Less is more......

 ....easier to carry. I have several types of fire making kits such as flint and steel, ferro rod, good old BIC, fire bow & drill and this one. It depends on what mood I'm in or where I'm going to choose the type I take.  This is my sparking wheel fire kit I sometimes carry when out and about. As you can see there isn't a lot of stuff that makes up this kit. In the first picture is a Micro Sparkwheel Fire Starter from UST (Ultimate Survival Technologies) https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultimate-Survival-Technologies-UST-Micro-Spark-Wheel-Weatherproof-20-02032-02/323795978453?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 and I paid all of $13 for two of them on eBay. One for my kit and one for the wife's. This is a great little piece of equipment for anyone to own and its very easy to master. There are several YouTube videos showing it, however I personally don't recommend running the wheel on a rock. Using your thumb is plenty good enough. These are about 1 1/2 inches long and come in a handy little tube with instructions and 3 extra flints. I put a spare spring from a defunct Bic lighter which I cut to size in the tube with everything else. I was shown one of these when they first came out and I was impressed by the amount of sparks and the bomb proof construction. Next is a pack of spare flints by Ronson. I recently bought a bulk lot of Zippo flints on eBay, 12 packs of 6 for a total of 72 flints. $10 for all, free shipping. What a deal! These should last for a very long time. I took the holders out of the bubble packs and put them in an empty vitamin bottle with a couple of moisture absorbers. Ronson and Zippo flints are made in Austria and are top quality as well as capable of throwing lots of hot sparks. I think the flints that come with the Micro are made in China but I'll use them up none the less. Here's the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Zippo-Replacement-12-Flint-Value-Packs-for-All-Zippo-Lighter/261508751771?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 The brass tube with the kerosene lamp wick is a fire tube. I made a similar one years ago using a longer piece of brass and some 100% cotton rope. Link: https://ronsprimitiveskills.blogspot.com/2009/09/fire.html This one is made with 3/4 inch wide 100% cotton lantern or lamp wick. Again, I bought two 6 1/2 foot rolls of this for around $6 on Amazon. Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MXXVXW2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  The tube is made from a fired .38 shell. This is much smaller than the one that uses the rope and you simply roll up the lamp wick, insert and you're just about ready. You need to char the end and to extinguish carefully pull the end of the smoldering wick halfway down the tube and put your thumb over the tube. Simple. The next time you need it just give it a dose of sparks and blow gently on the smoking tip.

Next is a nickel plated brass pill bottle. These are sold at most drug stores and I'm sure they can be found cheaper at Amazon, eBay, etc. This one has a screw top lid with a rubber gasket. Its full of my favorite fire starters - Coghlans. These are getting a little hard to find but in my opinion they are the best. Treat them like petroleum jelly cotton balls and you will get fire at first strike. I don't know the formula but they are cotton with petroleum jelly and some kind of wax. They are pink when brand new. These are over 15 years old and take off like I bought them yesterday.

The small canvas case, about 4 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches, contains this fire kit and a few minor essentials such as a piece of fat wood, some safety pins, a very handy multi use large finger nail clipper, a scalpel blade in its package and my little Brunton key chain compass. I threw in about 5 or 6 pieces of bicycle inner tube maybe 1/4 inch wide. They are great for wet weather fire starting. I keep an eye on the weather and if it even looks like rain I have a small zip lock snack bag full of very dry tinder stuffed in my pocket along with this kit. Just a guess but the whole thing probably weighs less than 5 ounces.

Chinese water chestnuts propagation

I received a package from a very decent person here in Florida. It contained 10 corms of the Chinese water chestnut, Eleocharis dulcis. It will grow quite well here in Florida and I am zone 8a/8b depending on the weather. I am rather enjoying all the exotic (to me, anyway) plants, both native and cultivated, here in sunny Florida. My fiance, Annie, is an ardent Florida gardener and has taught me a lot about southern gardening which is completely different from anything I have ever experienced up north or out west. Here there is no "end" to the growing season as far as gardens go. The only problem we have had was a few nights of frost so far. We have radishes, carrots, and beets in the ground and a very healthy stock of tomatoes and peppers in trays getting ready for transplanting. We use only heirloom and non GMO, non hybrid organic seeds. These first photos show how I planted the water chestnuts in a temporary container that I bring in every night. I will transplant them to a kiddie wading pool after the last frost passes. If you are interested in these delicious plants do a search for Chinese water chestnuts and you'll see they are not hard at all to propagate. I would highly encourage anyone with an interest in exotic plants and southern gardening to go to http://www.floridasurvivalgardening.com/ This is a great site and has tons of interesting information. David is an expert on southern gardening.

The corms-some are sprouting already.

Another shot of the corms on our planting table.

The dirt-a mix of sandy loam and a bit of the local pipe clay.

Here's how much dirt I put in the bucket. Its a 2 1/2 gallon bucket.

Here are the corms before covering.

A closeup of the uncovered corms. I will leave the sprouts exposed above the surface of the dirt.

I use this specially modified bucket to water things that need the least disturbance to the soil. Its also very handy for draining wet potting soil.

Here's the bucket and contents before water is added.

We have several containers on the property to collect rain water. In the summer these can fast become mosquito heaven so we keep them covered.

Filling the watering bucket.

Adding the water to the soil with corms.

This shows the soil with about 6 inches of water over the soil.

The complete project-setting in the sun with our seedlings on the starter tray racks.

This and the next two photos are shots of our starter trays with very happy seedlings getting acclimated.

Peppers, cabbage and tomatoes.

The racks-recycled shelving units from a retailer long gone. The white ones are adjustable for shelf distance. This is a southern exposure and gets a good dose of sunshine all day.

Update on the fire and the heat wave

Here's a link showing video of the fire in the Owyhee mountains of Malheur county, Oregon . The view on the video is the same as I had from my living room window here in the Spirit Ranch area. I heard on the news tonight that 70 square miles have been burnt. Amazing. The heat and dry weather combined with high winds did a nasty job but nature always restores and next spring the burnt area will probably be full of wildflowers. Most of the area is rabbit bush and some cedar and sagebrush. Hopefully there will be a lot of survivors. The fire tankers were flying in and out all day from Gowen Field in Boise http://www.museumerica.com/national-aerial-firefighting-museum-concept.html. I didn't see a sign of any smoke today so I think things are well under control.

The wind from the storm that caused this fire was gusting at least 40-50 MPH. The next night the wind from a similar storm reached gusts of 60-70 MPH here at the ranch! It did a lot of damage to the roofs in the neighborhood and knocked down a few tree's here on the property. I had a huge, half dead elm take a fall and it messed up some of the old farm vehicles here but not too badly. I spent most of the morning chasing junk out in the adjoining fields and picking up plenty of dead wood (read:firewood!)

The heat wave ended yesterday with a high of 102 degrees and today it got up to 98 degrees and is slowly going back to normal. It was rough working on the ranch and in the garden but life is good and God is good. I found myself enjoying working in the "cool" 90 degree weather today. Odd how fast we adapt to natural conditions. But, I still drank plenty of water and Gator Aid!
Take care everyone until next time..........

Crazy weather, heat, wind and a forest fire

Wow! Its 109 degrees here in the Treasure Valley! We are having quite a heat wave here in the northwest. Working in the garden past 10AM is torture. Fortunately everything is in the ground and its just maintenance such as watering and weeding. Last night I watched a thunder storm roll in from the west over the Owyhee (pronounced OH-WHY-HE) mountains and the lightening show was terrific! I saw where a particularly bright bolt struck and a minute or so later I noticed an orange light. I thought someone was 4 wheeling up in the hills so I got out my Minolta 8x to 20x zoom binoculars and set them on the tripod. Sure enough the lightening had set a wild fire. In a matter of a few hours it had spread over several thousand acres. The wind was terrific and helped it along. Today the Snake river valley is full of smoke and I can't see across the valley to the Owyhee's.
This weather reminds me of several things: be hydrated constantly! After a few hours work outside I started to feel the effects of heat sickness so I got in the shade and downed a bottle of Gator Aid. I still drink plenty of water but when you sweat a lot you loose valuable minerals and need to replace those electrolytes. Sometimes I put 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt in a quart of nice cold water. It helps replace some electrolytes but its not as efficient as Gator Aid. My trusty bandana is always soaking wet and worn around my neck cowboy fashion. This of course gets my tee shirt soaked which helps with the cooling. And I always wear a booney style hat, doctors orders because of the skin cancer and its a great shade giver as well. When its this hot and you work outside you just have to make sure you are drinking plenty of water.
The wind was gusting at around 60-70 MPH last night and when I awoke at 5AM I noticed a lot of damage here on the farm. An old dead elm finally bit the bullet and laid down. Fortunately it didn't take anything with it. There is a huge cottonwood that has a lot of dead limbs and I'm afraid its going to come down soon. If so it will only block the road until we get it cut up and moved but God help the person who has the misfortune of being under it if it falls. Several pieces of equipment were blown over and some roof damage to a shed or two but nothing really serious from the wind storm. I think the heat really gets the wind speed up as it cools in the evening. I don't know all the mechanics of weather but I think I read about this particular phenomenon somewhere.
Take care everyone and stay safe! Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated if you are out in the hot summer weather.

SAS Urban Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman

I just received a copy of this book to review. Its name is "SAS Urban Survival Handbook" By John "Lofty" Wiseman who also wrote the immensely popular SAS Survival Handbook. My edition is the 2013 copy. It states on the cover "how to protect yourself against terrorism, natural disasters, fires, home invasions, and everyday health and safety hazards". So, its not just a "doomsday" type of book but one geared towards everyday, real world possibilities. It is written by a European, namely Great Britain, and it has some things that pertain to Europe but not the USA (in most cases-but, if you live in some anti-gun states you are SOL). The book is a paperback, 627 pages, and measures  8 1/4" by 5 1/4". Just right for tossing into the glove compartment or BOB. Amazon has it (there's even a Kindle edition): SAS Urban Survival Handbook

Here's a breakdown of the contents:
1. Essentials - Be a Survivor, Body Matters, Stress & City Survival kit.

Lots of good stuff here. The city survival kit is very simple to put together and is a must have in my opinion if you live in the city., especially a sizable one.

2. Safety First - Safe as Houses?, Electricity, Gas, Liquid Fuel, Solid Fuel, Water, Common Accidents, Room Check, Leaving the House, & Pets

This covers all the basic precautions associated with the above topics. Some is geared towards European houses but its easy enough to substitute American design such as electricity and plugs. When I lived in Berlin, Germany everything was 220 volt and the tongues on the plugs were round instead of spade shaped like their American counterparts. Also, if you wanted to run American made appliances you had to buy and use a step down transformer (220 volt to 120 volt)with the spade shaped socket holes. Most of us just bought German and didn't bother with the transformers. Lots of good stuff in this chapter and its geared for everyday life, not just SHTF situations.

3. DIY/Craft Hazards - Using Tools, Basic Tools, Power Tools, Hire Tools (rentals), Paint, Crafts, Ladders, Protective Clothing

This is something I haven't seen presented in any survival book. It covers the importance of safety around hand and power tools. Each year so many folks go to the emergency room because they didn't take the normal precautions with tools. There is a lot of info on how to properly use tools as well. Good material here, "Lofty"!

4. Poisons - Chemical Hazards, Alcohol, Types of Hazard, Safe Storage, Acute Poisoning, Chronic Poisoning, Kitchen/Living Areas, Bathroom, The Medicine Cupboard, Prescribed Medicines, Garage/Shed, Pesticides

Here's a lot of very good information on a topic that most folks simply fail to realize the risks of using and having in their homes. There is a very nice colored section on poisonous plants and mushrooms. Most of the plants are not wild species but ones a person may have planted for ornamental purposes. Its amazing how dangerous some garden plants can be due to their seeds, leaves, etc. that aren't used for food.

5. Fire - Fire Facts, Equipment, Drills, Fire!, Escape!

This little chapter has a lot of really important info. As it states at the beginning, fire isn't the main killer. Smoke and poisonous fumes are what do you in. Great advice on planning for, fighting and living through a fire disaster at home or away.

6. Security - Safe & Secure, Home Security, Security at Work, Vehicles

This is a topic that is, sadly, so timely. With all these crazy people shooting up schools, workplaces, etc. and criminals given just about free reign due to asinine laws (read GUN CONTROL!) and insane litigation this is an important chapter. In Europe and elsewhere, you are not allowed firearms so must resort to other means. Fortunately, for now and for most of us, we have the freedom to own guns. Buy and carry a good handgun. Just my opinion.

7. Work & Play - The Workplace, Leisure, Sport

This chapter deals with the risks involved in such activities. Its surprising how many things are a danger that I never thought of. Sports, of course, is one of the most injury prone activity there is. Good stuff!

8. In Transit - On the Move, Public Transport, Lifts (elevators)/Escalators, Travelling Abroad

There's a load of good common sense info in this chapter. Some surprising ideas are presented, especially the section on overseas travel.

9. Self-Defence (spelled defense in USA) - The Law, Being a Witness, Under Attack, High-Risk Groups, Self-Defence, Into Action, Animal Attack

A lot of this chapter pertains to Europe as far as the law is concerned. But, still, the information is food for thought and you should be familiar with the laws concerning self-defense where you live.
There is a good section on self-defense and another on dangerous animals such as poisonous snakes and other animals and insects. Vectors are included in this chapter. The section on signs is interesting. The meaning is pretty much the same as the signs in this country so I would imagine there is a worldwide standard.

10. Terrorism - Terrorist Threat, Bombs, Hijack/Kidnap, Under Fire, Risk Limitation, Bullet/Blastproofing

This is a timely topic. There is a lot of very good information in this chapter.

11. Disasters - Natural Disasters, Earthquake, Volcano, Hurricane, Tornado, Flood, Lightning, Drought, The Big Freeze

This is pretty much self explanatory. Important information for recognizing and dealing with these threats.

12. Health - Take Control, Childhood Diseases, Serious Diseases/Disorders, Genetic Disorders, Respiratory Problems, Eating Disorder, Food Hygiene,  Tropical Diseases, STD's, Parasites, Pets & Your Health, Bites/Stings, Substance Abuse, Emergencies, Save a Life!

This is a very good chapter on health and dealing with sickness or injury. On most diseases/disorders it has symptoms and action to take. It  gives a brief but thorough description of the maladies.

The book doesn't have an index but the way the chapters are arranged makes it easy to find whatever subject you are looking for. I am impressed with this book and I can tell a lot of work went into it. I give it a 10. Good job, John.

Minimalist hiker & prepper

Since my divorce I have had to get rid of almost everything. And I don't plan on replacing most of it! I have realized that I had a lot of box's of stuff that never saw the light of day. Fortunately I had plenty of time to go through things before moving back to Idaho. I took a very close and long look at the gear I owned and decided that it was time for the frills, googaws and froofarras to go live with someone else. The folks from my church made out like bandits. And it makes me happy that those fine folks got first dibs. My friends Pam & Mark just moved to a home in the mountains east of Fresno and they got most of the "back to the country" type books and material. My friends Sheila and Luke got a lot of survival gear and books. My friend Richard got a lot of survival gear and knives. We all came out smiling.

I have kept 3 sheath knives, namely my BK9, Gerber Freeman and my Finnish Lauri. I also kept about a dozen folders of different size but some are old family heirlooms and part of my collection. As far as camping/hiking gear I kept a small tent, two tarps, a wool blanket, my Kelty backpack and air mattress, and a minimal amount of gear, mostly for cooking and water. I am practicing what I have preached and that is carry as much knowledge as you can learn in your head and you'll carry a lot less on your back. Pretty simple concept. Its so easy to fall into the possession "trap" and end up with a lot of things you will never use. Guilty, your honor. It feels good to be traveling lite!

Since my transportation is an old Toyota I really couldn't bring a lot of a stuff with me so I had to check and recheck each and every box I loaded. My priority was my camping gear and my tools. I always spent good money for good tools and bought the best. It paid off in the long run.I have a set of quality tools that will last me the rest of my days. The books really took a beating. I came with one box and that was a small one. I have the knowledge tucked away in my brain. The survival/preparedness books were fun to read but do I really need to keep them? No. I kept a few on wild edible plants and a couple of outdoors medicine books and my old copy of FM 21-76 (1992, Barnes & Noble edition). Of course I kept the book with my article about cordage that Marianne Barnes had published called "New & Different Materials for Weaving & Coiling". Its a great book about basketry that covers a lot of materials that can be used for such. Another is an old favorite I have owned for years called "Handicraft" by Lester Griswold from 1945. Its an old school craft book that covers a lot of different subjects such as leather, archery, metal working, cordage and rope work, etc, etc. Though I've sold almost all of my extensive mineral collection I did keep 3 or 4 good books on the subject. Again, its the priorities we set for what and how much we keep. Now, as for food storage, well, I just have to start over and I will be depending a lot on foraging and stocking up dried veggies and fruits so I don't consider that a big problem. Its only me and things such as a 25 pound bucket of rice will last a long time!

Iodine crystals for water purification Ron Hood style

This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I remember watching the late Ron Hood describe how he made a water purification kit with Iodine crystals and an empty bottle in one of his early video tapes. So, I bought a one ounce bottle of Iodine crystals which are 99.9% pure and several empty one ounce brown glass bottles. I like the idea of using a brown bottle since it keeps sunlight from harming the effectiveness of the Iodine.
From all the information I've read 7 or 8 grams of Iodine crystals to one one ounce bottle is the formula. Since I bought 3 one ounce bottles I'll split the Iodine crystals 4 ways (28.35 grams is an ounce). This will give me 7 grams of Iodine crystals per bottle. I'll have enough Iodine for 4 water treatment bottles. I plan on making two bottles. One for the wife's kit and one for mine.
The directions are:
Fill the bottle with water. Treated or untreated doesn't matter as long as it isn't muddy or have a bunch of junk floating in it. The treatment works faster if the solution gets warm. You can set the bottle in the sun or keep it next to your body. The Iodine crystals will saturate the water and you will not be able to tell how much crystal has dissolved into solution. Leaving the water in the bottle will not cause the water to super saturate. The Iodine stops dissolving when a limit is reached. That's the beauty of this system. You can leave the water in the bottle for the next treatment and not worry. After the water is nice and warm and has set for around 1 hour, you carefully pour off half the water from the bottle into a 1 liter/quart container of water to be treated. You must let the water set for a determined amount of time depending on the temperature of the water. See the table below. Try not to get any of the crystals into the water. This is so you don't waste them and also so you don't ingest too much of them. A little crystal won't hurt you but too much can make you sick. If you are really concerned, you can use a piece of nylon stocking over the opening of the bottle when you pour off the solution to catch any crystals. A piece of panty hose would work fine. Read all the warnings about Iodine in the information from Raems below.
My plan is to use my Bobble carbon filter to take out the iodine taste from my water. Also, I will add a bit of vitamin C to the water after the allotted treatment time to sublimate the Iodine out of solution. This should remove the taste completely.
On vitamin C for removing the Iodine taste, you only need a little bit to get the job done. If you get a chance to see the vitamin C tablets that come in the second bottle of the Portable Aqua kit, you will see how small they are. One concern I've heard about this system of water purification is that the glass bottle is a bad idea. I have carried an old Vanilla Extract bottle full of olive oil in my pack for more than ten years and its still fine and its an odd shaped flat bottle at that. The Iodine bottle is round and that makes it a little more durable. Use common sense and treat your gear good and all will be OK.
All in all I have spent $5 for the 3 bottles and $17 for the Iodine crystals. That includes shipping. Now, one bottle of Polar Pure is around $20 and I have seen it for $14 once. My 4 bottles will work out to $7.25 each. Thats a pretty good savings. I plan to use them only for the times when I can't boil my water which is my first choice. That means they should last me many, many years.

Here's some information from a company in Canada that makes an Iodine crystal purification bottle. This is a link to their site: http://www.raems.com/webad/USP.html

"USP Iodine in 1 Ounce bottle 
Each amber bottle contains 8 grams of USP Resublimated Iodine Crystals.  It may be reused to treat up to 5000 quarts. Once the crystals are dissolved, the bottle is finished. This may take years! Each fill of the bottle will give you a saturated solution of 8 ppm (parts per million). This solution strength will disinfect water according to the following table:

           Temperature       41F / 5 C       59F / 15C        86F / 30C

              Time in            60                  30                    15
              minutes

Iodine is light sensitive and must always be stored in a dark bottle. It works best if the water is over 68° F (21° C). Iodine has been shown to be more effective than chlorine-based treatments in inactivating Giardia cysts. It is important to note that you are using the iodine solution to treat the water, not the iodine 
crystals. The concentration of iodine in a crystal is poisonous and can burn tissue or eyes.  Fill the bottle with some of the water to be treated, cap it, shake, and let it sit for a few minutes.  Decant the solution ( not the crystals) into a one quart ( 1 litre) container holding water to be treated. Let the treated water stand 
  for 30 minutes before drinking. In order to destroy Giardia cysts, the drinking water must be at least 68° F (20° C). Be aware that some people are allergic to iodine and cannot use it as a form of water purification. Persons with thyroid problems or on lithum, women over fifty, and pregnant women should consult their physician prior to using iodine for purification. Also, some people who are allergic to shellfish are also allergic to iodine. If someone cannot use iodine, use either a chlorine-based product or a non-iodine-based filter, such as the PUR Hiker Microfilter, MSR WaterWorks, or the Katadyn Water Filter.
Always ensure the bottle is tightly capped, as iodine crystals sublime into the air quite quickly, and may stain surrounding items. They will also cause corroding of most metals. Leaving water in the bottle is okay, and will not create a superstrong solution. Any residual iodine aroma in the treated water may be neutralized by adding drink crystals containing vitamin C."

Here's more info from a different site:

"USP-grade resublimed Iodine Crystals (Kahn-Vassher solution, Polar Pure)

This system incorporates a bottle of poorly soluble iodine crystals and is one of the best systems for treating small amounts of water, since it is relatively effective and has an indefinite shelf life.  This is probably the most reliable iodine treatment system available to backpackers and is widely used by mountaineers traveling abroad.

Glass is the only appropriate material for storing aqueous iodine solutions.  The main disadvantage of this is the potential of a full bottle freezing an breaking.  This can often be avoided by placing the bottle in your shirt, sleeping with it in your bag or only half filing it prior to nightfall.

Once water is added to your crystals, the water quickly (up to an hour) becomes saturated with iodine.  This saturated iodine solution is then added to your drinking water.

Since the amount of iodine saturated in water is dependant on the temperature of the solution, you should take into account the temperature of the solution to determine how much of it to add to the water you would like to treat.  The Polar Pure bottle and a thermometer on it for dose calculation for 4 mg/L.  The following chart shows how many capfuls (Polar Pure) of saturated solution are needed to treat water:

Temperature of Solution	Capfuls per Quart (Liter)
95° F (35° C)	1.2
86° F (30° C)	1.3
77° F (25° C)	1.5
68° F (20° C)	2
59° F (15° C)	2.5
50° F (10° C)	3.5
41° F (5° C)	4

Saturation of iodine is increased if you keep the bottle warm by keeping it in your packet or setting it out in the sun prior to use.

For treating Giardia, it is recommended that you warm the bottle and use a double dose to 8mg/L for 90-120 minutes.

The original system system described by Kahn and Visscher in 1975 incorporates a 30cc (1 fl oz) bottle, paper lined bakelite cap, and 2-8 g USP grad resublimed iodine crystals.  The bottle is filled, shaken and left to stand for at least one hour.  At a temperature of 68°F (20°C), which can be maintained by placing the bottle in a shirt pocket, half a bottle (15cc) of saturated iodine solution should be able to treat one liter (quart) with about 9mg/L of iodine.  One 30cc (1 fl oz) bottle is enough to treat 2 liters of water.

Other guidelines recommend 13 ml (2.5 teaspoons) of saturated iodine solution pee quart (liter) of clear water or 25 ml (5 teaspoons) per quart (liter) of cloudy water.

It is important to note that the 4-8 grams of crystals used constitutes a potential lethal human dose if consumed all at once.  Because of this, the bottles supplied with Polar Pure are designed to trap the crystals when the iodine solution is poured out.  DIY backpackers should use a strainer insert in their bottles to prevent accidental pouring of crystals into your water.  These crystals can be purchased from a pharmacy.  Because of the poisoning potential, this system should not be entrusted with children."

This is from a most excellent site with a very informative write up on water purification. Here's the link to that site: http://zenbackpacking.net/WaterFilterPurifierTreatment.htm

By the way, if you don't have Ron Hoods priceless DVD's on survival, you should buy them. It would really help Karen and Jesse at this time in their lives. They need all the financial help they can get. Heres a link:
http://survival.instantestore.net/default.cfm

Here's what the Iodine crystals look like for the curious. This is the picture supplied by the seller on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/1oz-28-4g-pure-elemental-iodine-crystals-/280648667761?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4157f6d271

Earthquakes and monitoring them

I am very interested in earthquakes since I live in an earthquake prone state. I have a program on my computer called 3D Earthquake. It automatically scans and updates all the earthquakes all over the world. There is a free edition but the $20 edition has way more options and well worth it if you are concerned. Here's a link to their site: 3D Earthquake

I have been prepared for quakes since I moved here. Even though I'm prepared, I could still loose all my preps depending on the magnitude of the quake. If there is major structural damage my preps may be trapped under a ton of debris. There are chances the preps in my car could be destroyed by falling trees. Its just a risk I have to live with. Its part of the reason that knowing primitive skills will come in very handy. Even if all is lost I feel I have a very good chance of making it.

Survival mega fire kit

Here are photos of one of my fire kits.I call this one my mega kit because of the size of the rod-5 inches long and 1/2 inch across! Its called the "Moose". I got this from my favorite store, Going Gear.
http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=84
I should be able to start several thousand fires with the big boy. I keep the rod, striker, and a tiny zip lock bag with 2 pieces of Coghlans emergency tinder in the leather pouch.

The first shot shows a box of carbide pieces I bought several years ago. I think these are used to re-tooth industrial saws and machine shop tools. These are 1 x 1/4 x 1/16 inches. I intended to make a few knife sharpeners and never got around to it. I did make some very nice ferro rod spark strikers that will last several life times. I don't think I will be able to dull the edge on this thing even if I go through a dozen roods like the one pictured. Carbide is very tough stuff. It can sharpened with diamond laps and that's the only thing I know of that will touch it. That's why its used in saws, drill bits, rotary rasps, machining tools, etc.

This striker is 2 1/4 inches long and as you can see its mounted in a piece of deer antler. I used an oval needle file to make the grooves for improved grip. Getting the carbide into the antler was easy. I drilled 3 holes in line and used a diamond Dremel bit to enlarge the slot for the carbide. Super glue did the trick for holding the carbide in place. Drilling a hole for the lanyard and attaching same was the last part of the construction.

I carry a film canister of Coghlans Emergency Tinder with this kit. Also, there's a zip lock with two pieces in the pouch with the rod and striker.
http://www.coghlans.com/products/tinder-8649
I like to use natural tinder, but the Coghlans is a never fail starter for times when I need a fire in a hurry. I used it once to start a fire during a sudden downpour in the mountains. It easily takes a spark and burns long enough to get damp tinder going. I experimented by using a pea sized piece of this tinder and that's usually enough to get a fire.

The mega kit is shown at the bottom. The two photos before the mega kit show one of my antler cased ferro rods with a striker attached to the lanyard. The rod in this is 2 1/2" x 1/4".

Schools out and its been a blast

Classes are done for the year and I now have time to pay attention to this lonely old blog. I managed to move to a new house, too. I have been concentrating on preps such as food storage and gardening. I will have a years worth of food stocked up real soon at the other place. I have been adamant about this with others but they all want to play grasshopper. I don't understand why folks can't think ahead. Too bad for them. Take care of yourself and have enough stuff put away for your family and some extra for members of your immediate family should they need help. And don't let anyone know what you're doing. More to come...............

Too many grasshoppers?

At work I mentioned the fact to a few friends that the fires in southern California are very bad. I then asked what they would do if they had to run or stay in place. How would they deal with no utilities, food, water or contact with the outside world? Well, sadly, most of them came up with the standard answers. Go to the store and buy stuff. The government will take care of us. (!!!) And "I'll just drive to a safe place" (and then what?) I asked if anyone had ever been in an emergency situation and one person remembers something about an earthquake shaking the bed at 3 am. When I told them what really happens in such scenarios all I saw were looks of horror. They mostly said "I can't afford to prep. It will take too much money and too much time" or "its too late to start now and besides, what if I never need it". My favorite was "you have all kinds of stuff, right?" My answer to the last statement was "sure I do but its far, far away in the mountains and if you show up at my house, I won't be there. You had better bring everything you need and hope you survive sitting in my driveway." This is a most common thought pattern. Either some one else will take care of you, you can run away, or you can go to some ones place who has thought ahead. All of which will get you very disappointed or maybe even killed. Depending on the circumstances of the situation I plan to leave most hurriedly. If its something that I know will be a very short term "uncomfortable situation" I will probably stay in place. Many things can be the deciding factor on whether I stay or leave. I have already warned people NOT to come near my house if something go's wrong. I'll take care of my immediate family and if I have a little extra, well maybe, just maybe. Its not a mean spirited thing. They all make way more than I do and if they didn't take the time and effort to prepare, that's not my baby. Sounds cold, doesn't it? Well, that's life. I have given folks more than ample opportunity to learn to prepare. What more can I do? It reminds me of the story I read when I was about 6 years old about the ant and the grasshopper. The ant and friends worked their butt's off storing up and the grasshopper laid around on his lazy ass watching and laughing. When TSHTF (winter came), Mr. Grasshopper went looking for Mr. Ant who was hunkered down with the goodies and Mr. Grasshopper ended up freezing his lazy, dumb ass to death. The ants ate his remains. The end.

A good resource for preppers

I found a gold mine of information today. Go to this blog: http://arizonapreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/ and look at the right hand column. See the "State Prepper Networks"? That's it. I went to several of them and WOW, what a lot of great information! Its never to late to start preparing and if you can't find the info your looking for, you ain't trying hard enough!

Good reasons to be prepared

This is one of many blogs I follow: http://wwwstayalive.blogspot.com/ Be sure to read his guest article for today. I find that most knowledgeable peoples opinions differ 180 degrees from what the government run media (all of it is government run, basically) and "Dear Leader, the Anointed One" have to say about the economy. I have read quite a few books about the Federal Reserve and I can't believe we have been letting such thievery take place for all these years. Some folks say that presidents have been assassinated for even attempting to get rid of the Fed Reserve (JFK). When the uber greedy bankers are threatened they do what comes naturally. They use any means, no matter how dirty, to hang on to their filthy lucre.
Anyway, I see so many things falling into place with this dieing economy. We have the water issue here in California and the politicians are only doing lip service to remedy it. Do they really want the people affected to take up arms and force them to turn on the pumps? Yes, there are folks who feel this is the only way its going to get fixed! Well, when it comes to that, we're all going to be in deep do do. Another thing is the price of gas and food here in the workers paradise. I paid $3.05 a gallon for el cheapo gas the other day meanwhile listening to KMJ in Fresno all week about the price of oil falling. Gee. Who's making out on this deal? Take a guess! We have such an obscene cost of living here due to all the illegal aliens living here on welfare and the stupid irresponsible people on welfare. I mean, come on, a woman has 1 kid out of wedlock and the state bends over backwards to give her a house, money car, and food. They are rewarded for being STUPID!!! So what does she do? She has 3 more to a few low lifes and gets even more welfare!!! The illegals come here and the whole damn family is treated like welcome guests! They even give them "proxy" social security cards so they can apply properly. Sickening. What ever happened to deportation? Well, ask Boxer, Feinstein and Pelosi. They think its "inhumane". What BS!! So, we who work and live here have to pay out the wazoo to support these morons and meanwhile the economy tanks so what next? I don't think its going to be very pretty when the fan is shat upon. Just imagine how these creeps will react when there are no more food stamps to sell for their drugs and the check is NOT in the mail. Its pretty bad now, wait till these things take place! I won't be staying around any towns, no matter how small. Everyone who even looks like they have anything will be a target. This is also a good reason to tell NO ONE about your preps. Rant over, Ron signing off.............................