Your Ideal Doomsday Survival Situation/Prepper Thread - Page 19

Skybird · 11-04-21, 03:08 PM

Eating food rations form WWII maybe is an extreme, but in generla, if hygienically correcly filled and the can is good quality material, food in cans will remain perfectly consummable for much much longer than the printed date. In Asia coutnries cnaned food doe snto even have date stamps on it.

20 years? No problem. If the can and filling process was good quality at the tiem of making.

I still have some cans of pea-potatoe soup, which formed my ground stock of reserve building back in days when i was a bit short on money. They are 15 years old now. And they still are fine. 3 or 4 still are left. Think its time to buy another dozen of them now. It tastes good.

ET2SN · 11-05-21, 05:04 AM

Check out his page on YouTube. Steve has eaten rations that date back to the Civil War and WWI.

One thing to keep in mind, military field rations were not designed to keep you healthy or well-fed. They were designed to keep you alive when there was nothing else available. They were also loaded to the gills with calories, stimulants, and preservatives. The idea being to keep you alive and moving.

Skybird · 11-05-21, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET2SN

They were also loaded to the gills with calories, stimulants, and preservatives.

A kind of oldfashioned German word for "condom" is "Präservativ"

ET2SN · 11-05-21, 07:25 AM

I'll make a note of that.

AKA- "Huh??"

Skybird · 11-05-21, 11:53 AM

I still owe a pic of the petroleum oven. This is the second one that I got for my parents. Hehehe: they are rated for energy efficiency "A" grade.

I braced myself. Winter is coming? Let it come.

Sean C · 11-06-21, 06:04 PM

When I was a kid we used to use those kerosene heaters all the time when the baseboard heating wasn't enough or if the power went out.

A few years back, I got into making "penny stoves". You cut the bottoms off of two aluminum cans and very carefully slide one into the other. It is vital that you don't tear the thin aluminum and that they seal fairly well. One side gets a few small holes drilled around the perimeter and one in the center. (Through trial and error I have found that it's easiest to drill the holes first, then cut the cans and assemble.)

And that's it! Now you have a functioning alcohol stove that weighs almost nothing, has no moving parts and is [relatively] safe to use indoors with the correct fuel (very pure methyl or ethyl alcohol).

Here is one I made from two soda cans:

To light it, you pour some alcohol into the center hole and then cover it with a penny (hence the name). Then you pour a little more alcohol into the depression over the penny and light it. This initial flame warms the stove up until the alcohol begins to vaporize rapidly and exit the holes in the perimeter where it is ignited.

The alcohol in the top burns away rather quickly, but the burning vapor from inside the stove will last for much longer. Maybe 10-15 minutes or more. I don't know for sure because I've never had to leave it burning for very long - it's very efficient. It will boil a cup of water in just a couple of minutes. To extinguish it, you simply cover it to smother the flames.

There are only two real downsides: 1) Pure alcohol burns with an almost invisible flame, unless you're in the dark. Sometimes it's difficult to tell if the stove is lit or not. It is a good idea to make absolutely sure it is extinguished before adding more fuel or moving it. Ask me how I know this. And 2) Relatively pure alcohol isn't always readily available - although I suppose you could make some, if you're good at distilling.

Speaking of fuel, I usually use a product called "HEET". It's available in most auto parts stores and is sold as a gas line anti-freeze. It's basically pure methyl alcohol. NB: Only use the stuff that comes in the yellow bottle, not the red one!

I have also used Everclear - a commercially available alcohol for mixing into drinks. It is nearly pure ethyl alcohol. Although, in Virginia, you can only get real Everclear on a military base for some reason. The advantage of using Everclear is that you can also drink it. (DO NOT DRINK THE GAS LINE ANTI-FREEZE!)

I also made a little stand for mine out of the top of one of the soda cans:

And I made a wind screen out of an old soup can (not pictured, but I can post a pic if you like). The top of the soup can also makes a great place to set a small pot or pan like the ones that come with a camping mess kit.

Skybird · 11-06-21, 06:42 PM

I burned in the oven for my parents. I am stunned what power it has. I broke off a test after 9 hours - and the tank with 3.8l still was half full. I had to stop, because despite having all doors in my flat open and two windows opened by a few centimeters, this thing brought room temperature to 25 Celsius, mounting more, at an outside temp of 6-10 celsius over the day. The height of the flames is difficult to spot and the wick adjustment should be done well. Then the petroleum i used, a low odor brand of higher price, burns without causing any smell. The oven smells however during ignition and the following minutes, and during shuttdown. Use a balcony.

Everybody should have such a unit, for winter emergencies.

I am enthusiastic. Its a wolf in sheeps fur. But do not save in oven petrol quality. I use Qlima Kristall No Odor. With a correctly managed flame you really will smell almost nothing. Petroleum lamps like Feuerhand Baby Special give way more reason to be concerned. But I Love them. No LED garden light could ever rival its charms.

Skybird · 11-07-21, 12:37 PM

I mentioned the partial shading problem, the dramatic effect I saw when taking out that one panel that was shaded by maybe 30% of its surface. On a Germna site, I found this explanation. The water hose comparison explains it understandably.

Quote:

Even partial shading of a photovoltaic module can cause noticeable yield losses. This is explained by the electrical interconnection of the solar cells of a module. Several solar cells are connected in series in so-called strings. That is, they are connected in a row by cables. If a solar cell of a string is shaded, the current flow behaves similarly to water that is dammed by a kink in the garden hose. The entire flow of electricity is hindered in its path and is only as high as at its weakest point, the point of shadowing. This “current congestion” can lead to overheating in the module if the accumulated energy is discharged into heat at the bottleneck. For this reason, so-called bypass diodes are integrated into the photovoltaic modules as standard. These can bridge parts of the module affected by shading and thus limit the reduction in performance.

Nevertheless, the loss of yield is much greater than the actual loss of the area exposed to light. Because even entire modules are connected in a row to form strings. If a module has a partially reduced output due to the use of a bypass diode, this leads to a reduction in the output of the entire string, just as if individual solar cells are shaded. A bypass diode for entire system parts would, however, switch off parts of the system over a large area.

Skybird · 11-09-21, 07:44 AM

Friendly weather and day today. The setup works fantastic even with just two panels, possible are 400 Watts in total. From the moment on the sun crawled over the roof, the show was on, and got hot soon. I set up some wire magic and so at the same time charged a bicycle battery with a capacity of 500Wh, ran a wire with seven lamps 2W per on it plus one 6W lamp (which was de facto my complete living room lights), cooked 4.5 liters of water, all that on AC, and the DC with the many USBs I used to charge a smartphone, a tablet, a pocket torch, a bicycle front light. For fun, I had the vacuum cleaner on for a few minutes, too. All at the same time. I then ran out of possible consumers. The fridge, maybe, I forgot.

Simultaneously the panels charged the battery. I could, if I only had a car, charge simultaneosuly with the panels via car, or wallmount: you can run two charging ways at the same time. But two of three panels already did the job, and while I stressed the battery and emptied it to 50% or so, most of it already is rechgarged again and I am absolutely certain before the sun gets too low again the battery will be filled up again.

Works much better, way much better than I expected. There will be greater losses on more grey days, but in serious situations I would then ration the battery power anyway, and find a way to set up the third panel as well without it being shaded.

Very happy customer. Expensive, but no hassle with single electric items, and no handcrafting and manual wiring. Here you get it all in one box, without any further work and need to think things out. Can only recommend. Took me five minutes to set up the panels this morning, and as long it will take to store them away and roll the powerbank behind a curtain. Super!

Food for thought, they offer also cheaper 120W panels, but these also have lower Volts. With only two panels I woul not get the needed Volts to get charging started. I would always depend on having all three panels out and all of them unshaded, and then have 360W at max and best conditions. With the more expensive 200W panels, I can vary between 2 panels (400W), and 3 panels (600W). Worth it, absolutely, in my living situation and limited place!

(One panel alone also does not charge.)

I think the model of this powerbank they sell in the US has not 2 but 6 AC mounts. Dont know any further possible differences, by looks the rest seems to be the same.

snak3gam3r! · 11-09-21, 01:09 PM

I've always kind of wanted the zombie thing although a good ol EMP attack plunging us all back to the dark ages again seems rather nice. I always feel like with an EMP attack we would recover pretty quickly though, even if it was a massive global type thing, but what do I know lol.

em2nought · 11-09-21, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snak3gam3r!

I've always kind of wanted the zombie thing

zombie is just a euphemism for democrat.

Onkel Neal · 11-12-21, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by em2nought

zombie is just a euphemism for democrat.

Please don't politicize this thread.

ET2SN · 11-21-21, 07:57 AM

Good viewing for you Briggs and Stratton junkies.

Power equipment isn't worth squat if it don't make power or start when you need it.

Long term storage can and will cause problems with any engine.

em2nought · 11-21-21, 01:05 PM

Some interesting books being advertised discounted on facebook this time of year. There's this https://thelostsuperfoods.com/

and a few others.

Rockstar · 11-25-21, 09:03 PM

Another way to stay warm and survive those times when the home loses power and temperatures drop below freezing. Set up a small freestanding 2 or 4 person tent in a room and load it up with blankets and pillows for insulation and coziness, crawl right in and zip it up. Thanks to the smaller area your own body heat will cause interior tent temperatures to be substantially warmer than the outside and you will sleep quite comfortably.

For light, find a quart size mason jar and load it up to the bottom of the threads with CRISCO. Cut a candle to length and drive it to the bottom of the jar so the wick just clears the top of the CRISCO and can be lit. That thing will burn for weeks. For heat you can also place a suitably sized terracotta flower pot upside down over the mason jar and it will radiant heat. Keep in mind it’s a fire hazard so take precautions.

11-04-21, 03:08 PM	#271
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,705 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Eating food rations form WWII maybe is an extreme, but in generla, if hygienically correcly filled and the can is good quality material, food in cans will remain perfectly consummable for much much longer than the printed date. In Asia coutnries cnaned food doe snto even have date stamps on it. 20 years? No problem. If the can and filling process was good quality at the tiem of making. I still have some cans of pea-potatoe soup, which formed my ground stock of reserve building back in days when i was a bit short on money. They are 15 years old now. And they still are fine. 3 or 4 still are left. Think its time to buy another dozen of them now. It tastes good. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

11-05-21, 11:53 AM	#275
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,705 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	I still owe a pic of the petroleum oven. This is the second one that I got for my parents. Hehehe: they are rated for energy efficiency "A" grade. I braced myself. Winter is coming? Let it come. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

11-06-21, 06:04 PM	#276
Sean C Grey Wolf Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 987 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 2	When I was a kid we used to use those kerosene heaters all the time when the baseboard heating wasn't enough or if the power went out. A few years back, I got into making "penny stoves". You cut the bottoms off of two aluminum cans and very carefully slide one into the other. It is vital that you don't tear the thin aluminum and that they seal fairly well. One side gets a few small holes drilled around the perimeter and one in the center. (Through trial and error I have found that it's easiest to drill the holes first, then cut the cans and assemble.) And that's it! Now you have a functioning alcohol stove that weighs almost nothing, has no moving parts and is [relatively] safe to use indoors with the correct fuel (very pure methyl or ethyl alcohol). Here is one I made from two soda cans: To light it, you pour some alcohol into the center hole and then cover it with a penny (hence the name). Then you pour a little more alcohol into the depression over the penny and light it. This initial flame warms the stove up until the alcohol begins to vaporize rapidly and exit the holes in the perimeter where it is ignited. The alcohol in the top burns away rather quickly, but the burning vapor from inside the stove will last for much longer. Maybe 10-15 minutes or more. I don't know for sure because I've never had to leave it burning for very long - it's very efficient. It will boil a cup of water in just a couple of minutes. To extinguish it, you simply cover it to smother the flames. There are only two real downsides: 1) Pure alcohol burns with an almost invisible flame, unless you're in the dark. Sometimes it's difficult to tell if the stove is lit or not. It is a good idea to make absolutely sure it is extinguished before adding more fuel or moving it. Ask me how I know this. And 2) Relatively pure alcohol isn't always readily available - although I suppose you could make some, if you're good at distilling. Speaking of fuel, I usually use a product called "HEET". It's available in most auto parts stores and is sold as a gas line anti-freeze. It's basically pure methyl alcohol. NB: Only use the stuff that comes in the yellow bottle, not the red one! I have also used Everclear - a commercially available alcohol for mixing into drinks. It is nearly pure ethyl alcohol. Although, in Virginia, you can only get real Everclear on a military base for some reason. The advantage of using Everclear is that you can also drink it. (DO NOT DRINK THE GAS LINE ANTI-FREEZE!) I also made a little stand for mine out of the top of one of the soda cans: And I made a wind screen out of an old soup can (not pictured, but I can post a pic if you like). The top of the soup can also makes a great place to set a small pot or pan like the ones that come with a camping mess kit. __________________ If you have a question about celestial navigation ... ask me! Celestial Navigation Spreadsheet

11-06-21, 06:42 PM	#277
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,705 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	I burned in the oven for my parents. I am stunned what power it has. I broke off a test after 9 hours - and the tank with 3.8l still was half full. I had to stop, because despite having all doors in my flat open and two windows opened by a few centimeters, this thing brought room temperature to 25 Celsius, mounting more, at an outside temp of 6-10 celsius over the day. The height of the flames is difficult to spot and the wick adjustment should be done well. Then the petroleum i used, a low odor brand of higher price, burns without causing any smell. The oven smells however during ignition and the following minutes, and during shuttdown. Use a balcony. Everybody should have such a unit, for winter emergencies. I am enthusiastic. Its a wolf in sheeps fur. But do not save in oven petrol quality. I use Qlima Kristall No Odor. With a correctly managed flame you really will smell almost nothing. Petroleum lamps like Feuerhand Baby Special give way more reason to be concerned. But I Love them. No LED garden light could ever rival its charms. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

11-09-21, 07:44 AM	#279
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,705 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Friendly weather and day today. The setup works fantastic even with just two panels, possible are 400 Watts in total. From the moment on the sun crawled over the roof, the show was on, and got hot soon. I set up some wire magic and so at the same time charged a bicycle battery with a capacity of 500Wh, ran a wire with seven lamps 2W per on it plus one 6W lamp (which was de facto my complete living room lights), cooked 4.5 liters of water, all that on AC, and the DC with the many USBs I used to charge a smartphone, a tablet, a pocket torch, a bicycle front light. For fun, I had the vacuum cleaner on for a few minutes, too. All at the same time. I then ran out of possible consumers. The fridge, maybe, I forgot. Simultaneously the panels charged the battery. I could, if I only had a car, charge simultaneosuly with the panels via car, or wallmount: you can run two charging ways at the same time. But two of three panels already did the job, and while I stressed the battery and emptied it to 50% or so, most of it already is rechgarged again and I am absolutely certain before the sun gets too low again the battery will be filled up again. Works much better, way much better than I expected. There will be greater losses on more grey days, but in serious situations I would then ration the battery power anyway, and find a way to set up the third panel as well without it being shaded. Very happy customer. Expensive, but no hassle with single electric items, and no handcrafting and manual wiring. Here you get it all in one box, without any further work and need to think things out. Can only recommend. Took me five minutes to set up the panels this morning, and as long it will take to store them away and roll the powerbank behind a curtain. Super! Food for thought, they offer also cheaper 120W panels, but these also have lower Volts. With only two panels I woul not get the needed Volts to get charging started. I would always depend on having all three panels out and all of them unshaded, and then have 360W at max and best conditions. With the more expensive 200W panels, I can vary between 2 panels (400W), and 3 panels (600W). Worth it, absolutely, in my living situation and limited place! (One panel alone also does not charge.) I think the model of this powerbank they sell in the US has not 2 but 6 AC mounts. Dont know any further possible differences, by looks the rest seems to be the same. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

11-05-21, 05:04 AM	#272
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,652 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	Check out his page on YouTube. Steve has eaten rations that date back to the Civil War and WWI. One thing to keep in mind, military field rations were not designed to keep you healthy or well-fed. They were designed to keep you alive when there was nothing else available. They were also loaded to the gills with calories, stimulants, and preservatives. The idea being to keep you alive and moving.

11-05-21, 07:25 AM	#274
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,652 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	I'll make a note of that. AKA- "Huh??"

11-09-21, 01:09 PM	#280
snak3gam3r! Swabbie Join Date: Mar 2021 Posts: 13 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I've always kind of wanted the zombie thing although a good ol EMP attack plunging us all back to the dark ages again seems rather nice. I always feel like with an EMP attack we would recover pretty quickly though, even if it was a massive global type thing, but what do I know lol.

11-21-21, 07:57 AM	#283
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,652 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	Good viewing for you Briggs and Stratton junkies. Power equipment isn't worth squat if it don't make power or start when you need it. Long term storage can and will cause problems with any engine.

11-21-21, 01:05 PM	#284
em2nought Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 3,485 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Some interesting books being advertised discounted on facebook this time of year. There's this https://thelostsuperfoods.com/ and a few others. __________________ em2nought is ecstatic garbage!

11-25-21, 09:03 PM	#285
Rockstar In the Brig Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Zendia Bar & Grill Posts: 12,614 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Another way to stay warm and survive those times when the home loses power and temperatures drop below freezing. Set up a small freestanding 2 or 4 person tent in a room and load it up with blankets and pillows for insulation and coziness, crawl right in and zip it up. Thanks to the smaller area your own body heat will cause interior tent temperatures to be substantially warmer than the outside and you will sleep quite comfortably. For light, find a quart size mason jar and load it up to the bottom of the threads with CRISCO. Cut a candle to length and drive it to the bottom of the jar so the wick just clears the top of the CRISCO and can be lit. That thing will burn for weeks. For heat you can also place a suitably sized terracotta flower pot upside down over the mason jar and it will radiant heat. Keep in mind it’s a fire hazard so take precautions. Last edited by Rockstar; 11-25-21 at 09:29 PM.