Last minute tips for parents when the SHTF

One person's estimate of survival based upon logical criteria


While I don't entirely agree with the critical thinking involved, this is a well developed and realized video that shows the most important criteria for determining survivability during an economic collapse.

It creatively illustrates in a few minutes what has taken me over a year and half to write down. That's the power of visuals.

There are some problems.

1) People throughout history have adapted based upon their growing season. While the most ideal growing season would be tropical in some respects for year round Spring and Summer and hence an endless harvest, others have been able to preserve food for off-season.

2) You actually don't want to be harvesting year round. For one thing, it would require a lot more soil additives to replentish the soil. Year round harvesting would mean continuous labor in the fields and little time to do other things. It's not good time management for there's usually a bounty of animals to harvest from raising them as well as hunting and trapping in the Autumn.

3) While rainfall is vital for water to drink and watering the soil for crops and harvesting wild edibles not to mention livestock, unless you are trying to raise crops in a tropical climate, then you really don't need the rainfall that the videomaker has stated as ideal. What you need is dependable potable water plus adequate rainfall for these things. The animals that have adapted to your region will limit whatever livestock or hunting/trapping/fishing you will do. I do agree that the Eastern side of the Mississippi River is far better for this reason versus most of the semi-arid Western side.

4) The high amount of food stamp use implies that rich folks would be better suited to survival, and to my experience the opposite is true. While some wealthier people have higher education, and some have great practical knowledge, it's really sterotypical to assume that one economic group is more suited to survival than another. It's really about tenacity and skill level, not economics. It's undeniable pre-collapse that those with more assets can commit more assets most likely to supplies and education though.

5) Because people have a high amount of mobility for the most part, in history people have slowly migrated from urban areas to rural ones. This means that as they moved, they brought problems and solutions to their region. High population density will doom a lot of people because of carrying capacity, but many will relocate as a result and most likely some will settle in rural regions. This makes a lot of statistics to be less important in the final analysis, but definitely a factor based upon realistic relocation based upon practical limits. See several previous postings on that, one most recently on effective vehicle distances.

6) Crime likewise will follow to rural areas as sociopathic members of society relocate to areas where they can harvest more loot. My personal belief if that a lot of this will burn out as wildfires. See previous postings. Some sociopaths will make their way to rural areas, where given high amounts of gun ownership, ethos, military background, etc this will limit the influx.

7) Most agriculture in the USA is monoculture. One crop is grown on a certain plot of land based upon the idea that specialization helps a farmer concentrate upon knowing the best methods for raising that crop. You can't look at vegetables grown in a state and sold as a criteria, for the land may end up growing lots of diverse crops later. In fact, this will naturally happen as people raise the food they need to exist.

What you should be doing is removing as much lawn as possible and improving your soil as much as possible so you can have as high a yield as possible.

I think he did a good job. I hope that you spend some time doing your own analysis of your land and region and are trying to determine how safe your area is, and if you need to move to a better place for your family for economic reasons.

Most parts of the country have some weather related phenomena such as earthquakes, drought periods, hurricanes, tornadoes, heavy snowfall, flooding, dust storms, etc. Most of these weather issues also result in economic, medical, agricultural, biological issues. Everything is connected.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 12/31/2012 02:50 PM

Here's an earlier video I think I posted which comes to similar conclusions about an better survival rate based upon these kinds of criteria.


The expert in this field is Joel Skousen. I encourage you to look for his book Strategic Relocation, and to find the videos on your own (as they aren't allowed here).

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 12/31/2012 02:46 PM

If you were going to boot camp, would you exercise and get ready ahead of time?

Today I saw a topic on the difficulties of boot camp, and it made me smile.

If I were a young person today and considering the military, given the twisted form that the military has become versus the noble protectors they were in history (for the most part), then I wouldn't recommend entering the military, sad to say.

I would talk to a lot of veterans before entering the military today, and if it's still your passion after listening to them for a long time, then you should follow your dream. Maybe all potential soldiers should walk through a veteran's hospital, or rather volunteer with sincere hopefulness of helping their potential comrades-in-arms, really brothers and sisters, and then come to know them. Then having your eyes opened realistically to embrace that lifestyle passionately.

But back to the original question, if YOU were going to boot camp, what would you do? Would you exercise NOW so your experience was a more pleasant one because you already were somewhat in shape and learning how to best respond by doctrine and discipline and relearning muscle memory? Or would you assume that you'd get in shape once the process started by doing what they told you, eating what they told you, exercising as they taught you, etc?

Most new recruits assume they are in reasonable shape and do the latter and painfully discover just how poorly their constitution, tenacity, and will has become. By delaying their exercise and changes to diet, they do themselves a terrible disservice as well as making the experience miserable when it actually could be life-affirming.

Prepping is just like that. You consider ahead of time the difficulties that you might encounter, and rather than wait to learn how to preserve food, grow it, build muscle so you can do it, eat healthier to make yourself stronger and have better health, as well as myriad skills like electrical or mechanical ability. The more you prepare today, the easier it is to cope, especially if you find your place within the Grand Design of the Source.

He must increase and I must decrease. John 3:30

The beginning of knowledge is humility of one's ability and strength. If one has a Master instead of being a rugged individualist, then one ought to want to best serve their Master by anticipating the needs of the Master. If instead one thinks of themselves as master of their fate, almost always when you look in the mirror you will disappointed by the outward and inward appearance of yourself.

This is not to say that we should be groveling and doormats for people to walk upon. What we should be doing is making ourselves stronger, more agile, more skilled, more complete. Over time, the more that I learn, the more I see that I don't know. The more I journal, the more I consider my failures and deficits. Still despite all of that, each day I try to learn more and do more.

Be like the recruit, optimistic, and energized by his or her successful discipline BEFORE the “boot camp” comes up, so that when trouble arrives and you are tested (as we all are tested) and you may have some success. Being somewhat successful will help maintain your optimism while dancing in the fire that is tempering your metal (and mettle).

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 04:47 PM

Something for fun: full auto gatling slingshot crossbow

Because I'm actually a cut-up despite my seriousness here, here's a funny video showing the ingenuity of Joerg Sprave. He creates the most wonderful slingshots in the world.


Happy New Year everyone!

And how about some artillery!



Please don't share this with Hollywood celebrities or else they may insist on banning slingshots.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 12/31/2012 10:44 PM

Understanding calcium availability in foods

Most people don't understand very much about nutrition. Don't worry, even professionals like doctors spend scant amount of time studying nutrition in school. It is an important subject though for preparedness, because instead of purchasing food products made in stores, at some point you'll be raising your own food, so it's one of the critical skills you'll need to acquire.

Tribal people didn't understand nutrition, but they did see the aftereffects when someone wasn't eating correctly. So culturally, diets changed dynamically to cope in many cases, for those not eating right...probably died as a result. Since you don't want to suffer a host of nutritional deficiencies, you must learn to vary your diet from wild edibles and grown food, whether that's coming from cultivated crops or livestock, or species gathered from the meadows and forests.

Calcium is an important requirement of any tribal people doing heavy labor. The more that you do weight bearing exercise, the more that your skeleton alters the scaffold of the bone cells in your body.

Here's a video describing bone remodeling.


Osteoclasts move throughout the bone to dissolve the bone. Somehow by doing heavy labor, the body senses that it would be better to form the bone in a particular way, so the job of the osteoclast is to break it down towards that purpose. They liberate calcium from the bone by injecting acids into it.

The scaffold is primarily made of collagen. The only way collagen can be made is if there is sufficient Vitamin C. This is why I have continually mentioned Vitamin C rich wild edibles and cultivated species because scurvy is a primary issue for tribal people.

If you lack adequate vitamin D and calcium, as was common pre-1920, then people develop rickets. This mostly comes from sun exposure. Vitamin D probably also prevents a large amount of cancers.
[link to t0.gstatic.com]


Osteoblasts move afterward and rebuild the bone based upon having enough calcium around to do their task. The osteoblask reforms a scaffold (osteoid), and then later calcium is deposited upon it.

All of that is also contingent upon two main things. 1)There must be adequate blood circulation and good diet, or else the body can't digest food components like vitamins and minerals to deliver whatever the skeleton and teeth need, nor deliver them via the conduits that are made by blood vessels of all sizes (vessels, veins, and arteries are the three main types with many subtypes). 2) exercise on a regular basis triggers bone remodeling, or else as we age the body (possibly osteocytes) senses the lack of activity and more bone destruction (osteoclasts) tear down the scaffold.

Think of this way. It takes a lot of energy as a resource for the cells to work. If there's less energy in supplies, then the body is a careful manager of whatever there is, and so it makes decisions on how to best use the resources available.

If not exercising, then there's less requirements for the body, and if there's also less nutrition, the body conserves whatever it has until such time more materials are coming in, and more demand is placed upon the structural integrity of the body.

Since most people are sedentary, the requirements are low for bone remodeling. If people get low calcium, then the body liberates from it's own materials, a kind of cannibalism called catabolism. This makes your skeleton very weak, and this is why particularly in women, you often see stooped over elderly folk.

That was more prevalent a long time ago, for more people are living longer, but there's a problem. Maybe we live longer, but as we age beyond what people ordinarily lived, that lengthened lifespan may come with increasing decrepitude. Do you want that? To live longer but worse off?

Most people don't, and therefore they eat better, exercise, and often take medicines to enhance their bone density.

One of the problems is how much calcium is in a food substance, and what's just as important is how much is availability once it is consumed. While many plants have quite a bit of calcium in them, they also contain substances which restrict or impede the influx of calcium (bioavailability).

So while I've discussed several wild edibles as well as cultivated crops that are rich in calcium, many of these have lower bioavailability. You'd have to eat a lot of them in order to achieve the same amount of other substances like milk. The amount in a cup of milk would require eights cups of spinach. For practical purposes, a lot of people while thinking that they could do that, will not in actually keep eating that much spinach, and so in the absence of milk they end up with a deficit of calcium.

Believe it or not, pinto beans contain almost as much bioavailabity as cow's milk. Since a bean is easier to raise than a cow, a bean is likely the main way you're getting calcium.

For 75% of African-Americans and 90% of Asians, a certain enzyme called lastase is not produced by the body. Since lactose (milk sugar) is digested way late in the intestines, and if there's not enough of the enzyme needed, you end up with bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. You folks in particular must get your calcium by other means.

In a collapse, people are doing far more physical activity than is their norm. The osteocytes notice the increase, and send osteoclasts to break down the skeleton's scaffold, but then because there isn't sufficient calcium, or perhaps even enough energy to power the cells, the osteoblasts weakly attempt to rebuild the scaffold but there's insufficient calcium to be deposited on the new scaffold.

Some of our foods are fortified with additional calcium, but there's controversy about that practice, because some unscrupulous food companies may add calcium but it doesn't have a high bioavailability factor and isn't absorbed into the body. In some cases in soy drinks or maybe even that calcium enriched orange juice you're drinking, the calcium settled in the bottom of your glass.

Regardless, for a prepper, the calcium that you source for your family is coming from deliberate cultivation of food species that contain high calcium or intentional foraging of other wild sources. This means you have to know what foods have that material, and know how to grow them and collect them.You must also know how bioavailable the food species is pertaining to calcium contained within it too.

Tribal people culturally noticed this and began to use dairy cows and goats in certain parts of the world. Because goats are far easier to raise and smaller in mass, a lot more raise goats in simple operations. Remember that whatever milk is produced, is only good for a short period of time since there's no refrigeration. It's also contingent upon the species lactating because it's given birth to its young, and in a homesteading operation, you're balancing the need for meat from raised animals versus your need for calcium from milk.

Since whatever milk you're able to raise will spoil unless you use it, it's usually consumed immediately or traded to people in the immediate vicinity. Otherwise, it's probably converted into cheese which can store the calcium for a bit longer. While kefir and yogurt are delicious, they also have a very short shelf life without refrigeration.

Milk also contains what is arguably the best post-recovery proteins for the body. After exercising, the caesin proteins including whey are quickly assimilated into the body. It's why many a bodybuilder drinks a whey shake after a workout. If you're a tribal person trying to build muscle and bone in your tribe so they can do heavy labor and minimize the consequences of it, then most probably milk of some kind if needed for all practical purposes.

Since goats produce milk plus very delicious meat, they are the most likely candidates towards that purpose. Since pinto beans produce valuable protein and calcium they will certainly be a main crop that you'll be raising.

Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk
[link to www.dairynutrition.ca]
[link to www.mayoclinic.com]
[link to findmeacure.com]

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 10:58 AM

Raising pinto beans

Beans can be one of the easiest vegetables to grow in the garden.

They can be easily grown in containers, and hence one of the reasons every child in America used to grow them in science class during elementary school. That means that if you had five hours of direct sunlight, one could grow them indoors or outdoors in a planter.

They need soil that is well-drained, as they won't tolerate puddling. This and overwatering will result in low yields.This means if you have heavy clay soil, you need to mix in that river sand. This will allow the water to penetrate better.

They like nitrogen rich soil, so an easy way to achieve that is by diluting your urine and adding that to the garden in early Spring, and then later side-dressing the plants with a urine tea. See previous postings on just how valuable urine is as a resource for gardeners. We could probably avoid using chemical fertiliers altogether for small operations.

I've included a link which describes pests like aphids. Encourage lady bugs in your garden. They leave behind usually yellowish eggs and you can place those if you find them among your bean plants. Turn over leaves where you find aphids, and most likely you'll also find some lady bug eggs where you see their activity.
[link to www.hmrprint.com]

Other than that, you need to watch for knots forming on the roots, a sign of tiny worms attacking your bean plants. They also are susceptible to certain mildews. See the infornet biovision link for pictures of pests and disease. I'd print out as it's concise and lists many common pests and diseases.



Nice couple, and very proud of their garden. Good for them!

Most people grow bush varieties of beans as the yields can be almost as good and far less work than raising pole beans. For first year gardeners, why not try mostly bush varieties but experiment with one or two pole bean types to see.

Germinating the bean after harvest produces more nutrition, and then you can add these to a salad for a variety. Since beans take time to dry and then later time to rehydrate, it's a good idea to mix it up. By the way, combining black beans with pintos makes a wonderful flavored dish. I usually use pinto beans in my chili instead of kidney beans.

The protein in a bean is not nutritionally complete. It's why cultures over time combined meals with corn or rice, and that resulted in a complete profile of essential amino acids. Since growing rice is beyond the capability of most gardeners, you'll most likely grow corn, raise wheat, or maybe quinoa (pronounced keen wah so you don't sound foolish when looking for it in the grocery).

Sources:
[link to www.texasgardener.com]
[link to www.gardenguides.com]
[link to www.infonet-biovision.org]

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 11:56 AM

Make better chili and tamales this Winter

Personally I like chili year round. Most people make awful chili, and so people turn their nose up when they hear that's for supper. It's simple, use better ingredients, Silly.

Using pintos is one of my secrets, but also adding beef stock that I get from a concetrated paste (see previously postings) as well as real meat added in, not just ground beef. Most ground beef is garbage. There's way too much fat added in, and while some adds flavor, I think if you follow this recipe for the most part, you'll create a much better dish.
[link to www.food.com]

A lot of tomato sauce is terrible. Fresh tomatoes from the garden are preferred, and mostly the tomatoes that you find in the grocery produce aisle are the hydroponic ones that "ship well" meaning they're hard when transported, not necessarily taste better. See? Using diced tomatoes of a good variety results in you controlling the moisture content. It won't be so liquidy.

The tomato paste imparts a perfect sweetness to the meal.

Don't be afraid to use some kick. Most chili is so weak that it tastes bland. Spicy peppers boost your metabolism and that's why you sweat. It's good for you especially when dieting, and isn't everyone dieting post-Christmas?

Add a little masa flour as a thickener. It's the white flour produced from field corn, and you can find a bag of it in the Latino section of your grocery.

The chunks of meat really appeal to most guys. It makes a hearty dish.

Unless you absolutely must, refrain from putting that awful macaroni in there. Yuck. I like noodles, just not in my chili.


Make some tamales too! Yum! Real tamales steamed in corn husks. Delightful with this chili. You can also find the corn husks in the Latino section, but you can also use fresh when available to impart a fragrance into the tamale.

[link to allrecipes.com]

This uses pork loin and makes a wonderful addition to serving the chili. My mouth is watering while I write this. It's just a great recipe versus that truly awful stuff in cans or jars.

If you don't want to go to all that trouble, then make a sweet cornbread to go with the spicy chili. It offsets the flavors and usually people like that versus that strange Northern dry white cornbread some Yankees like.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 12:17 PM

Passion

Have you ever met someone and almost immediately they sucked the life right out of the room? It's like they're an energy vampire robbing the juice of life out of your bones. They're portable black holes devoid of all passion.

Some are filled with spite and angry with the world. They feel like nothing is their fault, and that the world has been cruel to them. As such they dole out a healthy measure of spite as well as robbing your energy.

Others are mournful and mope around, perpetually sad. I have compassion for these folks, because they've replaced the natural passion we have in life with a passion for sadness. They can't see beyond their sadness and it's overwhelmed them and is slowly consuming them and everyone around them in their sorrow. Since it's better to feel something than nothing, they get absorbed by their sadness.

A lot of people over time lose their passion. Since it's gone, they have to replace it somehow. Usually they live vicariously through the lives of others, and this is why they like gossip, watch some form of entertainment, and slowly and irrevocably lose what feeble flame of passion is left.

If it continues too long, the process might be impossible to reverse.

If you fit into either of these categories or know someone who's lost their passion, then there is some Hope. Once there were things that excited you. Some aspect of living thrilled you by pursing it. It might have been the thing that most enhanced your life, but because of work and other activities you pushed it away. As you did it less and less, life seemed flavorless and bland. You missed it at first, but then you shrugged your shoulders and became so disconnected from life that you became listless.

Believe it or not, unless you find some way to get re-energized or do that for someone else, then you might be written off by most people. It's difficult to be around you.

Because being around others gives us friendship and romance, even if we could do our passion as much as we wanted, we would feel crushing loneliness.

Shhhhh. It's a secret. Most people are lonely. They feel misunderstood, and yet they spend zero amount of time trying to understand others.

Somehow, you have to start doing activities that renew your passion and begin trusting people again to evaporate the loneliness around you.

It's easier to fix yourself first rather than others. If you insist that THEY get better, then you might wait forever until you turn to dust. Strangely, the more you fix yourself, the less bad they seem. In fact the more that you live into your passions and polish the rough edges, often you feel more compassionate and reach out to them. It might be that you recognize the same loneliness and lack of passion in them, and because bettering the self in a healthy way promotes altruism that you want to help them wake up.

You have to start somewhere. Most people can't begin again until they decide they want to get better. Then once they do, they begin to act passionately about that process.

Don't do things just because you have to. Do some things because you WANT to. Those are your passions.

Some of the things we DESIRE are not good for us. What we really want are passionate things that build us up. Other things may seem to make us happy, but mostly they're addictions that momentarily make us forget our sad passionless state.

Why do people have affairs? They want the romance that comes usually from being around passionate people, often young and still innocent or untouched by a lack of passion. Because that seldom lasts, it's doing something that's an addiction that can't fulfill us ultimately.

People like to go to restaurants because momentarily they are taken care of, treated with respect, offered a diverse array of flavors and sensations, and then can leave without doing the dishes or cleaning up. How much more fulfilling it would be to be passionate, raise your food, forage for it in the meadows and forests, work along side a beautiful person, harvest the food, then prepare it together with their company, and wash dishes in the kitchen together and play and kiss them at the sink and later in their arms?

You still can have all of that. Even if you think it's too late, if you decide that you need it, you can try to repair yourself, then reach out anew.

Yes, we are all getting older. We don't look the same that we did at 17, 25, 35, 45, etc.

Shhhh. It's a secret. Most of you are beautiful, you just forgot that you were. I haven't met any ugly children, not ever. I may have met a spoiled child, but in the right environment and with proper care, they grew into beautiful adults.

What changed? I think it's mostly a lack of passion, and then a redirection of the short term addictions that transformed them with the weight of these addictions. They became increasingly lonely since their activities repelled others. At some point they became cognizant that they no longer were like everyone else and so became ostracized.

It's a scary word, because it implies that someone is a Master over us, but that addiction might be defined as sin. Rather than get hung up on that word, think that it's just a word for an addiction which is a very real phenomena that you can identify and eliminate.

There's still time to fix it as long as you still are breathing.

Because those addictions give immediate pleasure, but usually impart pain the rest of the time, then they create shame and guilt. Why not try doing less addictive things and more healthy passion filled life affirming things that make you feel better?

The primary reason an addiction exists is intensity of feeling. The only way to break the cycle is to replace something else that's intense in pleasure that overcomes the transitory pleasure of the addiction. That activity is usually a healthy passion.

Because the healthy passions cannot be sold to us by corporations, they sell us whatever addictive things they can make or generate. If you don't give away your time, talent, and treasure, they can't rob you of them.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 01:52 PM

Be the substitute

While you're working on rediscovering your passion, you're going to make mistakes as you travel on the journey. That's okay, just minimize the ones that hurt people and yourself.

Slowly but surely you're going to get better. That's the nature of healing. That's right, losing your passion is a kind of psychic illness. The energy in your body, mind, and spirit ebbed away.

It took a long time to get sick, then after discovering that you're sick, you're going to do intentional things to set things right and start healing. An injured athlete cannot run a marathon, but they still can walk around the block, even if crippled. If they have enough time, will, and keep going, they will walk just as far, but not as fast.

When you start getting better, while you may not have that many friends and new romantic partners, be the substitute. You need the practice, and gosh there's lots of lonely people who need some attention.

While a lot of people are unlovable, some spark of human goodness is still inside most people. If you rely solely upon your eyesight, it will fail you. Use all of your senses as a shaman. I bet that you can still feel their goodness even if it's so very faint.

By being the substitute, you open the door to reestablishing their trust in humanity and yours. It means being gentle, kind, understanding, and forgiving.

Sometimes we only get brief moments to share friendship and romance. Some difference between us; some lack of ability impedes us; sometimes there's not the right kind of chemistry. That's OK. It's not rejection. Even if it doesn't happen, what if you decide that you're going to live in the Eternal Now and help them have the best time possible. Be positive.

Some people are energy vampires or sometimes simply selfish. If so, then don't get mad. Move on. Be the better person who took the opportunity to help them, even if momentarily.

Imagine being a substitute teacher. No one gives you respect. They don't take you seriously. You're not going to stick around. People assume that you don't know what you're doing.

What if you decide it doesn't matter what they think? What if you decide to help them, care for them, be loving, sincere, generous, and selfless? You know, someone might be aided by such actions. Maybe someone even thanks you or even smiles. Maybe someone other than the one you were helping notices and a great friendship or romance happens because of that.

As the world begins to collapse more and more, if we allow ourselves to harden our hearts, then the very things that sustain us as life affirming activities... will cease. Then, while we will survive like incarcerated prisoners, we will be essentially dead. Most people are obtuse and don't notice the tragic state of the world, and are essentially dead and don't know it. Their pulse is so weak psychically.

So, maybe you're not a gardener...yet. Be the substitute gardener for your tribe until you actually become one.

Maybe your home is in a sorry state, and you don't have money to have a carpenter fix it. You do have a mind, some health, and time. Learn some woodworking skills, make some repairs, and be the substitute carpenter.

Maybe there's no way to medically treat your illness since you're broke and don't have good insurance. Maybe if you learn how to best treat your body, learn about your condition, put some healthy food in your body, drink better water, exercise instead of giving up, you can be the substitute healer.

Maybe you totally have messed up as a spouse or friend. Just about ruined a relationship. If so, then even if the other person doesn't expect it, or even acknowledge it, why not be the substitute lover or friend that they really need? I think if you do it in all sincerity that it will help make things right. It took a long time to lose their trust. It will take what seems like forever to regain it, if at all. Do it anyway.

There's a kind of freedom in shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Oh well. I'm only the substitute.” You can laugh off a lot by self-mockery because you're not the serious expert who knows it all anyway. But you know, in time, you're going to get some things right, and you may catch your reflection in the mirror and nod and say, “Not bad for a substitute.”

All of prepping is about doing, otherwise it's an intellectual exercise that gains nothing. Go be the substitute now, even if you feel ill-equipped and not ready.

If there's a disaster of any magnitude, then maybe the Source placed you there to do your substitute role until someone else comes along. The work you do may considerably help and facilitate the work later because you were selfless while most around you were selfish.

A Transducer

A transducer is an electrical device that modulates or varies its output based upon its input.

Imagine a human being. The more they eat, the more work they can do within reason. No food = no work. Usually some work will happen with some food.

A transducer might have 0-10 volts dc (vdc) coming in or it might have 4-20 milliamps (ma)coming in in steps. On the output side, perhaps it's hooked up to an air supply and then it modulates 3-15 pounds per square inch (psi) out.

For example, at 5 vdc or at 12 ma or midrange, the transducer sends out an air signal of 9 psi.

Of what use is this? Well actually most of automation works on this principle.

If I have a valve that I want half open, and the range of the valve is 3-15 psi, then if some decision process is accomplished such that a signal is sent for midrange operation, then I use a transducer to modulate 9 psi of pressure to make the valve half way open.

Some valves should be air to close (reverse acting); others should be air to open (direct acting). Most often things are air to open. It depends upon how I want a power down operation to work. If there's no power as in power failure, then do I want no flow at all. Most likely with steam. If there's no power, I don't want steam flowing through a line. I want it shut off probably.

[Note: in an emergency, on steam lines there are relief valves called popoffs. As the pressure gets too high, the steam valve suddenly releases the pressure. In an emergency, you might witness a lot of popoff valves going off as the steam is out of control from whatever boiler operation is developing the pressure.]

Because the transducer is located in the middle, by adjusting the air output, I can actuate something in the field strictly by operating the output side. The safe way is to operate both sides and governing a modulating signal from the input side.

So, how to apply this information? At some point, we'll be recovering electronic devices in most circumstances (other than nuclear or EMP), and we'll need to have ways to partially open things or move them. This means using transducers to help control them.

Next up: sensor types in electronics

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 07:09 PM

Sensors

In a system, you need detection for various states. There are numerous kinds of detectors also called sensors. They measure some property or they respond to some material placed in front of them.

The most common is a microswitch. When an object makes contact with the microswitch, it presses against it, and you can usually hear an audible click. Inside, power is transferred as a mechanical bridge is made and power flows across the switch. It's not any different than a lightswitch. Then that power goes back to a monitoring device, often a programmable logic controller (PLC), and this senses the change in an input (all sensors are inputs) and then based upon how the program is written fires an output. An output might be a solenoid to eventually turn on a valve. See previous postings.

Many microswitches have creative arms attached to them in order to mechanically place the arm around and in physical contact with the sensor.

Have you ever taken the lid or the covering off of a device and found it wouldn't operate? Sure you have. Every microwave over has a door switch, because people frequently open the door to get their food before turning it off. This prevents you from getting a dose of microwave radiation.

If you've opened the lid on washing machine, a microswitch safety disengaged and stopped applying power to whatever cycle the washer was in. The door switch on a dryer when opened stops the dryer from operating too.

Ever burn off your oven? As the heat rises, a temperature switch senses high temp and then fires a solenoid to prevent you opening the door. A thermostat is a variable temperature switch that allows a relay to close and then turns on power to an electical element. Your toaster works the same way.

A circuit breaker is a current measuring switch that opens when too much current flows across. It's also a special sensor.

Often a protective way to ensure safety is to put several microswitches just under the cover or shroud of an electronic box, and in this manner ensure that it won't operate.

The next most common switch is a mercury switch. If you look at some old heating systems, when the dial is set inside, a mercury filled switch moves at a set temperature. When that happens electricity passes across the fluid. It's very similar to a microswitch.

Another very common sensor is a photocell. Ever wonder how the one works on your yard lights? The cell inside is set to specific wavelengths of light as well as having a sensitivity setting that determines the amount of light. When light enters the photocell, at a predetermined level, it electronically closes and most often closes a relay. This is in effect another electromagnetic switch.

Some photocells work on visible light. Sometimes a source sends out the light and then is received when in alignment. When that happens, then it sees itself and can be satisfied. You can make it operate when it is blocked or when it isn't.

Other photocells work on infrared radiation. Since there's no visible light, there's often a blinking LED indicator showing alignment. It might send out a signal to a reflector (like on bicycle) or it might be self contained based upon being in close proximity to whatever object is in front of it, and then send ing back some reflected light back into itself.

Some photocells that look at very small objects might use fiber optics to precisely measure the presence of an object even something like a mark on a page or even a letter.

Another kind of sensor might measure the presence of metal placed against it. Others work on a capacitive effect and might measure the level of material inside of a hopper. Some work as liquid level detectors in a large tank. Since water conducts, when water is made at a particular level, it then goes back to the sensing device and then clicks on the relay for set levels.

Other sensors measure pressure. When a certain amount of air pressure (or inches of vaccum) is generated, then it is satisfied and sends a signal back to that adequate pressure is there. It can prevent the operation if there isn't enough to actually be present because low pressure would result in poor operation.

Ultrasonic sensors send out a beam of energy and whatever isn't absorbed, bounces back into a receiver. These can be used as motion sensors. By moving very slowly, sometimes you can get very close before tripping one.

A reed switch works by being in contact with a magnet. If the contact is broken, so no magnet is present, then it might act as a safety to prevent operation. Sometimes these are set on alarm systems to go off if there is a misalignment. Other times a vibration sensor detects glass breakage and can also trigger an alarm.

Some sensors detect along a continuum. Let's say you have a crawlspace with gas canisters within it. If there was a leak, then the oxygen might be displaced and it would be harmful to enter. A oxygen sensor might report that less than 20.9% oxygen was present, and hence at that level a safety alarm relay is made, and an alarm condition displayed plus an audible alarm. Many times alarms (also called annunciators) and a light will BOTH go off in case one fails, the other will let you know.

There are many sensors on vehicles which measure things like barometric pressure to adjust fuel mixes to get the best gas mileage.

In an environment where things must be dry, a humidity sensor might measure the local air and if it gets high shuts down the operation, or else whatever is made could be bad product.

These are the most common sensors used in homes and in industry. All work in very similar ways, it's only their measuring method that is different.

Knowing sensor types could allow you to detect the proximity of any object within the field, a very useful activity. This is used by almost everyone who travels in a car. When the large metal mass of the vehicle comes across the sensor field in the road, then stop lights can be triggered and controlled by a master PLC, and then using timers and based upon programming, change the light to allow flow, or allow turns to occur.

Next up relays.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 08:23 PM

Relays

There are two basic kinds of relays: 1)the old electromagnet kind with coils and multiple contacts and solid state relays.

Relays that use coils operate on the same principle as solenoids (see previous postings). If you look at the sides of many of them, there is a wiring diagram which show the coil contacts and switch contacts. Power is applied to a coil, and it might be AC or DC. When energized the coil turns into an electromagnet, it changes the switch state electromechanically by pulling on a metal series of contacts.

If it is normally open, then usually no power flows across, but when energized it switches and power now flows. If normally closed, often set for safety switches or operation, then power is interrupted across the contacts.

One contact is the power side and then it when the coil is energized it flows across other contacts based upon the above details. When energized you hear them transition with an audible click. The sensor wiring might go to the coil to turn that on, or is might pass power across a relay contact instead.

A solid state relay can very quickly activate contacts but there's no mechanical element whatsoever. These tend to be flat usually black squares and one set of contacts. These are silent.
...

Sometimes there are timers on these relays. When the power is applied to the coil of the timing relay based upon a sensor (see previous postings), then after so much time, the relays close, and then power is switched.

Some have "on delay" or "off delay" or both.

On delay is “How long before it comes on?”

Let's say if a sensor sees something, to come on in fifteen seconds. That's on delay.

Off delay is “Once is comes on, how long do I want it to stay on and then go off.”
A sensor sees something, and then stays on for a set amount of time, then goes back to it's off state.

Both situations:
When a sensor is detected, turn on a light in 15 seconds and leave it on for 15 seconds then go off.

Sometimes a sensor might be tripped a lot. Maybe I want nothing to happen unless it is trigger continuously for an amount of time, and if so, then and only then do something. If not then I'll have a lot of nuisance activation.

You can easily read a electromechanical relays to see if it's good or bad. Often the coils will open up from too much activity or overvoltage. Contacts spark each time, and so black soot carbon forms and this results in resistance to power. The contacts can be cleaned, but usually you replace the relay.

One relay might typically have four contacts: two normally open (NO) contacts and two normally closed (NC) ones.

This means one sensor when triggered might fire and turn on the coil and two things might be switch “on” while also turning two things “off”.

Today a lot of times there are programmable logic controllers since these avoid relays but use input and output channels of contacts instead.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 09:26 PM

Will write for karma

Everyday if a member you get five karma points. They expire at the end of the day and then you get five more. If you like some of my postings, then keep me writing by giving me a karma point. Most likely I'll send one right back as soon as I notice as long as you identify yourself in the exchange.

I have six, when I get a few more I'll use it for ban immunity for a month, if I can get that many.

If not, or if I get negative karma, I'll write as long as I can and hopefully not get banned for writing these long articles.

I doubt I'll give out any negative karma. To me, that just ends up being a silly argument, and while certain things that people write offend me, big deal. I'm sure that I write things that offend people too. Bad karma really doesn't do anything, because trolls will always say what they want, and will just start a new account.

For me, getting green karma means that I helped someone with useful advice, which is just paying back mentors who helped me over the many decades of my life. I only want to give you good advice such that it challenges you about things, makes it easier to research what can be arcane topics given they're about old knowledge and skills, or ideally that they inspire you to research on your own and make new discoveries.

We need new ideas, but often the idea that someone comes up with has already been tried and tested, but still people exploring their ideas and passions might result in something wonderful like the new Lucia woodstove. Just think how great it would be to use less fuel, allow more trees to grow, improve the soil, facilitate water purification, make people breathe easier, heat up a room with more BTUs for less time and effort, etc.

If you have an idea, and want help, and I know anything, or simply want some advice, I'm glad to help if it's possible and doesn't hurt anyone.

A lot of people don't prep because they think their personal situation is hopeless. In reality, the worst seldom happens. It might be that we can figure out a better way to do something that saves you money, effort, time, and resources by doing it some old or new way that you haven't heard of.

Some of you could certainly teach me. I'd be excited to hear some idea that you have.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/02/2013 12:24 AM

Sex when the SHTF

A lot of people have no idea about sexuality other than what they witness in movies or porn. Sad, even tragic, isn't it? That's hardly going to help you develop a healthy sexual relationship which is largely about trying to fulfill the needs of your significant other or spouse. If you read about porn, and the lives of the actors, then you come to understand just how damaged they are by it.

In fact, if you're a lousy lover, doesn't that fact make you cringe? Don't you want to make them happier, feel more secure, overwhelm them with pleasure, and even impress them?

To choose the opposite seems callous. If you don't care, then why are you still with them? It can't be because of the meatloaf.

As more and more stress falls upon us as couples, then we have to lean more and more upon each other. To me, things have already collapsed somewhat, and it's only going to get worse. Now is the time to learn how to best communicate with your lover and learn how to please them again.

You must have pleased them once, or else it's doubtful that they would have stayed. In time, people's passion drops off (see previous postings) and so what often happens is a loss of respect for their bodies and then they feel inhibited and less beautiful or handsome. This can really damage a relationship, because the other person feels disrespected. The idea was that your body was a gift to them, as was their body was a gift to you. One or both of you damaged the gift, but all is not lost. You can't turn back the clock entirely, but you sure can get healthier and learn new things.

If things are tense and stressful, then it's terrible at bedtime. Things can get so bad that not only is sex painfully awkward, but even touching each other makes both of you feel bad. The stress is usually about money, and of course since the global economy is in the toilet, this means bad sex all around.

Instead, if you learn to focus on one another, make time for real romance and affection, then at bedtime you can take comfort in the fact that both of you will try, not to please themselves, but each other.

While both of you could learn to masturbate well enough to be momentarily happy, it's doubtful that it will suffice. Mostly people who do that feel sadness and more lonely afterward.

While many guys say they don't care for romance, to be honest don't you enjoy it when someone new flirts with you by making eye contact, laughs at your jokes, makes an effort to get closer, gives you their phone number? You really are romantic, it's just that the attention of a new person means that you still “got it”. Guess what, most of you still do. You don't need to find it elsewhere, it's just that it affirms you as a man.

The same is almost always true of women. All of the little attention is like the sweetest candy, especially when you get older. It causes a genuine sincere smile to form at the corners of your mouth because another person thought you were attractive.

People have a sincere hunger for attention and sexual pleasure. Surprisingly, a lot of affairs happen and the other person doesn't look better, they just give the lonely person the attention that they crave and become desperate for.

Sometimes it's mercenary, and become largely about who will provide more for the other. There's nothing to be done if that's the case, as the other person has decided that you're not providing for their needs whatever that may be.

Much of sexual pleasure and romance is certainly an aspect of understanding and reading the other person. While some people are painfully shy and can't share what they most desire for fear or embarrassment, most will gladly tell you if they've had a chance to relax, feel that you're sincere and not judgmental, and perhaps an adult beverage or two is consumed for liquid courage.

Guys, most women cannot reach orgasm vaginally unless you have sufficient girth and length. It's why they fake it. This is entirely fixable even if embarrassing. Regardless most women enjoy other forms of stimulation and can reach orgasm with technique and patience and a sincere desire to please them. There are numerous healthy videos which explain techniques for touching the clitoris or G-spot either manually, with a device, or orally. Don't be shy. Learn instead and become the one that takes care of her.

A lot of guys have stopped acting like attractive alpha males and have become so cowed that they stopped respecting themselves as well as you too. Dressing better, exercising, being assertive but not dominating, being strong and a rock that will care for them, being masculine, you know what women enjoy, you just stopped trying. When around the ones who flirt with you, have you noticed that you act differently? Maybe you're being an alpha male around them, but not her.

Ladies, you know that guys like variety and to have their ego stroked. You just stopped wanting to change things up and to respect them. They desire all kinds of predictable things, but maybe you feel like your self-confidence is lacking and you'll be silly. I doubt it. Most guys actually feel wonderfully surprised and pleased when a lady makes any attempt for novelty at all. Maybe saying naughty things aloud will have the desired effect?

Most of the time you feel exhausted at the end of the day, make yourself plainer but cleaner, then turn in for bed, and stopped trying to entice him. You know that many guys want manual and oral stimulation. It's no different than your own desires. Some guys want forbidden things, and as long as you two carefully negotiate things, you can find some middle ground for trying them. If they hurt, then you're doing something wrong, for seldom is sex about pain. Often it's about one or the other liking the feeling of being momentarily helpless and out of control, and that alone can make sex very exciting.

Losing weight, exercising, eating better, wearing make up to bed like you do when going to work, being playful and attentive, all of the normal alpha female things that got his attention in the first place. You know, the same things that maybe you still do when lightly flirting and teasing at work. You haven't lost the ability.

Both of you have to rely upon each other when situations get rough and even perilous. There won't be anyone else taking care of your tribe, just the two of you. In an economic collapse, you'll be working perhaps three times as hard for meager amounts of food if not prepared. A lot of guys will actually desire more sex because it's stress relief. If you don't work this out now, then if an economic situation worsens then you'll be very unhappy.

If contraception is a concern, as it sometimes impedes sexual pleasure, then you do alternative ways of pleasing one another. There are few times when a woman receives romantic attention, plus a massage, and gets some relief from chores... that she can't still reach orgasm, but it doesn't have to involve penetration, does it?

That means guys that you're doing those things, because if not, then sex is mechanical and really terrible. I don't know about you, but for me when the other person is not excited, it totally blocks me. It make me feel awful and disconnected. The idea is to become one and so close and connected and intimate as if immersed within each other's being. If one person is just vaguely going through the motions, then it's the antithesis of the goal.

Work on making your intimate communication great NOW. The more you do this, and take care of each other's needs, the easier all of preparedness becomes. Then you have secret smiles, moments when you can steal a kiss still, and it's akin to the Fountain of Youth.

Regardless if you think that this isn't a preparedness topic, it is in fact a major preparedness topic for couples. If you're not very connected as friends and lovers then how in world will you cope with the tragedy and possible horror of collapse?

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/01/2013 10:53 PM

The worst aspect of the Great Depression: abandoned families

Many many men and some women simply walked out the door and never contacted their families or came back during the Great Depression. The overwhelming loss of status created shame. Fortunes were lost, homes were too, people lost their jobs and hence their identity, and they abandoned their families.

You might think that writing about relationships has little to do with preparedness. Actually, I'm severely concerned, because many of you reading this might at some point try to head for a new state, find temporary work there, and then slowly but surely things fall apart back home. The costs of paying for two domiciles, separate food and transportation expenses, leads to loneliness and then coping. Since money is so tight, fewer and fewer opportunities exist to come back home. Often it will be a timing issue, for maybe you have to be back to work, and not only is this cost prohibitive, but also the logistics of getting there and back again in sufficient time unrealistic.

Because you're talking far less, and people get lonely, they tend to cope in poor ways. Attention from anyone is so welcome that affairs happen easily. Because people were stressed when they left each other's company, and because it might have been angry or created great disharmony, then it's actually a relief that the other is gone. It means less stress from their presence and welcome quiet after a hard day.

Lonely neighbors will often exacerbate the situation. They'll put doubt in your head, talk about their own failed marriages, talk about being lonely and praise your qualities, and the next thing you know, perhaps sharing your bed. They might be putting very destructive ideas in your head, right when you're trying to cope economically by the sacrifice of your loved one moving.

There's been many times in history that immigrants moved to a new place, and then sent money home for a time, and then got lost in the new culture. This can happen to anyone. The new place is lonely and yet the newness is exciting, and you get ideas in your head as a single person (in fact if not in actuality).

The SHTF then. The real kind ...and most commonly experienced by couples.

Seldom has any couple in history made more money after a divorce. Most have to settle for far lower standards of living, and the choice to divorce can be ruinous to the plans of both. Even if you meet someone afterward, because they know that you've been in a relationship before, and perhaps they have too, the long decision-making process to separate is well trod by then, and easier to navigate, and suddenly you're divorced again. Then it becomes very difficult to make things work out positively.

Economic collapses or any kind of SHTF scenario will result in terribly disrupted family life. The very best way you can prepare is by being frugal and learning to love one another again and becoming MORE connected than you were when first in love.

Maybe EMP won't happen in our lifetime. Maybe a solar flare will miss us. Maybe the plague will happen many generations hence, but divorce and abandonment can surely happen to anyone at anytime, but particularly when the economic situation is so untenable.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/02/2013 12:52 PM

Understanding bacteria and bacteria counts

Here's a link to a scientific study of thawing meat over a six hour period in a refrigerator, immersed in water, and simply thawed at room temperature. As a control, the frozen meat was measured for bacteria counts as well.

[link to www.kon.org]

The meat that was thawed in water was quite high in contamination, but the meat thawed in air was also very high too. Both are unsafe ways to thaw meat. This is why in a restaurant or in a facility that prepares food for the public, meat is thawed in refrigerators and food is cooked to medium or longer unless specifically asked.

Because in history people used river water to cool things down as a quasi-sort of refrigeration, but river water can be contaminated by agricultural runoff (manure and chemical fertilizer plus pesticides), that's an iffy proposal. Things were probably much safer a long time ago.

In a collapse, there will be few times you have refrigeration. While you may have some limited refrigeration in Winter, it can be very variable based upon location. While making a Zeer pot (see previous postings) will extend the shelf life of certain foods, it won't cool significantly like a refrigerator. Using an unheated attic or digging a root cellar are two previous postings to assist people with refrigeration needs.

It will be fairly common for a large meal to be made in the evening, then consumed, but with leftovers that might probably be eaten in the morning or maybe at lunch. This can be quite bad for your health unless adequately heated. Eating more in the evening instead can be a better coping mechnism.

A stew or soup might serve as a perfect growth medium for bacteria. You don't have perfect heat control like you do with microwave ovens or electric ranges. You most likely are heating things on grills outside, or using a Dakota Hole fire pit, or a rocket stove. Some people will end up cooking on woodstoves. Smart people will learn to use dutch ovens and fire pits. All of these topics have been discussed here.

These often have intense heat, and so food burns easily until people get used to using them. Still, you're wanting to always cook things at a higher heat, because since there's no refrigeration, the bacteria counts is always VERY HIGH. These are abnormal conditions for most people, because we live in an era of very fast food prep.

A recent topic on haybox heating is one historical method of controlling heating rates and makes soups and stews safely. Still they should be consumed right away, and made in small portions versus the normal large batch. It all depends upon the size of your tribe.

One way to do that is by adding boiling water directly to the stew first, then stirring that and cooking it over coals until it boils some and letting the steam evaporate off. If reheating meat, you might set up a steam bath so the steam penetrates the meat. You will not eat rare meat ever.

Cutting meat into small portions means less cooking time and more thoroughly cooks the meat. Since you won't have endless amounts of firewood, it will be unusual to roast meat on a spit, despite thinking that this will be the primary method. Such ways of cooking allow meat to be quite rare in the center and unwise.

Game or livestock meat will be taken at various outside temperatures, but the animal is alive so at much higher temperatures. Then it's usually butchered on site to remove viscera, and it's very easy to accidentally cut innards and taint meat to bacteria (E coli) in the gut. Then of course it's transported to your campsite, and you can have meat exposed to much higher temperatures than you might have imagined, and so the bacteria count gets higher and higher.

It's not just meat, but milk, eggs, all produce, etc will have bacteria on it in some amounts. Remember that botulism spores live in soil. It used to be a very common illness.

Some bacteria even in very low counts is quite toxic. Shigella is often mentioned for the reason.
[link to biology.about.com]

The link above lists the most common food bacteria including symptoms from food poisoning and the food that the bacteria most often infects.

The bacteria study above probably was measuring Salmonella.

The reason that meat in your grocery is short-dated is that the longer the meat sits around on the shelf, even with refrigeration, the higher and higher the bacteria count will get that spoils it. Since you can't taste bacteria, you don't know that you're getting dosed with it.

Because your immune system always suffers when stressed: worry, lack of sleep, lack of calories, poor amounts of vitamins and minerals, etc, PLUS you no longer have refrigeration and varied cooking controls, you're going to have to become very wise about food preparation.

Food poisoning will be common in your tribe. People will do foolish things because of what they're used to doing and getting away with ordinarily. Since food poisoning often spreads from cook to consumer, and then passed along the fecal route from hand to hand, one infection can infect every tribe member.

It also can easily infect your water supply. One careless person who then taints the water jugs because it's their turn to fetch or purify water can make everyone ill. Since you don't want excessive bleach in your water for taste as well as health, you must be careful about drawing water and handling it.

Practice cooking over a fire NOW. Folks that camp a lot encounter things and then it wakes them up. They begin to see issues and usually learn to cope in the field with hygiene. Having a little water with drops of bleach inside a spray bottle allow you to clean up some, but also clean the outside of anything you touch with dirty hands. People are careless when handling food like breaking eggs.

I don't want you to get obsessive-compulsive about washing hands, but learn to be cleaner by carefully using standard operating protocols. It is wisdom to teach children in the kitchen about cleanliness. I know many of you probably have let your children slide on kitchen detail, but that's not a good idea. You are empowering them by teaching them how to take care of everyone. This includes good hunting and fishing practices.

Exploring all of these basic issues: food prep, hygiene, cooking techniques, building fires, making a Zeer pot, butchering, hunting, health and safety, these must be known to each tribe member. The longer you delay in teaching your tribe, the worse it will be for them post-collapse. If they have to wait until then to learn, they will be overwhelmed. If taught these skills (that every child in America knew before 1920) then it will be common practice done routinely, and perhaps even enjoyed as family time. I had great times doing these things in the field and in the kitchen with my children and wife. Chores can be fun if storytelling, joking, teasing, and listening is done at the same time.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/02/2013 12:43 PM

Because taxes are increasing, you need to learn to prep

Now that taxes are increasing, but your wages are staying the same, and inflation is robbing you of food through increased prices and smaller portions, prepping is more important than ever. Get over the idea that prepping seems extreme, and instead do a mind-shift and prep the way YOU think you need to prepare. You might not agree with my spirituality, ethos, manner, whatever. What's important is to learn skills and how to buy supplies. I don't want you to agree with me about some things, I want you to be safe, secure, and happy. Then you will have a higher more life affirming life, even when living on less money.

If you just saw a pay decrease of $50, then you've either got to cut what meager extras you did each week, or learn to do things yourself to save that $50, or you've got to eat more simply, or all of those things plus whatever you can learn on your own. Chances are you can't just work another job or more hours. If you can, at some point that time away from home results in less parenting, less closeness with family, and perhaps issues with your spouse.

Most people have things in their home that they purchased that they don't need. It's Winter now, but in the Spring consider a rummage sale. Sell things that are foolish shiny toys. If you bought them, someone else will too. Don't sell important things that you might need in a collapse, but if you have extra things beyond what is normal and expected, then maybe with guns going from high demand, then perhaps you don't need as many. Be prudent.

If you have a skill, and a buddy or a family member has a need, maybe you can do a trade in labor, materials, or money. Many times a job is too big for one person. Since we all have things in our homes and yard that need to be done, why not volunteer to help them get their task done, and then yours. Even if you don't know how to do something perfectly, can you do it good enough as a substitute (see previous postings)? I think you can as long as you're wise and take your time. Measure twice, cut once. If in doubt, and your skill level is higher, you do the work on critical things, but still teach them so you have extra help. However, no one learns unless they actually take a chance sometimes and do it themselves. Mistakes will happen, even very fine craftsmen make mistakes but they learn to fix them before anyone sees!

Believe me, a small child can still be a great Go-fer (they fetch tools, and learn what they do, and observe techniques, and it can be quality time. There's a great scene in An Unfinished Life where a girl's grandpa teaches her how to repair a truck by simply being his Go-fer. Then though not close at all, they become real family.


Real prepping is about learning ways to be frugal, having more quality family life, being close to the Earth and God, and building self-confidence. Yes, some preppers have ideas about why the world is the way it is, and you're not going to always agree with them about those beliefs. In the meantime, you can learn a lot of valuable things.

If I teach you how to save $500 a year, just think how long it would have taken to earn that money. Chances are if you learn how to fix something, it didn't just save you $500, it saved you money over and over again until the end of your days.

I'm a meat eater. Still despite that, I have an appreciation for vegetarian cooking because people throughout history ate simply, and because of that they learned how to use spices and flavors to create inexpensive meals. Sometimes they really taste great. Like stuffed shells:


Learning some new recipes expands your cooking skills, exposes you to new ingredients, and you might end up modifying the recipe, or make your own based upon those flavors, or even like it. I add spinach to the stuffed shells recipe and this improves the nutrition for minimal expense and maybe I have spinach in the garden.

Prepping is never about doing pointless things, but doing practical things that help us live now. Most people think it's about storing up food for Armageddon. NO! It's about eating better now, building strength, learning to grow it, improving one's life, having more financial security.

In an emergency, you don't assume anything

Real life is not like reel life in the movies. There a brooding hero makes snap decisions because the marketing team working with a director and script writer want demographic appeal to individuals so that their entertainment is commercially successful.

In real life, teamwork is crucial and communicated out loud. If people have ideas and then react to their ideas, the other team members have no idea what they're going to do. That unpredictability will get people killed by accident and unnecessarily.

Not every person approaching in an emergency is the enemy. Most are probably severely disoriented by lack of food, sleep, stress, and have seen violent things happen that they never imagined. Think instead of panicky people running around randomly and purposelessly, and that's more akin to the initial situation.

Because some of your tribe members are armed and new to the group dynamics, they'll react as if still in control of their lives and not thinking of the best ways for the group to respond. You'll have to totally reteach them, and insist upon people explaining what they're doing.

Make people look at you and tell you what they're thinking of doing. Their words, manner, and eye contact will reveal a lot under stress about their true intentions even if unaware themselves.

Some people will be very angry on your team or not, and will seek revenge because of the release of emotion. I can't think of a more volatile situation than that. It could get a lot of people hurt, and in a collapse, loss of a valuable teammate is lethal to everyone. Imagine if your healer gets injured or your chief agricultural person, or engineer? Most of the team will have some crucial skill and you can't afford to lose any of them.

In time, you'll develop an standard operating protocol (SOP) for handing a situation, and that will evolve based upon the experience level of the group in security and in military training. Since maybe one in ten actually used their basic training skills in those areas, a lot of people won't have practical experience in soldiering. Don't assume, “Oh, they're a Marine, they know what to do.” They may have been a quartermaster or clerk in transport, not a gunnery sergeant, and don't really know what to do at all. They also may have pulled duty in a very quiet area with no real risks at all.

Some older soldiers may have experience, but they might not be good communicators. Others may be be too old to remember what to do, despite being in firefights.

Most people feel wretched when they're forced to use a weapon against another. Because you might feel uneasy and because one person can get hyped up the whole group, you have to help de-stress the group by talking both individually and together as teammates. One person can infect the group with any emotion. Talking helps to defuse it. You have to build in time for this.

When encountering strangers, it's not great for lots of people to be simultaneously talking to them. It's disorienting and confusing. Usually in social situations someone is the alpha leader and speaks for many, and then slowly you get to know others. This is a good plan.

Imagine a stranger speaking a foreign language and the communication issues and misunderstandings. Since a lot of people have cultural differences, something similar could happen, and what is normal in one place is totally abnormal and even hostile during an emergency.

When meeting strangers and not knowing their intentions, you have to assume that they might be a probe. They're deliberately coming in for intel, and because in a disaster a lot of people are hungry for information, they might also give up valuable intel to strangers because they assume they're friendly. DUMB DUMB DUMB. In minutes very critical information can be transmitted that put everyone in jeopardy. You must isolate strangers to a trusted group who will monitor them and ascertain their true intentions.

Don't also assume that everyone is out to get you by being paranoid. Most of the time, people will be lost and seeking help. They might have valuable skills but poor communicators. They might know something that really helps your tribe, and if so and they're good people, they could strengthen your tribe.

A good leader in a tribe needs a confidant or adviser. If you keep all your ideas locked up inside, then you won't have a chance to bounce them off another. This has to be someone you trust implicitly with your life and who is utterly discrete. If they breathe a word of what you're thinking, it will spread like wildfire and become your position in fact. Maybe that's a plan for five years down the road, but now it's taken on a life of its own. Because it may take a long time to carefully negotiate and persuade people of a new idea, you could ruin your own ideas if communicated too early before the group is ready and able to follow through.

Most disasters are not times when security is paramount. People need help, and because you've had some training, some aspect of your skills might be very useful to save lives. However don't assume that you or they know what to do. Find the team leader who's ramrodding the job (see previous postings). Work with them to see what they want accomplished. Dovetail that with your ability and skill level. They're carefully managing group dynamics to get the most work done, help the most people, and keep everyone safe.

In a disaster, people often do foolish heroics because they saw it on TV or in a film. I'll tell you that a lot of times, rescuers need to be rescued. There's a heroic scene in End of Watch where many children are saved. Yeah it's a brave thing they did, but they entered a raging fire without breathing masks and of course got burned and one was panicking and they could have died of smoke inhalation easily. Don't assume you can wing it. Be brave but use teamwork.

Fire will be a very common issue post-collapse, and you'll need trained experts with experience who will reestablish fire control again. This means learning what to do and not assuming. Otherwise it's a just a random mess as people do what they think is right.

Processed cheese: should you be eating it?

I've included many links from across the spectrum (for, neutral, and against) concerning processed cheese.

Some processed cheese has a good shelf life. That's a consideration for some preppers. Since people don't have cows or goats, and often no access to someone who does, then in the event of a collapse, getting the casein proteins and calcium is an issue (see previous postings).

You should know instinctively that cheese is not really a health food. However it is a good survival food, and delicious. Any food with high fat content helps since it produces twice the number of calories per gram versus protein or carbs.

However a lot of food has odd additives in order to preserve it, or simply because it lowers the cost of the food in manufacturing. Personally I'd rather eat real cheese. Real cheese is expensive since it's concentrated food. It means it's a treat to eat it occasionally, and as such by eating in moderation quite safe.

I don't know about processed food. I definitely think some processed cheese has a place for prepping and survival because it's stable at room temperature.

Whey is a valuable protein. See previous postings on it. It will lead to good muscle growth after exercise.

On the other hand, there is also imitation cheese which is actually nothing more than flavored soybean oil. I wouldn't eat that if you paid me. You have to ask yourself, “Would you drink from your soybean oil container for a meal?” I doubt it. Knowing that, why waste money on it?

Reading labels to learn the nutritional value and using good critical thinking is vital to prepping.

Here's some links so you can make an informed decision. Probably some people should avoid it and processed food in general.

Sources:
[link to junkfoodscience.blogspot.com]
[link to food-safety.knoji.com]
[link to pubs.acs.org]
[link to en.wikipedia.org]
[link to www.msu.edu (secure)]

Urban Homesteading

Here's a great award winning video on urban homesteading. They are remarkably successful on 1/10 of an acre. What one person can do, another can do. Realize though that while they transformed really terrible soil, it took 20 years.

Why are you still waiting? Make some small effort now.



Here's their website.
[link to urbanhomestead.org]

It's a very sweet empowering film.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/02/2013 01:17 PM

Is this a working inexpensive crystall cell battery?

[link to peswiki.com]

There's been on-going interest in crystal cells since John Hutchenson first discussed them. While the process of course has not been revealed, it has been independently verified by seven witnesses.

Many things can happen which interfere with a product going to market, however it is exciting news.

It is possible that one day experimenters could produce their own ecologically friendly batteries by growing them. Then these could power small devices without high amperage needs.

It would eliminate our need perhaps on rare earth metals, we don't know yet, and these are very polluting for landfills. This would help by not polluting groundwater as well.

Such an idea has merit for rural people of all kinds.

There are many people experimenting with the idea. If we could develop them locally from common materials, it would significantly affect billons of lives.

Bugging out across the Mississippi River

Here's a very long well written article on bugging out from the eastern side of the Mississippi River to the far less dense Western half of the USA. He explains the logistical issues of fuel very well and a way to manage it.

I urge folks who are considering such a flight to safety, to read it because it will make you think and consider your personal situation.
[link to www.survivalblog.com]

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/04/2013 01:19 AM

While predictions are garbage, here's my thoughts on 2013

As the financial crisis deepens, I think that it will be all too easy to declare WW3 in the Middle East. Doing so will allow for a huge military buildup which will likely also cause the sale of armaments to foreign countries.

Historically this happened during the Great Depression. It reversed the downward trend, not the actions of FDR as is commonly believed.

During WW2, ground, sea, and air forces for the USA required 16 million troops. That's equally likely and would provide employment. It also would employ ten times that amount of people in armaments plus support. Then there would be other economic effects from this occurring. (16,112,566 )
[link to www.ncmuseumofhistory.org]

Because there's an equally likely issue with domestic unrest, it's highly likely that troops will be defending the homeland, not only to protect weapons manufacturing, but for security and to maintain stability.

See:
Thread: Complexity Theorists Predict Food Crisis, Riots and Civil Unrest By April 2013

If you're a person under the age of 35, in reasonable health, there's a good possibility that you could be drafted. If that happens, then there's a good chance that any war could last at least two years, maybe longer.

Remember, most people who are employed as soldiers make less than their current civilian salary. While there is great honor is serving in the military, it comes at a cost to families.

This means a lot of the material in this topic is very pertinent. Some of you will end up being soldiers. Some of you will be employed by support and direct defense industries. Some of you will have issues with rationing. All of you will have to make do with less by creating food yourself. Many of you may end up repairing things because a spouse is working more or on a front somewhere.

If enacted, your taxes are increasing. The average American family (77%) will pay $1635 more in 2013. Others will pay far more.

You need to come up with an extra $63 every two weeks to pay for this mess. It's very possible to do that by using some of the methods illustrated here.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/02/2013 02:24 PM

Understanding electrical issues in a disaster

In a disaster, it's highly likely that the power will go off. Let's say that you have high wind or an ice storm, power lines can go down from the strong gusts or the much heavier mass now carried by the utility pole. Even if that holds, a near by tree could easily fall, and hit a transformer.

The power on the electrical line is 12,500 volts alternating current (vac). Then as it is distributed, it is stepped down across a transformer usually to 120 vac to your home, and it then powers small appliances routinely at that voltage or it's hooked up to 240 vac to power large appliances.

When an electrical wire from the main line is down, then it sends power into the ground and it also transmits power across conductors like metal or water. If it fell immediately in front of you, if you were to take a step back on one leg, you would be electrocuted because there's no voltage on one leg, and all of that high voltage on the other. The potential difference, the real definition of a volt, will kill you. What you're supposed to do is leap back on both legs forcefully to get past the voltage.

When electrocuted, the power will seek to go to ground, and often will blow off fingers and toes as well as creating severe burns. When people are burned, they lose the ability to fight infection since there's no skin to protect them. They also can't control their temperature. In a collapse, being severely burned means death.

When there's a disaster, there are often surges of power. These surges might occur from numerous shorts that are created, and cause explosions of transformers. These can start fires. Since they can occur in numerous places, and if there's ice, then it can create real havoc for firemen to put out the fire, or even to get to the fire, or to open the hydrant. All of this creates delays when urgency is needed.

Any sparking can cause secondary fires. There's a lot of flammable material. Imagine the danger of an electrical fire around fueled vehicles or a gas station.

Because in a disaster, there's a lot of rubberneckin' or spectators looking to see what's going on, this creates traffic issues and could impede the extinguishing of a fire. They also could create safety issues or get hurt.

A surge in power might result in numerous low voltage conditions in which makes your appliance or device use MORE current than normal and may fry it. Don't ever continue to operate devices when the lights are dimming. SHUT THEM OFF. Imagine frying the compressor in your refrigerator in a bad ice storm and not having it, and losing all the food.

Obviously if there's an electrical fire, don't throw water on it. You need and should have an extinguisher in your home.

In industrial settings, often computer rooms use a halon fire suppression system. This uses up all of the oxygen so a fire goes out faster. If you're in the room, you could suffocate.

By the way, if you have a woodstove or fireplace, they make a product that can be placed in the fire to extinguish it versus fighting a 2000 deg F fire.


If the power goes out, and everyone has left things on, then what happens upon power coming back on is a brownout from a huge immediate drain on the power. Turn everything off, but turn on one light. Then you'll know when the power is back on.

In Winter, the air humidity is very low, and static easily builds up. We all know this from removing a sweater at night and seeing the static blue flashes of electricity. If you can, watch that to see just how much there is.

In a collapse, people may try to remove fuel from their vehicles or even by manually pumping from a gas station. This same static can easily ignite the fumes that are always coming off of fuel. Only in specially designed environments or using special brass tools can you eliminate sparking from static. See previous postings on this issue.

In an economic collapse, or even today, some people will squat in urban environments. They illegally move into an abandoned building and then run illegal power to their building. One could easily be seriously hurt doing this. Utility workers use special gloves when handling high voltage to protect themselves and these are annually tested to check for cracks in the insulating material.

If you don't hook up a generator properly by disconnecting the incoming power, you could have issues if the power was restored while generating your own power. You need a transfer switch:
[link to powerequipment.honda.com]

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/04/2013 01:24 AM

Making your own butter

Anyone that had a cow and hence milk and cream made their own butter on the frontier. Some people love the fresh taste of just churned butter, but of course no one enjoys churning butter. No naughty comments please!

Making butter is very simple.



This butter won't have any additives. You can flavor it easily. It also tastes much better. Imagine fresh baked bread like New York city bread (see previous postings) and fresh butter. Yum.

Believe it or not, you can merely place the cream in a capped jar and shake it, and eventually butter will form as well as buttermilk.


Why bother? Well first, milk prices are going to rise since price supports will either be done away with or lessened. This means all milk based products will also rise too.

It's good to learn new things. The more you can make yourself, the better off you are. A cook always looks to see what new or old techniques can they utilize to create the most varied diet and save money.

You don't want your kids to just take things for granted, but learn how things were made...right?

Offering things like homemade butter when guests are around impresses them. Most people haven't tried it, and when they do, they're surprised by how it tastes. Oxygen is always the enemy of foods, and so whatever is made and then placed in wax paper is older and won't taste as good. They put stabilizers in that, and so that changes the taste too.

Please tell me that you don't put unhealthy margarine in your body. If you really think that butter is unhealthy (it really isn't), then skip it entirely and just use olive oil instead. Margarine is terrible for humans. I haven't had a bit of margarine (that I know of) in many decades of my life. It's revolting compared to butter.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/02/2013 05:02 PM

Making cheese

It's very easy to make cheese. It takes minutes. It may not be the cheese that you're used to, but a very soft cheese that's excellent on fresh tomatoes and basil leaves, or crumbled up feta cheese in a salad or sandwich, and using whole goat's milk you can make other delicious flavors. I've included something like fresh mozzarella, not that grotesque version you probably have bought in the supermarket aisle, but something closer to what Italians would eat. There's also a Parmesan recipe too.

Simple soft cheese

Feta Cheese


Parmesan Cheese


Look how simple that cheese press would be to make from common hardware. It would make a good first project rather than buying one.

Cheeses are expensive, and learning now how to make some fresh means saving a trip to the store and eating better and maybe saving a lot of money.

Mozzarella
[link to www.instructables.com]

Be balanced. A lot of vegetarians eat too much cheese because it's allowed, but it's also a lot of fat, so use some moderation. The goal was to get healthier as well as eating ethically, right?

There are many recipes which call for soft cheeses like Ricotta . You can make that too.


Others are aged and use special flavoring, and you can make those too if you just spend a minimal amount of time and purchase some supplies.

Or since things are going to get more and more expensive, you can give up eating delicious food and eat junk.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/02/2013 05:34 PM

Purify your own water instead

While some bottled water tastes very good, it's really a mystery about the means by which some bottled water is made. Some is of dubious origin and possibly is not as pure as your city water. That speaks volumes because a lot of city water is toilet to tap.

It only makes sense to learn how to purify water now, and especially to save money by doing it yourself, and carrying a water bottle.

We all consume too many calories. I'm an old fart, who used to drink juice from a miniscule juice glass. That was the norm. Now people drink what they think is "fresh" orange juice, and it's really vacuum packed orange juice that once was fresh, but then flavor enhancers added to make it seem fresh. It's loaded with calories.

Drinking water is far better for your health and waistline, but can be very expensive if you go the bottled water route.

You can purchase lots of kinds of water purifiers, and I've discussed those. If you're purifying a lot of water, then they make ones that over the long haul save you a lot of money versus using bottled water.

Because landfill space is always at a premium, they're looking for ways to cut down on trash, so it's a matter of time before more and more municipalities either add on a fee (like they do in New England) for plastic containers, or simply don't allow them at all.

This is a very simple way to save money and not worth arguing over. If you drank all bottled water in the amounts you're supposed to drink it, then the corporations are laughing at you because you don't know how pure that water is despite tasting better.

Unless you bake your own bread, stop eating sandwiches

Maybe my taste buds have simply changed, but the bread that's sold in the supermarket today tastes bad. I don't know if it's GMO wheat, or too much cellulose added or what. I think they're cutting costs, and the product is suffering.

Cellulose is actually created from wood pulp. It's true. They separate it, remove the flavor of the wood from it, and it's added to tons of food items that you're eating. They also bleach it to remove the coloring.

While fiber in the diet is a good thing for sweeping away the debris in your intestines, it's a bad thing to be putting wood pulp through our systems. It's just a ploy to advertise “high fiber” for minimal expense by the corporations. Do you really want to be a lab rat for their experiment?

There are tons of natural foods that give you excellent fiber in your diet (beans, a potato, some steel cut oatmeal). If you really want to stay healthy, why not eat those instead of relying upon some awful processed food to get enough of the daily recommended amount?

It's very simple to cook some pita bread. See previous postings. In fact, you SHOULD be making your own pita bread so that you're used to making it in case there's a disaster and you need to. It tastes delicious and makes it easy to make a sandwich.
[link to mideastfood.about.com]

The next time you visit the delicatessen section at the grocery, read the sides of the meat they sell, Many are NOT 100% meat, but fillers. This means you're eating something, some pressed substance into your roast beef or pastrami. It may taste fine, but do you really want that in your body?

Why not purchase some real meat, one that's been farm raised from a reliable grower, and cook and slice it, and put that between a pita pocket? It will taste far better, and most certainly will be cheaper and healthier.

A lot of people don't eat pork. It is still a cheap meat. If you cook it well, then you can make very inexpensive meals that taste delicious and works well for leftovers and sandwiches. It doesn't make sense to buy some fake ham in the deli that isn't 100% ham. Thinnly cut pork loin is very cheap as long as you cut it yourself. Otherwise you're going to spend way too much money on pork chops. Plus...no bone.

If you're going to save money, you should be making your own lunch. A regular sandwich can be the most boring lunch ever. However if you make an organically grown peanut butter and honey sandwich, it can be quite delicious. Buy some good homemade preserves otherwise you're just eating a lot corn syrup too plus flavorings.

A lot of peanut butter is terrible and contains lard, the most artery clogging substance known to man. I like lard on rare occasions for cooking, especially frying. I don't want it in my peanut butter. It's a filler for the corporations to save money since it's largely a waste product. In a survival situation, lard is a good thing because we don't want to waste food.

Try making a salad of fresh greens to get tons of vitamins, or even putting that and some feta cheese on your sandwich. Fresh basil is delicious in a sandwich.

You can make delicious sprouts at home, then you know that they're safe (because there have been issues with then in the stores), and they're loaded with nutrients, and some have wonderful flavors and some are spicy to give your sandwich a kick.

Stop eating the garbage that you purchase as a convenience food. If you've ever baked at all, you know that bread gets stale quickly. The only reason that store bought bread doesn't is a lot of additives that can't be good for you.

There is a world of difference in eating some fresh New York city bread (here it is again) and making a sandwich of that, toasted with melted cheese or just fresh, versus eating that ersatz junk bread.


Don't you deserve to eat better? As a guy, a lot of times I end up eating something because I'm trying to save time, but then I always sigh because it was such a pitiful repast. If I'm working hard, heck I deserve to eat something delicious as long as it's not expensive.

Think about making some chicken tacos and heating that up instead. Soft shell tacos are easy to make and delicious and hot versus some old cold miserable sandwich. A fish taco is great.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/02/2013 06:51 PM

Refrigeration methods: Part One

This will be a general overview of refrigeration methods. If there's interest, I'll write something more in depth. I've discussed some of these separately, but there are always limitations of them too, which I will illustrate here.

In history, there are a few ways that tribal people coped to cool and preserve food. The easiest way to preserve food by refrigeration is to only eat those foods that require refrigeration at certain times when the weather or conditions will permit it. Logical, right? If it colder in Winter, then you use the cooler weather to extend your food storage.

Cooler means lower bacteria counts. See previous postings. The warmer a food product is in general, the higher the amount of bacteria on it. If immersed in water, that's one more path for bacteria to travel upon.

A root cellar is the most common method of refrigeration. Since the Earth has a natural 55 deg F (12.8 deg C) temperature, then by placing food in this chilled area will extend the amount of time food can be preserved. This means excavating and shoring up a framework and insulating with the Earth and then ensuring that is dry from the elements and constantly watching for pests since you've placed a cache within.

Remember mold can be an issue as well. Since vinegar is an enemy of mold, spray a vinegar solution around will help control it.


I included this to show in ingenuity and frugality of the good people involved, but also to show that a lot of time can be spent figuring things out and mistakes are made that sets the work back. That's normal. It's far better to find a system that works by learning from other's errors and knowledge. Remember it has to be in the ground to cool, and hence there will be issues, and of course you want it to be strong and safe.

I shouldn't have to explain this, but obviously if you get snow, then if your door opens out then you're going to have to shovel away the snow to open it.

A spring house is another common method. People needed water, so in the early days when finding a spring upon their land, they would not only drink the water, but also since the water was in the Earth, it was cold. This chill was often transferred to rocks which acted as a thermal mass to hold in the cold. It's very similar to a root cellar. Because there's chilled water, then if the water is allowed to circulate, then it could be channeled into a box, and these could be rudimentary coolers for certain foods. If doing that, you have to be careful because water lines can freeze too and break and then you're wasting your spring water.


There's four parts at that channel and I'll leave you to go there for the rest of them. You need a lot of very specific conditions to make a spring house, so there's far fewer people who can make one. It's considerably more work lifting all of those stones.


In arid environments or times when the humidity is low, if you have water around, it evaporates faster. Makes sense, right? A Zeer pot is a clay pot that is filled with sand and a second pot is placed within it. When water is added to the sand, it slowly evaporates. As it does, it pulls away heat from the inner pot, and cools it down. If there's a lot of humidity, then there's less evaporation, so less heat removed. Of course you keep them in dark places, because if sunlight is falling upon it, then that adds heat.


Likewise an evaporative cooler is a simple framework that is covered by a material, often burlap that is damp. As the water in the burlap evaporates, it cools down the framework and whatever is held within.

These are all very limited types of refrigeration, but they are useful because if you have no power then you're making do with whatever blessings you have to preserve your food. It's a very imperfect system.


A solar oven can also cool, it's just that people don't think about using it that way. By pointing it at the night sky, it will act as a heat sink and cool down the chamber. Not much, but useful. The other methods are better.

Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/03/2013 12:08 PM

Refrigeration Methods: Part Two

Now a little known fact is that while water boils at 212 deg F (100 deg C) at atmospheric pressure which is about 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi) [which we don't notice and is applied to us all the time], if that pressure is taken away and as a vacuum is applied, the water will boil at progressively lower and lower temperatures.

As a side note, an enterprising company sells something akin to a thermos bottle that is darkened to absorb the sun's rays and light is focused upon it. Since there's a vacuum created on the bottle, it heats up a much lower temperature. Then inside you have hot water created easier and without fuel at certain times of the year.


We all know that entering a car in the summer means it will be very hot inside because the sun heated up the chamber of the vehicle. Likewise, if something is painted black and made of metal, then the vehicle can get even hotter. If you had a water container that was painted black, and then you sat it in the sun, and you focused light upon it, and you drew a vacuum on the container, then it would get hotter faster and more intensely than if open to atmospheric pressure.

Something similar is used all of the time by campers to briefly clean off with the hot water generated but doesn't have a vacuum on it. This would be good a good feature as you could get hot water faster.

Now back to refrigeration. Vacuum happens in stages. There's no vacuum at atmosphere (measured in inches of mercury) so atmosphere = zero inches. A perfect vacuum, which is hard to achieve without a lot of work from a vacuum pump or a venturi is 30 inches (”) of vacuum.

Water at 9” of vacuum boils at 194 deg F. Not very helpful.
Water at 21” of vacuum boils at 158 deg F. Getting better.
Water at 29” of vacuum boils at 79 deg F. Very helpful.

Now, what does this have to do with refrigeration? Well in a vacuum, as the water boils, what's happening is the molecules are very excited by the additional energy and moving around and changing state. It turns to steam.

As the steam rises and if drawn away, then some of the water molecules are less energetic in the container. If more steam evacuates then there's a heat loss in the same water, and if it continues it turns to ICE. Crazy huh? Science is cool. You should have listened more, because things like that are very helpful to preppers.


Now some clever folks in France and in other places decided if they could help shunt away the water vapor as steam, then the process would work more efficiently. What they use is Zeolite as a desiccant. A desiccant dries the water vapor, but there's a limit to how much it can dry. Very quickly it's saturated and can't dry any more, and then it has to be heated to evaporate off the additional moisture.
[link to ecosustainablevillage.com.ip01-web23.net]

So there are Water-Zeolite refrigerators that you could spend a lot of money upon or you could make one.

Do we need to make ice most of the time? No. We desire to cool things down. We're not trying to freeze milk or meat, just preserve it this way for a bit longer and a bit safer.

Or maybe we're trying to chill some insulin down to preserve what limited amounts we have. That's a very important skill to help diabetics, but of course we can't easily make more insulin, even if harvesting animal pancreases.

Here's an old video from five years ago showing some engineering students pumping a bicycle and then using a belt to drive a mechanical vacuum pump. It's creating the vacuum which is channeled to a non powered refrigerator. There's a temperature indicator to show the chilled condition reached inside. Water vapor as steam is channeled into a container of Zeolite, then shut to maintain the vacuum. It will last a bit before more pedaling is needed to again cool down some water to chill the inside.


Last Edited by Don'tBeAfraid on 01/03/2013 12:15 PM