a dollar off. You’ll need to know this information to make the most informed decisions on future purchases and to prepare for your shopping trip.

One of my favorite stores to shop has a store coupon card which allows me to get discounts or sale prices plus then I use coupons on top of that savings. Using both the store savings and my coupons can actually get many things free and I rack up. The way you shop will dramatically change and the savings are unbelievable until you try it. You buy in bulk and use bulk coupons to see the most dramatic savings and this allows you to acquire a years worth of items quickly and at a fraction of the cost. I only buy items I have coupons for and preferably that is also on sale. More bang for my buck. I may buy lets says twenty bottles of shampoo using my coupons and they’ll also be on sale. Shopping like this allows you to accumulate a year’s worth or more of an item easily and lets you reach your goal faster.

(5) Planning a weekly shopping trip and making a list. Look over your weekly sales papers and online at your favorite stores. Make a written list or print out a list of things on sale that you would like to get on your next shopping trip, then acquire coupons for the item as described above. I’ll show you below my list which you can copy and use as a blueprint. You could get real savvy and clip coupons in your spare time and have them neatly organized in your binder or folder. After acquiring the coupons for the articles in which you want to purchase put the coupons in your shoe box, remember the box ? Put an X by that article on your list to let you know you have your coupons and they are in the box ready to go. If I don’t have a coupon for the item I would like to get in my stockpile I’ll check online coupon sites for them and print them out or wait until another trip for those items. Make this a family affair with spouses and children, they love to cut out coupons, blunt scissors of course. This is now a routine Saturday late afternoon get together. This also allows other family members to choose items they would like to get or try as well. This is what got my husband on board with my preps, when he saw the amount of food and the price I got it for he just could not believe it. It was like a twilight moment !

(6) List Example: In this example the store will triple any coupon which has a face value of up to $0.75 on Tuesday. So schedule Tuesday for your shopping trip. When listing your items be as detailed as possible about the product name and the ounces as you don’t want to get the wrong item and then your coupon not be any good at checkout time. You will need a coupon for each item on your list, if you want to buy two mustards then you will need two mustard coupons for the greatest savings.

Item Amount Sale Price Coupons Amount (x) (single,double or triple) = Your Cost

1) ANY Brand A (1) $1.99 1 coupon @ $0.75 x (3) triple = (-2.25) = (- $ 0.26 ) FREE Toothpaste 14 OZ.
2) Brand A Orange Juice (1) $ 2.49 1 coupon @ $0.50 x (3) triple = ( -$1.50 ) = $ 0.99 26 OZ.
3) Brand B (2) $ 0.99 2 coupons @ $ 0.50 x (3) triple = (- $ 3.00) = $ FREE Mustard (tip: mustard lasts indefinitely) you are buying two mustards & using two .50 coupons 8 OZ. which are tripled for a total savings of $ 3.00 on $1.98 worth of mustard.
Total Cost before coupons = $ 6.46 Coupon Savings : $ 6.75 Taxes 0 = $ 0.00 Your Total Cost = ( $ – 0.29) to the good FREE ! Now lets see how to hyper drive your savings.
(7) Hyper drive couponing and buying in bulk is the key to bringing in big savings and stocking that pantry quickly. Hypothetically I decide to buy 25 packs of toilet paper and
use 25 $ 3.00 coupons. It looks like this: its on sale for $2.99 each and I have $3.00 off coupons $2.99 x 25 = $ 74.75 – coupons $3.00 x 25 = $75.00 = COST $ – 0.25 !!! FREE Now wait a minute I don’t want the store to have that free $0.25 cents, no they want give you the overages so hmmm what can I get for that, a pack of gum for $0.59 then I’ll owe $0.25 for $74.75 worth of toilet paper and a pack of gum ! No I am not kidding you, people are doing this type of thing everyday and I can say I am doing it too now.

Try this simple example then go hyper drive and make a larger list. It is possible to add fresh meat and produce to your trip for free using your overages. If you know ahead of time how much you’ll have over you can use that amount for your meat purchase, taxes, etc.

This method of hyper drive couponing isn’t for the weak of heart, it takes planning and time. You’ll need to crunch the numbers to make sure you’ll save the most. Always take a list, calculator and coupons with you to shop. Check off the items as you shop. Bringing a friend or spouse works great. You ‘ll need help pushing the buggies and crunching numbers. You are only getting what is on the list except maybe adding fresh produce or meat which you already crunched the numbers at home and doubled checked while shopping using your calculator and list and know how much you can get, right ? That’s why crunching the numbers ahead of time is so important so you come out ahead or for the least amount possible spent.

Ideally get at least (25) twenty-five newspapers each week on Sunday to get bulk coupons out of the coupons inserts. Turn your newspapers into compost for your garden or recycle the newspapers for fire starter logs by rolling them up in long round logs. These burn great. If you don’t know someone who has a paper route call the newspaper and ask for the week old Sunday papers instead of them recycling them, most will deliver them to your house for free. Free is good

If you try this method of hyper drive couponing with your emergency preparedness goods or food storage plan let us hear from you or let us all know how you like this idea in the comments below.

Why Arent You Using Coupons To Save Money When Stockpiling For Survival http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survi ... h-coupons/

Top 10 Smart Ways to Build Your Food Storage http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survi ... your-food/

Seven Must Read Food Storage Resources http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survi ... resources/

Survival Food Storage http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survi ... d-storage/

Why You Should Include Comfort Foods In Your Survival Food Storage http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survi ... -foods-in/

http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/us...-food-storage/

How to Choose a Survival Knife

A Survival Knife is the most important single item of your survival gear

More Articles Related to Blades And Knives http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/ ... nd-knives/

Survival Note: Survival Topics sells a line of Survival Knives specially chosen to help you survive. For more information visit the Knives and Blades section.

Ever wonder how to choose the perfect survival knife? This article will show you how.

In my opinion, a survival knife is your most important tool when caught in a wilderness survival situation. While it’s true that you can improvise a knife out of stone or bone when out in the wilds, there’s nothing that compares with the steel blade for its strength, versatility, and usefulness. However, not every steel knife will do in a survival situation. Knowing what to look for when choosing a survival knife is just as important as having one. After reading this article, you will know what properties make up the perfect survival knife and you will be able to find one that is tailor made for your needs and situation.
Key Things to Avoid in a Survival Knife

While there are many attributes that are less than ideal in a survival blade, here’s a list the main things you should avoid when choosing a survival knife:

• Narrow Tang: If you were to take off the handle of a knife, the tang would be the part that extends from the base of the blade onward. As you can see in the picture, this tang is relatively narrow. This is fine for the purposes of a kitchen knife, but when put it up to the rigors of survival/outdoor activities (chopping wood, pounding the blade for splitting small logs etc) it is susceptible to breakage.
• Folding Knives (including multi-tools): While I always keep a folder on me at all times, which more than adequately covers most of the activities I do in a survival situation, it is still less than ideal. Remember, this article isn’t about how to choose just any knife that will do, but about how to choose the “perfect” survival knife.
• Huge Knives: Hollywood is to blame for filling up our minds with pictures of survival knives being these huge monstrosities (Rambo, Crocodile Dundee etc). Although you could slay a crocodile with one mighty thrust, the larger the knife the more difficult it is to do the intricate work that a survival situation requires. And for that reason, I’d be more worried about getting fire going, making tools for hunting and trapping, and setting up camp than a crocodile attacking me — especially since I live in New England!
• Hollow-Handled ‘Survival’ Knives: While there are exceptions to this (see some of Chris Reeve’s knives) most hollow-handled survival knives that house a small survival kit in the handle are two-pieced and more for gimmick than they are useful. Their two-piece design — like the narrow tang — can easily break when splitting wood or doing heavy work.

What to Look for in a Survival Knife

Similar to the list of ‘dont’s’ above, here’s a list of core requirements that every survival knife should meet:

• Full Tang: I consider this to be one of the most important attributes of a survival knife. A full-tang knife’s handle is the tang itself and is usually wrapped or covered with some material to make it more comfortable to carry and use. Since the handle and the blade is one integrated piece, the chances of it breaking are very minimal.
• Fixed Blade: Although there are numerous folding knives which do an excellent job in a survival situation, if there were to be an ideal (and again, this article is about the ideal knife ) you will want to have a fixed blade knife. That basically means that the entire knife is integrated with the handle and cannot be folded shut..
• Reasonably Sized: I realize that ‘reasonably sized’ is a very relative term. What I mean here is that it should be small enough to do most intricate camp work (trap making, notches for fire boards etc) but large enough to do heavier tasks like splitting small logs. This ideal is obviously different for different people, but in general it falls between a blade that is 4-6 inches.

Now that the basics covered, if you want to go beyond them then you’ll want to be aware of the following:
Steel Type

For the rigors and requirements of survival knives, not all steel is equal. Steel quality determines the strength of the blade, its toughness (ability to take impact), how easy it is to sharpen, and how long it will hold that edge. While I could write pages and pages about the various differences of steel types, for the purposes of this article I’ll briefly cover the most important points.
Most knives are made from two broad classifications of steel: Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel. As a general rule stainless steel is more rust resistant than carbon steel but can be more brittle (less tough) and more difficult to sharpen compared to the average carbon steel. Carbon steel on the other hand can be made extremely sharp, is tougher when being used for splitting or chopping, is easier to sharpen, but if not maintained it will easily rust.
It’s important to know that most of these differences disappear as you go up in terms of price and quality of manufacture. Here is a list of steels that I recommend:
Recommended Stainless Steels

• S60V
• BG-42
• S90V
• CPM S30V
• CPM 154 (this is my favorite stainless steel)

Recommended Carbon Steels

• D2
• A2 (this is my favorite carbon steel)
• O1
• Carbon V
• CPM 154

Blade Geometry

The way a knife blade is shaped determines its overall functionality. For example, a chef’s knife is shaped in such a way that it is perfect for slicing tomatoes or dicing garlic. That same knife however has no business out in the woods. The same holds true for the double-edged spear point and tanto-style knives. These knives are built for fighting and are perfect for thrusting and stabbing but do not hold out well in a survival situation.
Instead you’ll want to choose a clip point or a drop point style blade. These blades are suited well for the tasks required in a survival situation.
A clip-point blade’s tip is formed by a slight concave curve at the top. When slightly curved these tips are perfectly acceptable and strong. Clip points with exaggerated curves are susceptible to breakage if your pounding the spine while chopping wood.
The drop point blade is the best all-around blade style. It is formed when the back or dull side of the knife slopes downward at a slight angle beginning at around the half-way point and meets the blade edge slightly above center. This blade geometry is best suited for the various tasks required out in the field.
Blade Edge

The edge or the sharp side of the blade should be from base to tip one continuous edge. In most cases you’ll want to stay away from serrated edges. While they do have their uses, they are difficult to sharpen out in the field and there is little functionality that they add out in the bush.
Spine

In general you’ll want the spine or back of the blade (opposite the blade edge) to be flat (no saw or sharpened edge). This allows it to make a good hitting platform when pounding it with a hard stick to aid in splitting wood. One exception to this rule is Tom Brown Jr.’s “Tracker” knife. Although the knife is a bit cumbersome for my tastes, it’s unique design is suited well for splitting and chopping wood.
Conclusion

Although I go into a lot of detail explaining the ‘ideals’ to look for in a wilderness survival knife, it ultimately comes down to your individual preferences. The most important thing, as I mention in many other threads, is to find what works for you. If you have some friends who have different knives, try them out and see if you tend to prefer a smaller or larger version. Take those attributes that I’ve told you to look for and put them to the test.
Resources

Here are some excellent resources for learning more about knives and their make up:

• Steel Guide – This chart gives you a great overview of the various types of steel and their make up.
• Steel Type Description Great summary of the various steels as well as their positives and negatives.
• BladeForums.com This is a fantastic forum made up of many professional knife makers. They have great tips and a wealth of knowledge.
• Equipped to Survive Knife Review In depth review into what makes up a good survival knife.

http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/...ival-knife.htm

Omega-3s Found In Canola Oil Shown To Help Prevent Colon Cancer

April 22, 2011 by Personal Liberty News Desk


In a mouse model, researchers from South Dakota State University showed that incorporating canola oil into a diet may significantly cut the risk of developing colon cancer.

Compared to rodents that were put on two different control diets, the canola oil-fed mice had 58 percent fewer instances of tumors, and their tumors on average were 90 percent smaller.

Previously, the team of scientists had tested the efficacy of flaxseed oil on inhibiting tumor growth with promising results. While canola oil contains about 40 percent less omega-3 fatty acids than flaxseed oil, the former is more common and has more culinary uses, which led the researchers to test it as well.

"You could not use flax oil for frying. If people start using canola oil — replacing other oils with canola oil — it gives them the advantage of including omega-3s in their diet," said lead researcher Chandradhar Dwivedi.

While the American Cancer Society reports that the rates of colorectal cancer have been steadily declining over the past 20 years due to prevention technology, the average person still has a 5.1 percent chance of developing the disease in the course of their lifetime.

http://www.personalliberty.com/news/...2011_04_22_PLA_