Sustainability vs Survivalist

Lord Skimper wrote:My protein bars was a joke for the use of recycling on a Honorverse ship.

Your gorp wouldn't appeal to gluten intolerant lactose intolerant and unable to taste anything sweet me!

It is funny without being sweet some things like ice cream are gross while others like chocolate bars are great. Fruit still tastes like fruit, sugar tastes like sugar but just isn't sweet. It is really bizarre and crunchy.

Well, no, would not be yummy for you. You will have to create your own survival, or whatever, food. Pemmican perhaps?

As long as you are not mobile food isn't a problem. If you need to carry it with you, then it depends how long your out for and when. For the most part a Survival food I do like is Cevelat Salami. In Winter things last much longer, being frozen, anything becomes survival food, vegi sticks, cooked meat, smoked salmon any kind of fish.

If you can't have it cold the best is a can of something and a can opener or Swiss Army Knife. Pull top if you can't or don't have that. Pre cooked or raw edible.

Sardines, Canned Peaches or Pears, canned chilli, taco shells corn version, bag of chips chocolate bars, any dried fruit, smoked fish, canned fish.

My Dad for his Death Valley Geological excursion threw his canteen away when he found it had a hole in it. Everyone was most concerned until the first rest stop. They were only out for two days, but while the others had their warm water, Dad took his chemical cold pack out and then slipped it into his rucksack as they approached the rest area. The others were choking down their warm water while Dad enjoyed his cold beer. Weak American beer does have a use.

While it is never advisable to drink alcohol in the desert, it sure beats warm stale water on a day trip. The third stop of the day on the way back Dad was even more popular when he passed the rest of the 12 pack around.

Be sure to pay attention to the age of the supplies. Some thing such as dried pasta will store absolutely forever. But other things have to be replaced periodically. Batteries are on my mind at the moment as we forgot to remove them from a couple of the emergency flashlights, they leaked. One flashlight was salvageable, the other wasn't. So just a reminder not to store batteries in a flashlight, emergency radio etc, it's really easy to forget and leave them there.

I have Duracell guaranteed ten years AA battery packs. Plus some rechargeable battery packs un opened. I do carry in my coat pocket an extra power supply for my phone. It is also a hand warmer.

Canned food I cycle through my standard food supply. Potting soil miracle grow in a bag and seeds also helps plus lots of bottled water. I maintain a three week supply. Guns and ammo of course plus my pump action pellet gun.

I still need to buy a few thousand matches, appears my local grocery store does not sell matches. I have a couple hundred candles and some candle lanterns. The good thing about a tea light is that it last 4 hours and is easy to light. They can be used to make a camp fire using one match. Q tips also work for that and the plastic ones will drip fire on all sorts of things.

Have been thinking of getting a paraglider with engine. Easy to pack hard to crash. Makes getting 50 miles away in all but the worst of wind storms child's play. Too many people limit themselves to vehicles that get stuck in traffic. A paraglider with engine can be stored in your office and launched from your buildings roof. Although just getting out of a building a parachute with one of those flying suits would be great too.

I still need to buy a few thousand matches, appears my local grocery store does not sell matches.

Harbor Freight Tools catalog has (p33, Oct 2014 issue 8408-3) a magnesium fire starter which looks worth a try. Anyone have experience with such?

Stick matches can easily be made highly water resistant by dipping the head into melted wax. Adds to the match's fuel also.

Possible definition: Sustainable is about reducing current reliance on the system. Survivalist is expecting the system to break down. Anyone living near Amish should take some lessons, and if there is a breakdown, plans should be in place to protect them from raiders, etc.

See complexity theory for a better understanding.

Saw a summary of breakdown patterns somewhere. A crisis starts with people helping others, if longer there is selfishness, looting, etc. and in the end a new system, usually on a more local scale.

DDHv wrote:

I still need to buy a few thousand matches, appears my local grocery store does not sell matches.

Harbor Freight Tools catalog has (p33, Oct 2014 issue 8408-3) a magnesium fire starter which looks worth a try. Anyone have experience with such?

Stick matches can easily be made highly water resistant by dipping the head into melted wax. Adds to the match's fuel also.

Possible definition: Sustainable is about reducing current reliance on the system. Survivalist is expecting the system to break down. Anyone living near Amish should take some lessons, and if there is a breakdown, plans should be in place to protect them from raiders, etc.

Saw a summary of breakdown patterns somewhere. A crisis starts with people helping others, if longer there is selfishness, looting, etc. and in the end a new system, usually on a more local scale.

Magnesium fire starters are ok and work for lighting a suitable fire from a spark with lots of dry tinder grass or shredded paper, but a candle would be really hard to light. I wonder if there are any solar powered lighter elements?

Just need a Solar USB recharger. http://ignitelighters.com/?gclid=COHsgf ... fgodf1cAWg

Simply use a magnifying glass to focus the sun's rays onto some light fluffy tinder.

A couple of simple survival bits of kit are the magnifying glass, and some clear kitchen wrap plastic (Glad wrap?).
For drinkable water put a source (sea water, green leaves, cactus pieces) into a bigish bowl, with an empty cup in the middle. Cover the top of the bowl with the clear plastic sheet. Put a pebble on the plastic above the cup to depress it a little. The sun evaporates the pure water which collects on the underside of the plastic, then runs down to the depressed point above the cup.

"Magnesium fire starters are ok and work for lighting a suitable fire from a spark with lots of dry tinder grass or shredded paper, but a candle would be really hard to light. I wonder if there are any solar powered lighter elements?"

Daryl wrote:Simply use a magnifying glass to focus the sun's rays onto some light fluffy tinder.

A couple of simple survival bits of kit are the magnifying glass, and some clear kitchen wrap plastic (Glad wrap?).
For drinkable water put a source (sea water, green leaves, cactus pieces) into a bigish bowl, with an empty cup in the middle. Cover the top of the bowl with the clear plastic sheet. Put a pebble on the plastic above the cup to depress it a little. The sun evaporates the pure water which collects on the underside of the plastic, then runs down to the depressed point above the cup.

"Magnesium fire starters are ok and work for lighting a suitable fire from a spark with lots of dry tinder grass or shredded paper, but a candle would be really hard to light. I wonder if there are any solar powered lighter elements?"

I have a firestrike but... I like my little collection of Bic lighters better. Matches too, the wood First Strike kind. That magnifying glass with dryer lint to light the below given beeswax half-dipped cotton balls and hence kindling and on up. You know you always wanted a use for dryer lint. Now you do. Keep in ziplocks.

A nice tinder that burns awhile; melt some beeswax, with kitchen tongs, dip a cotton ball halfway into it. Place on wax paper to cool and solidify. Make as many as your supply of melted beeswax allows. Store in ziplocks. These are much neater than the old petroleum jelly on cotton balls kind. Now you have a supply of 'burn awhile' tinder. Fine steel wool makes a dandy 'burn hot' tinder.

And the water bowl thing is excellent. Presuming it isn't -20F outside, but then I'd be melting snow... not the yellow kind.

Northstar wrote:

Daryl wrote:Simply use a magnifying glass to focus the sun's rays onto some light fluffy tinder.

A couple of simple survival bits of kit are the magnifying glass, and some clear kitchen wrap plastic (Glad wrap?).
For drinkable water put a source (sea water, green leaves, cactus pieces) into a bigish bowl, with an empty cup in the middle. Cover the top of the bowl with the clear plastic sheet. Put a pebble on the plastic above the cup to depress it a little. The sun evaporates the pure water which collects on the underside of the plastic, then runs down to the depressed point above the cup.

"Magnesium fire starters are ok and work for lighting a suitable fire from a spark with lots of dry tinder grass or shredded paper, but a candle would be really hard to light. I wonder if there are any solar powered lighter elements?"

I have a firestrike but... I like my little collection of Bic lighters better. Matches too, the wood First Strike kind. That magnifying glass with dryer lint to light the below given beeswax half-dipped cotton balls and hence kindling and on up. You know you always wanted a use for dryer lint. Now you do. Keep in ziplocks.

A nice tinder that burns awhile; melt some beeswax, with kitchen tongs, dip a cotton ball halfway into it. Place on wax paper to cool and solidify. Make as many as your supply of melted beeswax allows. Store in ziplocks. These are much neater than the old petroleum jelly on cotton balls kind. Now you have a supply of 'burn awhile' tinder. Fine steel wool makes a dandy 'burn hot' tinder.

And the water bowl thing is excellent. Presuming it isn't -20F outside, but then I'd be melting snow... not the yellow kind.

Interesting thing about snow is that is contains and holds pollution really good. Or bad if your drinking it. People assume mountain snow is clean but it might not be as clean as you think.

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/2014/10/11/2014-10-11-4/

As a side note the solar still does work when it is really cold, it is best to use a black plastic like a garbage bag and one doesn't need water rather just relying on the local snow or permafrost. This is a method often used for digging in permafrost and if you have a cup lets you get fresh water at the same time. If you have 50+ garbage bags you can set up a lot of these and make enough water. works even at -30.

Solar stills are not efficient though and a day of this may only produce half a cup. It does work for boiling water on a fire though and some will make a still cap for a boiling water pot to capture the steam and make enough fresh water faster. Copper is used to kill the contaminants in the water.

An UV light also works for killing bacteria.