Miracle cures and magic potions

[Skybird]

Let's have a real useful thread for a change, something we all can benefit from. Let's share our knowledge about tricks, items and agents that are really multi-purpose-capable and should not miss in any household and/or expedition Rucksack.

I start with these two agents:


BALLISTOL

Formed by two German words, "ballistisch" and "Öl", it was invented before WWI as a weapon oil which is really unique in the world. It is highly liquid and even penetrates capillars, it does not become old even after years and never forms resin, it resolves resin formed by foreign types of oils, it can help to loose rust, it is non-toxic and neutral on food, and is biodegradable, and it has a disinfectant effect.

Use it on fireweapons, knifes, swords; polish and protect wooden surfaces, polish your belt and shoes, protect leather of all types against mildew (mould?), eases the itching after a mosquito has bitten you, desinfect wounds. I always had a small bottle with me on my travellings, and made plenty of use for it. I used it on minor wounds, and even used it for gargling when i had a sore throat. I also used it to protect my swords against rust and discolouring, for I did not maintain them on a regular basis in the traditional style (they were locked away in a bank safe). And finally I use it to protect the sensible blades of my two Japanese Damast kitchen knifes against moisture and rust without fearing that it could do harm by poisening my food. I also once successfully fought lichen in a hard-to-reach part of the small wooden boxroom on my balcony where parts of the wooden surface was infected. My father uses it to maintain his sport pistols, and to maintain his basson.

Unique for an oil, it can be mixed with water to some degree, good when using it for gargling, for example.

BTW, it smells well, like a scent of pine.

The multi-functionality is already given with the basic standard oil. Later they developed many derivates that now get sold as dedeicated products for this and that purpose. Not really needed.

English: http://www.ballistol.com/
German original manufacturer: http://www.ballistol.de/


POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE

Always to be carried with you when doing expeditions and travels! It can help to desinfect water, desinfect wounds, can help to fight fungal infection of your skin (feet!), makes wonderful huge red markings in the snow with just some very few crystals of it, a few crystal already colours litres and litres of water red like blood (well, violet...), it helps you to make fire by mixing it with glycerine or glucose and then add friction, it is an antidot against some types of poisening including phosphorus poisening, it helps to fight parasites (in your hair for example), and even smallest quantities already are sufficient to be carried in you survival kit. We used it repeatedly to treat water if we were not saure of the quality. Doesn't taste well, but - on all travels I did, I never suffered from any kind of health problems deriving from bad water.


Now I wait for somebody doing a comparison of Swiss Victorinox pocket knifes versus American Leatherman!