How are you doing, fellow preppers and preppies? Been a while now since I’ve tried my hand at making stuff, rather than repairing or buying new. Seeing that most of you have trouble figuring out what to use for electricity in case of an SHTF situation, I thought of sharing with you my latest project: a home-made bike-powered generator.
I have to admit that I wasn’t too sure about how this project would turn on since I had to improvise most of the time. The idea came from one of dad’s friends who said he used something similar during the Korean War to power a small radio.
So, after doing a bit of snooping on the Internet, I gathered my tools and the rest of the stuff and jumped right into it. Time-wise, it took me about four hours, give or take the time spent chatting on FB with some of the buddies.
Anyway, this little gadget is quite useful if you’re ever in need to juice up something on the spot – I tried it on dad’s old motorcycle and even on an old tablet (you may need to find an adaptor for electronics such smartphones, tablets or laptops). So, without further ado, here’s how to build your own bike generator.
Other Self-sufficiency and Preparedness solutions recommended for you:
The Lost Ways (The vital self-sufficiency lessons our great grand-fathers left us)
Survival MD (Knowledge to survive any medical crisis situation)
Backyard Liberty (Liberal’s hidden agenda: more than just your guns…)
Alive After the Fall (Build yourself the only unlimited water source you’ll ever need)
The Lost ways II (4 Important Forgotten Skills used by our Ancestors that can help you in any crisis)
The Patriot Privacy Kit (Secure your privacy in just 10 simple steps)
Now, as for the recipe, I have to warn you that it takes a little bit of muscle to pull this through because everything will have to chop, diced, and ground. So, without further ado, here’s how to prepare emergency spam. Ingredients:
- Pork shoulder (about two-and-a-half pounds). You can use other pork cuts as well. Just be sure that your cut of choice has enough fat on it.
- Good-quality ham (about three ounces).
- Tender Quick Meat Cure (bought mine from Amazon. Aim from one tablespoon at first and then half a tablespoon later.
- Garlic (two cloves are more than enough for this recipe).
Already gathered your ingredients? Great! Then it’s time for phase two of our spam cookery.
How to prepare homemade spam
Step 1.
Get your oven ready. Pre-heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2.
Tend to the meat. Take your pork shoulder or cut of choice and cut it into small cubes.
Step 3.
Set up your grinder. After you finish installing the thingy, grind the pork shoulder cubes. If you prefer your mixture to be less chunky, grind the meat one more time.
Step 4.
Ham and garlic. Take your ham and mince it. Place it afterward in a food processor. Now mince your garlic and add it to the ham.
Step 5.
Finely mince the ham and garlic. Don’t make it into a paste, though.
Step 6.
Grab a large bowl and wash your hands. Place the ground pork meat, ham, and garlic in a large bowl. Add one tablespoon of Tender Quick Meat Cure and use your hands to mix the ingredients. If the mix seems too loose, add half of spoon of Tender Quick Meat Cure.
Step 7.
It’s time to shape your ham. Grab a baking tray from the pantry. For this recipe, I used a small ceramic terrine tray my wife got from her mother. Put the mixture inside the tray and use your hands to spread the mixture over the entire surface.
Step 8.
It’s oven time! By now, your oven should have reached the desired temp. Cover you spam tray with an aluminum foil. Make sure it’s wrapped around nice and tight, especially around the handles. Now, take a large baking tray from the pantry and place the spam tray smack in the middle. Fill the larger with water (should be ¾ full). Place in the oven for three to four hours. Check the larger tray every half an hour and make sure that there’s still water there.
Step 9.
Time’s up! Let’s pop the lid. This is the most important part of making ham. Remove the tray from the oven and allow it to cool for a bit. After that, use some gloves or something to get the spam tray out of the bigger tray. Have to warn you that this part’s a little bit disgusting. Take the aluminum foil off the spam tray. That yellowish goo on top of your meat is pure fat. Take a ladle or a large spoon and remove the excess fat. Temporarily place it in a plate or bowl. After it cools down, throw it in the garbage because it cannot be reused. Don’t forget to leave a thin layer on fat on top of your spam.
Step 10.
Bag and tag. Grab yourself a lid from the pantry and place it on top of the spam tray. All you need to do know is to find some sort of weight to put on top of the lid. This prevents the blob inside from expanding and from drawing too much moisture from the air. I used two small bricks to weigh down the lid, but you can use anything you have on hand as long as it’s heavy and keep the lid shut.
Step 11.
The ice-man cometh! Place the tray with the weight on top inside the fridge. You can also turn this into full-blackout recipe by swapping the fridge with a cool and dry place. Don’t worry about the meat turning bad because it’s packed with enough salt.
That’s it!
If you’ve gone through every step, you should have fresh, homemade spam in 24 hours or less. Now, bear in mind that this is not the canned spam variety which means that it doesn’t have a very long shelf life. However, if you know a little bit about canning, you can go for the kill.
I haven’t gotten around to canning my span mostly because I don’t know a thing about how to seal those blasted things. My mother told me that there’s a special tool for that job, but I’ve yet to discover it. Anyway, it’s not like there’s enough spam to can – my family made quick work of it.
Like my recipe? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Also, if you know of any canning method, I’ll be grateful if you would care to share it.
Other Self-sufficiency and Preparedness solutions recommended for you:
The Lost Ways (The vital self-sufficiency lessons our great grand-fathers left us)
Survival MD (Knowledge to survive any medical crisis situation)
Backyard Liberty (Liberal’s hidden agenda: more than just your guns…)
Alive After the Fall (Build yourself the only unlimited water source you’ll ever need)
The Lost ways II (4 Important Forgotten Skills used by our Ancestors that can help you in any crisis)
The Patriot Privacy Kit (Secure your privacy in just 10 simple steps)
Nothing beats a cooked meal during a SHTF situation. You have no idea how easy it is to make this stuff.
I am finally able to open my eyes. My husband is still sleeping next to me. This is already a special day. Being a doctor, he is usually, well, fighting different stages of bodies giving up on their people. So yes, I am grateful.
What time it is? Did we oversleep? Thank God is Sunday. The church bells helped. Weird to think they do it now with the push of a button. Even Father Jones makes fun of it. Not to mention the kids. Of course, my rebel daughter, going on 17, had to ask – When are they going to replace the priests with robots? And now my 4-year-old wants to go to the church today to check is Father Jones is human or not. Jesus!
Right. The kids.
I hear them going through the kitchen. Fridge door. Microwave. Music on her phone. A game on his. I told them, no phone play before breakfast. I feel like grabbing my phone and sending them a text message, but this would make them win.
Lazy Sunday mornings are the best. I need to get up. Oh, how I wish my kids would already be aware of this world. Or at least aware of themselves. They do not want to hear about prepping. That’s what happens when you take everything for granted. But their morning would look totally different if their batteries were dead. And so was the internet.
But we all know the aftermath of a blackout would be way more terrible than that.
[See: How a simple blackout can disrupt our lives.]
Sounds like a nightmare scenario, doesn’t it? It absolutely is. Yet prolonged power outages are becoming more and more frequent across the United States. Why are power outages on the rise? Because our electrical grid is weak. Weaker than you might think.
I don’t even dare to ask my kids what would they do if there was no more electricity. They would probably tell me that they would be killed by boredom, not by the different diseases that would flourish during such an event.
We got into prepping without even knowing we were doing it. Is started when my husband came home one day and said: “Perhaps it’s time for doctors to start prescribing more produce than pills.” Weird, huh? Coming from a doctor. And he was not the only one thinking this thing should change before it got out of control.
My husband has a doctor friend called Ralph. I’m kidding, he has more than just one friend. And I’m not referring to his Facebook followers. But Ralph happens to be a very respected doctor who recently published a book regarded as The Bible of Prepping According to La Guardia.
He gave us a copy. And just told my husband it was some medical research he was working on for some years now. I later found out it took him 30 years to complete. And once you see the book you’ll understand why. It is a whooping 800+ pages filled with practical advices for the common folk, prepper or not.
I say give this book the chance it deserves. And get ready to change your perspective on plants, soil, health, nutrition, and everything you think you know about prepping.
What if you would have the tools to make your life even greater? What if you could be able to survive and even thrive if suddenly, one segment of our reality would be gone? Let’s take electricity for example. My day would look totally differently without it. What about yours? What would you do if the grid went down? No terrorism, no war. Just no more power. How would you feel?
You can only get this book here. Like really.
Final Prepper is the only distributor. So, you’re in the right place.
It’s your turn now to make the right move.
My day would look totally differently without it. What about yours? What would you do if the grid went down? No terrorism, no war. Just no more power.
In modern war, you would die like a dog, for no good reason.
Hemingway said it. And he was not far from today’s reality.
We are already at war. We are at constant war. If not with another nation, then we are at war with something else. Since we’re fighting in 7 different countries in this very moment, would you be surprised to find out that the number of fanatics hating us grows exponentially?
So then it is logic that we will be hit when we least expect it. And where we least expect it. For we are too busy planting our seeds of democracy someplace else, while our own country turns into a demo-crazy.
Fighting terrorism with real weapons begins to sound a little outdated right? It’s like we discovered solar power but we continue to dig for coal. We could maybe end terrorism online if we really paid attention to how things evolve outside the US. Instead of financing useless wars trying to change people that maybe don’t want to change, maybe we should invest in new technologies. Cyber terrorism is the real threat.
When we used the military, they used some planes. When we used drones, they used busses and trucks. When we close the borders they use the internet.
This is not about Putin. Or the dictator in Syria. This is about the rage of the common radicals. And you should fear people who have nothing else to lose.
We fight them abroad. But they are already here. Remember where the 9/11 hijackers trained? On US soil. Remember what airplanes they used? American. Who’s grid is going down if they succeed? Ours. We are not the only ones taking advantage of technology..
And with the help of our own technology, what they’re planning now is going to destroy our infrastructure, our power supply, and the quality of our water. Imagine how easy would be to kill an entire city if you get access to the grid. And it’s all online now.. So everything that is connected won’t start anymore. Because a blackout interrupts more than the grid.
[See: What to do when there are no doctors around.]
Hard to imagine? You better. For time is running out for all of us.
War is something people used to engage in back in the days, when they didn’t know better. When they were still burning people for not believing in God. Did anything change? How come we ask for maturity and understanding and empathy when we have none?
Do you at least care for yourself and your family?
The time has come! This is not a drill.
Want to stay alive? You need to make an effort.
[ See: How to survive a blackout on your own.]
Truth is, a blackout could happen anyways.
Our grid is older than all of us. Remember the March Venezuelan blackouts? It was like living in the Apocalypse. And it all started because of the Guri hydroelectric plant, which serves 70% of the country. So you do the math. Three major blackouts in one month. Venezuela was crumbling.
For days and nights, unruly crowds sacked 523 stores in Maracaibo as residents stood on their porches wielding weapons to guard against looters. Dozens died in hospitals. Bodies decomposed in the morgue. And what little food remained in refrigerators rotted away as the nation went hungry.
Should we even dare to imagine what if it was us? Are you ready for such a scenario?
Prepping is not about running to the store in the day disaster starts. On the contrary. Prepping is making sure we have a Plan B, C, etc.
Learn here how to become the household healer when a simple blackout disrupts your life.
There are always solutions for the ones who chose life.
What are you going to do about it? How prepared are you? Let me know in the comments. We can only do this thing together.
Prepping is not about running to the store in the day disaster starts. On the contrary. Prepping is making sure we have a Plan B, C, etc.
Everybody has his guilty pleasure – mine is powdered eggs. Yes, I know that nothing beats fresh-laid chicken eggs, because they’re packed with calcium, albumin, and so on and so forth. But what can you do? The heart asks pleasure first, as the saying goes, and I wouldn’t even consider coming down for breakfast if I’m all out of powdered eggs for my killer omelet.
There are very good reasons why I chose this instead of regular eggs, apart from the fact that they tout more or less the same nutritional values as their ‘living’ counterparts – they can be stockpiled for months if not years; can fit into any B.O.B, no matter how big or small it is and, most importantly, powdered eggs will be worth their weight in gold during an SHTF situation when all supermarkets will run out of the fresh variety.
Now, before showing you how I managed to make my first few jars of powdered eggs, I should warn you that this recipe will require a small investment because you’ll need a contraption called a dehydrator.
Wait! Don’t close this article yet. I was talking about a maybe a few tens (bought mine from Costco for $30). That’s about it as far as the financial part is concerned. Trust me when I say that this investment will pay off – imagine not having to hunt online discounts on survival foods such as powdered eggs. And, most importantly, if you know how to cook ‘em, you won’t notice any difference in taste.
Anyway, here’s what you will need to do in order to obtain a near-endless supply of powdered eggs.
Gathering your ingredients and kitchen supplies
To pull this off, you will need the following:
- Eggs (I used two dozen for my first batch).
- A teaspoon of vegetable cooking oil or butter.
- The dehydrator.
- A food processor.
- A blender or fork for whipping up the eggs.
- Canning jars.
- Skillet.
Done gathering the ingredients? Great! Here’s what you’ll need to do next.
How to prepare powdered eggs
Step 1. Start by cracking open the eggs in a large bowl.
Step 2. Whip up the eggs using a mixer or a fork. I would advise you to use a blender since it’s quite tricky to whip up that many eggs using a simple fork and takes less time.
Step 3. Put the skillet on the cooking machine and add a little bit of veggie oil or butter. If you don’t have a non-stick pan, use both or stick to butter.
Step 4. Set the heat to medium-low and wait for the oil to heat up. If you’re using butter, you should put the whipped eggs inside when the butter’s all melted.
Step 5. Add the whipped eggs.
Step 6. Wait until the eggs begin to bind, then use a wooden spoon or spatula to sort of shred the omelet mass. Keep stirring and separating the eggs. It takes about 10 minutes or so. Yup, basically it’s like doing scrambled eggs. Now, if you want your eggs to be extra puffy, you can add a splash of milk to the bowl while you’re whisking them.
Step 6. Move the scrambled eggs to a clean plate with a bit of paper tissue underneath and allow them to cool.
Step 7. Once the eggs have cooled down, transfer them to your food processor and set it on “pulse.” Give your scrambled eggs a couple of spins. After a couple of seconds, you should have a puffy mass of diced eggs.
Step 8. Turn on your dehydrator and set it to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Wait for it to reach the desired temperature (mine has a green LED bulb in the front which sort of lights up when the device reaches the right temp). Don’t forget to remove the dehydrator’s lid before heating it up.
Step 9. Transfer the eggs from your food processor to the dehydrator. Put on the lid and wait. It takes about four or five hours for the machinery to remove all the moisture from the eggs. Once they’re done, the eggs will have a brittle aspect.
Step 10. Put the eggs back into the food processor and give them a spin or two to turn them into powder. Enjoy!
There’s another way of making powdered eggs. Works great if you’re on the run or not in the mood of going through all the steps. As you will see, the dehydrator you’re just bought comes with a fruit roll sheet (yup, you can use it to get the moisture out of fruits and make your own trail mix).
Now, get half a dozen eggs and whisk them. Put the fruit roll sheet on top of your dehydrator and set it to 145 degrees Fahrenheit. When the thing’s beginning to heat you, dip a paper towel in some veggie oil and grease the surface of your fruit roll sheet.
Add the whisked eggs (careful not to spill your mix inside the device). You don’t need to put the lid on. Leave it like this for 14 to 16 hours. Swing by from time to time to see if everything’s okay. When they’re done, they’ll have the same brittle texture as in the steps described above. All you need to do now is to transfer them to your food processor (don’t bother waiting for them to cool down), give them a good shake, and that’s it.
As for storing, you can use regular canning jars or zip-lock bags. If you want to make survival packs for your bug out bag or household survival kit, you can try using a vacuum sealer.
For the cooking part, all you’ll need to do would be to rehydrate them – I personally like to add them to a small pan with boiled water and sort of make poached, scrambled eggs. Yes, I know it sounds unappetizing, but nothing a little bit of salt, pepper, and a slice of homemade spam can’t fix.
Hope you’ve liked my article on how to make powdered eggs at home. If there’s anything more to add, be sure to hit me up in the comments section.
Powdered eggs will be worth their weight in gold during an SHTF situation when all supermarkets will run out of the fresh variety.
The modern medical system is built on “just in time” shipping methods. The ability to get meds, resources and people where they need to be in 24-48 hours is the main reason, we have blooming populations of human beings on this planet.
We have had glimpses of what it would look like to lose our trucking fleet because of disaster. Even a moderate natural disaster can make roads impassable for days on end. Imagine what a nationwide collapse would do to trucking and shipping of medicines.
You know someone, right now, who would find themselves on deaths door without medications for 72 hours. We all know at least one person. Whether that be something like insulin, dialysis or even a simple blood pressure medication.
Grid Down Medicine Shortage
In something like a grid down collapse, brought on by terrorists attacking our power grid, the disruptions would be cataclysmic and in a matter of days you would find yourself looking for medicine, food and likely water. Medicine and food would be affected by the lack of shipping. As store shelves go dry there would be no more shipments to refill them. The water system and water processing facilities would also be offline without electricity.
You might have access to water, but you might not want to risk drinking it for fear of serious contamination. A simple infection from a waterborne pathogen could result in death without access to a doctors or modern antibiotics.
Disease and Death Will Return
Everything changes and without preparations you and your loved ones will be at extreme risk. Without our modern shipping and medical system, people will get sick and die on a regular basis. Things like the flu and other viruses will kill people, when they used to be cured by a quick trip to the doctors.
Doctors will be gone.
We have seen similar situations like this play out in warzones all over the world. In Syria, today, people are facing these situations as the embattled nation has been reduced to near rubble. This from Doctorsoftheworld.org:
According to the U.N., one-third of Syrian hospitals have been shuttered since the conflict began and a staggering two-thirds of medical personnel have either fled or been unable to continue working. The repercussions of this breakdown on the health of the population are impossible to overestimate, and cannot be dealt with effectively until safe access for medical and public health personnel can be assured.
https://doctorsoftheworld.org/blog/op-ed-by-board-president-dr-ron-waldman-healthcare-in-syria/
Medical Prepping is Essential
While things like food, water and security through firearms often take the highest tiers in prepping, its clear medical prepping deserves its day in the sun. Its hard to understand how preppers can put such an emphasis on high powered rifles for gunfights but not consider the aftermath of a gunfight. Things like trauma kits and tourniquets are how people will keep from bleeding to death in these scenarios.
Of course, we are not even talking about post combat infections
DO YOU KNOW WHAT STEPS YOU NEED TO TAKE TO GET YOUR FAMILY PREPARED FOR A TIME WHEN DOCTORS HAVE GONE INTO HIDING?
Top Medical Prepping Mistakes to Avoid
With food storage you can put up calories and as long as your family likes the food you are storing you will have some answers for hunger. With medical preps its very different. There are particular things that need to be stored and many of them you have NEVER used before!
WHAT ABOUT FIRST AID SKILLS?
Without the right training and resources to turn to, you will never know the full extent of what you might need in a collapse of the medical system. Retailers offer us very basic first aid solutions that address limited situations.
Here are some of the most common medical prepping mistakes to avoid.
- Depending on a store bought first aid kit
- Stockpiling medications, you don’t know how to dose safely
- Not training skills to compliment your medical preps
- Assuming there is someone out there who can help you
- Not training family, as well (who will treat you?)
These mistakes are very common and mostly come from a place of ignorance. With so much information out there its hard to know where to look and what to learn first. When it comes to medical prepping its much easier to have a manual to turn to.
The breadth of knowledge is so vast its nearly impossible to commit much of it to memory. Having a reliable resource that you can turn to in these times of collapse and disaster will make all the difference.
DO YOU KNOW THE RESOURCES YOU NEED WHEN MEDICINE AND MEDICAL HELP ARE NO LONGER AN OPTIONS?
Conclusion
More and more people are realizing that our society and our civility are hardly as stable as we once thought. The foundations are cracked and in many places on our planet, full scale collapse has already taken hold.
You need only look to Syria and Venezuela to see the most news worthy cases of this. They are just the beginning.
Whether it come from despotic governments, mother nature, the heavens or something we haven’t considered, we will be tested, and this age of excess will come to an end.
In that time, you are going to want to have a resource at your side. You are going to want a manual for preparing for these dark times. The Doomsday Book Of Medicine is our answer to those looking for such a resource.
This is not a fly by night 20-page eBook on prepping. The Doomsday Book Of Medicine is a 800+ page guide to preparing for disaster and addressing situations during a collapse or a simple blackout. Having a tangible resource that you can hold, feel and use on demand is going to make all the difference in the future.
We all feel vulnerable and limited by budgets and commitments. Preparing for disaster seems like an impossible task but the right resources can help. Now is the time to move prepping to the forefront.
The darkness is coming, and it will take each of us to shine a little light if we are going to survive it.
In something like a grid down collapse, or a simple local blackout, the disruptions would be cataclysmic and in a matter of days you would find yourself looking for medicine,
In a mood for a sing-along? I got just the tune for you – the blackout golden oldie. Yes, it’s a catchy song, and goes along with great with the other great things in life like running of food, water, and brooding in the dark. The piece I did on the makeshift stove using cooking oil inspired me to do a little snooping around for quick and easy-to-do light sources.
Of course, nothing beats a flashlight or an emergency candle in case the power goes out, but what are you going to do when there’s no more juice in that lantern and the last piece of flick died out like the ambitions and desires of a crestfallen lover? Make some more, of course, because that’s we preppers are good at.
In today’s article, I’m going to show you a fast way to create 24-hour emergency candles by harnessing the raw power of your favorite dish – bacon. Yup, you’ve read that right. Bacon’s not only great for breakfast, but can also be used to make portable and highly efficient light sources. So, enough chit chat! Let’s take a look at how bacon candles are made.
Gathering your materials
To pull this off, you will need:
- A pack of bacon (go for a family pack).
- A bell glass jar.
- A wick or a piece of string.
- A pencil.
- A cooking pan.
- A funnel.
- A strainer.
Ready with the ingredients? Great job! Here’s what you’ll need to do next. Tr
Making Bacon Emergency Candles
Step 1. Put half a tablespoon of cooking oil into your pan. Don’t put too much though because the bacon will leave enough grease.
Step 2. Fire up your stove and start cooking the bacon. Your goal is to melt each and every bacon piece. Don’t trouble yourself too much if a piece is too stubborn because you’re later going to strain the “brew.”
Step 3. When the last bacon piece has melted, kill the fire, and allow the mixture to cool down. Careful while handling that pan because you can get some nasty burns from hot grease.
Step 4. While waiting for the mix to cool down, prepare your candle. Now, depending on how much bacon you’ve used, it may take more than one jar. No problem there – the more, the merrier.
Step 5. Untighten the lid and store it for future use.
Step 6. Tie a knot around the pencil and rest it on the jar’s rim.
Step 7. Make sure that there’s enough of the string inside your jar. Be sure to place the wick right in the center. For reference, leave at least one inch from the rim of your jar.
Step 8. Check up on your grease. Don’t leave it to cool down completely because you won’t be able to pour it into the jar.
Step 9. Grab a container from the pantry and place the strainer on top.
Step 10. When you’re done, use the funnel to fill up the glass jar with the grease. Ensure that the pencil holding the wick remains in the middle.
Step 11. After you pour the last drop of fat inside the jar, allow the container to put down completely. Stick it in the fridge and wait for the fat to harden.
Step 12. When the grease has hardened, take a pair of scissors and cut just below the know you made. Congratulations! You’ve successfully made your first bacon-powered emergency candle.
More on grease candles
The best thing about this candle-making recipe is that you can pull it off with just about any kind of grease. I prefer bacon because it’s ludicrously cheap and I usually have enough to go around the house. It’s possible to make these beauties using other fat from other animals. Duck meat, for instance, is a great source of fat. Didn’t try it myself but I don’t see any reason why you can’t use other types of fat.
As I’ve mentioned, during the cooking part, it may be possible to get stuck with undissolved bacon chunks. I wouldn’t advise you to continue cooking the mix as you will probably end up setting fire to the kitchen. Use the strainer to pick up the rogue chunks or a pair of thongs to remove the pieces directly from the pan.
Ideally, you should use special wicks. They’re not that expensive, and they do a far better job compared to other textiles. However, should you find yourself short on wicks, you can always replace them with thin pieces of strings or shoelaces (just be sure to snip off both ends before using them).
Word of caution of using shoelaces as wicks – some of them have a rugged coating on them. Great for weather-proofing, prevents warping, but not so great for burning. Stick with regular cotton shoelaces. Of course, you can always a piece of paracord or another kind of cordage.
Yes, I know that the idea of staying on a bacon-candlelit porch may be enticing, but I would advise you not to take them outdoors as there’s a fair chance of being overrun by bugs, especially mosquitos.
The pencil part is not mandatory. You can use anything to keep the wick aligned, like a toothpick or a small twig.
Yes, it is possible to make candles that last longer, but you will need more bacon and a bigger jar. Still, I don’t see the point of making bigger ones as the entire idea is to make something light enough for your B.O.B or backpack.
Be extra careful when handling the bacon pan. That stuff burns like Hell. You should also keep the fire on low or medium-high to prevent the hot grease from jumping off the pan. In case you get a grease burn, stick your hand in running cold water and keep it there for at least 15 minutes. You may need to apply a sterile bandage afterward.
That’s about it on homemade candles! Be sure to hit the comment section and let me know how your project went.
Of course, nothing beats a flashlight or an emergency candle in case the power goes out, but what are you going to do when there’s no more juice in that
Yesterday evening I had a couple of friends over for a kick-ass movie night. Of course, you know how these things usually turned out – after the second movie, we’ve decided to take the party outside (yes, I know it’s still kind of nippy, but after a couple of cold ones, who cares?) Anyway, one of the movies we’ve watched was what you might call a prepping cult-classic: Kevin Reynolds’ Water World, starring Kevin Costner and Dennis Hopper. You can’t get more old-school than this.
Now, halfway through the movie, there was this brief scene depicting some shady and raggedy characters huddling around a fire made in this rusty fuel barrel. Not the most breath-taking scene from the movie but actually the only one that somehow got stuck in my head. So, after replaying this scene a couple of times in mind, something clicked in there – what would happen if we all had to find fuel barrels in order to keep warm?
Yes, I know it’s one hell of depression though, but anything can happen when shift hits the fan. Think you’ll still be able to use the water heater or your fancy, voice-activated smart AC? Obviously that everything goes down the brown swing when disaster hits. And you don’t need a nuke or EMP of the coming of the second Black Plague to witness first-hand what it means to get on your knees and beg for a heating source.
Anywho, you know what I’m talking about, so I won’t go into many details. So, after the movie night, I put on my mad scientist lab coat and decided to do a little home experiment. My goal was to come up with a heat source that was powerful enough to heat up a small room and, at the same time, help me prepare something very basic, like hot water.
Easier said than done. The first challenge was finding some fuel, but not gasoline or petroleum or gas. Those are the first things that disappear during an SHTF situation. So, I needed something that was easy enough to obtain, cheap, and, if possible, lying around the house. Although it took me a couple of hours to figure it out, even though the answer was staring me in the face, I ended up using cooking oil as food. Neat, but “how the Hell am I going to burn this?”, I asked myself.
So, after some deliberation, I hopped into my van and went into town for a couple of supplies. For this project, I bought two 4-ounce ball jars – you can find them in every thrift store – two wicks, and four bricks. Yes, I know it’s a weird shopping list, but then again, most of the stuff we preppers do can pass as peculiar to most people.
Now, for the first step of my project, I’ve tried to make emergency candles from cooking oil. It’s super easy, and they really put out quite a flame if you’re careful enough to screw the lid nice and tight. Here’s what you will need to do in order to complete the first phase of your alternative heating source project.
Making Quick Cooking Oil Candles
First thing’s first – choosing your poison. For my part, I stuck with sunflower oil since I have a near-endless supply in my pantry and I could always go and get more if I want. However, you’re free to use any kind of oil you like; heard that palm oil is a great alternative to sunflower and not just in matters of crafting heating devices. It’s ludicrously cheap and has, more or less, the same taste like the one made from sunflower seed. You can also reuse the oil from your deep fry machine or cast-iron pans.
So, after getting all the stuff together, here’s what you will need to do in order to make those candles\burners.
Step 1. Take an awl or anything pointy and puncture the lid. You don’t need a large hole. Should be enough for your wick to pass through.
Step 2. Get one end of the wick through the hole. If you can’t find any wicks, you can also use cotton shreds or any piece of cloth. Just don’t use textile that has been treated with fire retardant textile substances (winter jackets, pieces of carpet, and upholstery, in general).
Step 3. Put the other end of the wick inside the bell jar. Make sure that you have enough of the stuff, as the fire will eat through that stuff. If you’re thinking about upscaling your project, you may be able to make a sort of lamp out of a canning jar and a longer wick.
If I were you, I would pick one of those jars that come in with a handle – just be careful not to burn your paw while holding the thing. Moreover, about the moving part – it’s not a good idea to move the thing into another room. The chances of a house fire are very real and very scary.
Step 4. It’s now time to add the fuel. Carefully pour the cooking oil inside the jar. Don’t spill any on end sticking out of the lid. Otherwise you’ll have trouble setting fire to the wick.
Step 5. Secure the lid, and that’s it. Now, for the best results, I would advise you to leave you burners be for at least 24 hours. By that time, the wicks would have drawn enough fuel to allow you to light them up fast. If you’re using regular cotton or ripped fabric instead of wicks, you should allow them to soak a little longer. Moreover, I wouldn’t advise dipping the other end in oil to make the candlelight faster because you’ll end up with more smoke and less flame.
Already done with your emergency candles? Great! If everything’s hunky-dory, then you’re ready for phase two of your heating project. For this, you’ll go to need some bricks or two concrete slabs, a thin tray (I “borrowed” a cookie tray from my wife) and a pan. Here’s what you will need to do in order to create an awesome room-heating device.
Piecing together the heater
Step 1. Place the concrete slabs or brick on the ground, preferably in the center of your room with all the doors and windows closed. You may want to grab a thermometer for your experiment in order to take a reading before and after the heating device has been switched on.
Step 2. Lay the tray on your slabs or bricks.
Step 3. Place two homemade emergency candles\burners right beneath the center of your tray.
Step 4. Light up your candles. It will take a while for them to generate heat. I know I told you to keep the doors and windows closed to see just how much heat your thingamajig can generate, but you may want to keep the front door ajar, especially until the heaters go into stasis.
The thought never crossed my mind while performing the experiment, so I ended up fumigating the entire living room. Yes, I know that it will probably take me days to get rid of that smell, but hey, at least I managed to whip up a device capable of heating up a small room in case of an emergency.
Step 5. After half an hour or so, the flames are going to stabilize. Of course, your tray will take quite a bit, but you know the saying – it’s for the good of science. So, after you get a steady flame, you may try to see if the tray resting on top of the concrete slabs can boil water.
As far as the heating part is concerted, I managed to get a 10-degree rise with just two burners. It may be possible to convert the whole thing into an efficient house heating device, but that would require more makeshift heaters and, of course, a metal surface capable of deflecting heat far better than a tin tray. I was thinking about using four burners and thing steel sheet for my next experiment.
Remember that show Jackass which used to air on MTV? They had this message at the beginning of the show: “all the stunts have been performed by professionals. Don’t try this at home.” Well, that’s exactly the sort of advice that I want to give you – don’t try this indoors.
No matter how fire-proofed your test area is, there’s always a chance of something bad happening. If this is your first time, you would be better off doing it in an area without flammable substance. If you have a fire extinguisher at home, keep it close just in case – I really wouldn’t try to put out that kind of fire with water.
Anyway, keep a close watch on the top of the try. Once it turns black, it means that you’re all set to begin the third and final phase of the experiment – bringing water to a boil. I know that for the layman this may be a bit silly, but do keep in mind that in any SHTF situation, the whole idea is to get more while spending the minimum amount of energy and available resources.
So, after the thin tray starts to black, fill a pan with tap water. Place it in the middle of the tray and keep a close watch. Now, this is the point where the results differ. From what I understood after doing a bit of research, someone who attempted the experiment said that he managed to boil a gallon of water in 15 minutes.
Was a bit suspicious about that but, hey, that’s what experimenting’s for. Turned out that I was right all along. After waiting around for about 45 minutes, nothing was happening – no bubbles, no mist, no nothing. It was as though I’d placed the pan on the floor or any other cool spot. So, after the frustration kicked in, I took the pot off the tray and placed on the stove.
I got to a boil really fast, and then I transferred the pot back to the improvised heater. Again, nothing happened. In fact, even though both burners were working, they weren’t strong enough to maintain a steady temperature.
As for the results of this little experiment, here’s what I managed to jot down in my notebook. In case you’re looking for a heater or AC alternative, this Bunsen burner wannabee is quite efficient. Even with two sunflower oil-based candles, you’ll still be able to get a 10-degrees ambient temp increase.
However, as for the part of using this device to boil water or to cook food, I wouldn’t bet my last dime on it. Of course, the design itself may be faulty, since most of the heat’s lost through the gaps created by the tray and concrete slabs, but then again, the whole purpose of this experiment was to create a quick and efficient heating device with fuel that can literally be found anywhere.
Anyway, instead of my usual wrap-up, I’m gonna end this article with a question for you: Do you think this device is able to fully substitute a water heater, AC or your run-of-the-mill oil barrel bonfire? Would love to read your answers in the comment section. Meanwhile, I’ll try my best to get rid of this awful smell before she gets home.
My goal was to come up with a heat source that was powerful enough to heat up a small room and, at the same time, help me prepare something very
