Better Than Bleach

Artical I read at
Survial Topics dot Com

Better than Bleach: Use Calcium Hypochlorite to Disinfect Water

How to Disinfect Water Using Calcium Hypochlorite

Using granular calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water is a two step process.

1. To make a stock of chlorine solution (do not drink this!) dissolve 1 heaping teaspoon (about one-quarter of an ounce) of high-test (78%) granular calcium hypochlorite for each two gallons (eight liters) of water.
2. To disinfect water add one part of the chlorine solution to 100 parts water to be treated.
3. Let the mixture sit for at least one-half hour before drinking.

Be sure to obtain the dry granular calcium hypochlorite since once it is made into a liquid solution it will begin to degrade and eventually become useless as a disinfecting agent. This also means you should make your treated drinking water in small batches, for example enough for a few weeks at a time at most.

Another plus for using calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water for emergency use is that a little goes a very long way. A 1-pound pag of calcium hypochlorite in granular form typically costs only a few $US dollars and can be obtained in any swimming pool supply section of your hardware store or online. This amount will treat up to 10,000 gallons of drinking water, which is enough for a family of four for some six or seven years at a gallon per day per person!

Calcium hypochlorite will store for a long period of time and remain effective as a chemical drinking water treatment. So get rid of the household bleach and buy a can of Calcium hypochlorite for your disaster emergency water disinfection needs. It lasts far longer and treats far more water than the traditional chlorine bleach water disinfection treatment.

Car emergency kit

My sister (the older one) found this on the interwebi and I thought it was very good.

http://offgridsurvival.com/carkit/
Here are some of the top items that any good emergency vehicle kit should contain.
■Cellphone with Backup Cell Charger
■Quality Car Jack
■Tire Chains (great for extra traction in snow, mud & sand)
■Traction Matt (Great for getting unstuck in snow, mud & sand)
■Extra set of Warm Clothing (pants, socks, gloves, hat & rain gear)
■Couple Gallons of water (for drinking & for radiator)
■Tire Pump, Patches & a can of Fix a Flat
■Spare Tire (preferably full size)
■Flares & other Signaling devices
■Flashlights
■First Aid Kit
■Dried or Canned food (remember the can opener)
■Jumper Cables
■Zip Ties
■Spare Hoses & Fan Belts
■Shovel (to dig your way our if you get stuck)
■Oil
■Gas Can (if you can safely hall it on your vehicle)
■Fire Extinguisher
■Antifreeze
■Good Set of tools (wrenches, Vice Grips, screwdrivers, wire cutters, multitool, etc…)
■Duct tape
■Electrical Tape
■Extra Fuses
■Blanket
■Sleeping Bag
■Solar Charger
■Brightly Colored Flag or Reflective Cloth for signaling
■Personal Survival Kit
■Emergency Candles
■Lighter
■Water Bottles & Bucket
■Windshield Scrapper & Brush
■Tow Ropes
■Rags

Generator stuff

My son and I ran the 5.5 kw generator this weekend. It started on the second pull and ran for about 3 hours on a half a gallon of gas. To be fair my load was just an electric fan. My wife the princes did not really like me running the fan since it was cold but my daughter the Queen stole the heater and I dare not go into her room.

The younger of my sisters (I have two and they are both older than me) asked what is paracord good for. So I sent her this list I found on some site.

Uses for 550 Paracord
Because individual strands of 550 paracord can be easily removed and combined into your own configurations, this small rope can be put to a wide variety of survival uses. As a general purpose utility cord 550 can be used for:

Ridgelines for Tarps
Securing Equipment
Shoelaces
Hanging Food from Bears
Vehicle Tie Downs
Sewing Fabric
Repairing Equipment
Making a Fire Bow
Fishing Line
Paracord String for a Bow
Making a Shelter
Fish Gill Nets
Fishing Line
Animal Snares
Clothes Lines
Paracord Lanyards
Anchor Line
Binding
Twine
Animal Restraints
Tooth Floss
Splints
Tourniquet
Paracord Braiding
Other Paracord Crafts

Hard Copies

I have added the Hard Copies Gadget to the blog. I will add to this section pdf files that should be printed and kept in a binder. This information will then be available even if there is a loss of data.

Long time

It has been a while since I have posted. Mainly due to work.

My other sister read my blog and I guess she liked it.

She posted the following letter to me.

Hiya,

I read the latest posts on your blog this morning. Very cool. The movie was hilarious. I'm going to show it to everyone when I wake them up.

I have some comments and questions for you on the food list you made.
I didn't know brown rice went rancid quicker. Thanks for that.
Have you thought to buy water softener salt? It's much cheaper and you get more for your money. It says it's not for consumption, but as far as I'm concerned, salt is salt.

I'm curious, do you know how long peanut butter will store? We love peanut butter. We wanted to grow peanuts, but it's a warm weather crop.

I think that shortening has a longer shelf life than plain oil, but I'm not sure. Also, there are some good survival foods you can make with shortening. But then again, that was in the olden days when people exercised 10 time more than we do now. When you exercise, you burn a lot more fat, and fat was a lifesaver back in the day.

I love pasta, and think it's an awesome way to preserve eggs. Someday I'm going to make some.

Did you know that honey can be stored forever? That it never goes bad? I think that's awesome to know for survival situations. I don't supposed you could have a bee hive in your own backyard .... could you? I think it's too close to the neighbors. By the way, when you have your own hive in Colorado, did you know that you have to leave honey in the hive for the bees to survive the winter? There's a farmer here who takes all the honey and then lets his bees die in the winter because he makes more money that way. Buying another swarm is cheaper for him than leaving the honey for them to eat. Sounds cruel to me.



My answers
Peanut Butter about a year
virgin Olive oil about 2 years
No iodine in water softener salt... but you could use it for consumption if you want its about 98.9% pure
Shortening 2 years

In a survival situation 3600 calories/day may not be enough food.
Good article about that from survival blog http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/01/the_importance_of_calories_in.html

Pasta will last for years.

Honey is very expensive! And yes it will also preserve just about anything put into it.

It may make sense from a $ point of view but bees are dying for no reason so killing them makes little long term sense.

My kind of horror movie

My wife showed me this and I was very amused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAyJhnrCQFw

Paracord

I have decided in order to build some skills I will learn to make paracord accessories.
I really wanted a paracord belt so instead of buying one. I will make one. I will post photos of my trials as I try and learn this skill.

I also order along with the paracord a new MOLLE bag that I will use for cold weather gear, and a new glock 17 magazine.

Top ten foods for storage

A fantastic list from:
http://thesurvivalmom.com/

1.Wheat. Once ground, it’s the building block for varieties of bread, tortillas, flat bread, pizza crust and more. I’ve stocked up on hard red wheat for hearty breads, general purpose hard white wheat, and soft white wheat for pastries.

2.Rice. On its’ own, it’s a side dish. Mixed with herbs and a vegetable or two, it’s a simple main dish. It’s a great meal-stretcher when topped with, or served alongside, main dishes such as a stir fry. Note: brown rice contains oils which will become rancid after six months or so.

3.Dried milk. Without electricity, fresh milk will go bad in hours. In an emergency situation, fresh will be difficult to come by unless you own a cow or a goat. Dried milk provides not only milk to drink, but milk to use as an ingredient in other dishes.

4.Salt. Stock up on table salt at your local Costco. It’s inexpensive and has multiple uses.

5.Beans. Buy canned beans and dry beans in different varieties. Versatile, economical and a good source of fiber.

6.Tomatoes. Canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, tomato puree, etc. Watch for them on sale and then grab a few dozen cans. They’re the basis for salsas, soups, stews, and sauces.

7.Other canned veggies and fruit. These will help provide important nutrients, variety to your
recipes, and have a very long shelf life. If you can’t stomach canned veggies, try dehydrating your own or purchasing freeze-dried.

8.Peanut butter. High in protein, yummy on warm, freshly made bread! Add some honey and you have a winner!

9.Oil. Without oil, you’re pretty much stuck with boiling your meat and veggies.

10.Dried pasta. Another meal stretcher and a kid-pleasing dish any day of the week. My own kids have been known to dip bow-tie pasta in ranch dressing.

11.Sugar and honey. Okay, that makes eleven, but I’ve known women who were ready to kill when deprived of sugar for too long!

Stuff

Yesterday I received Ferfs tac pants, and my tac pants, but Wogs were not shipped. I guess they did not have them. I will try again next month.

I also got the second half of my ammo allotment.
20 .308
500 .22
50 9mm +P+
50 .380 Frangible

Mary and I started our diets yesterday. Neutrasystem. They send us a months worth of food (kind of neat sort of like prepping but with a regular rotation.) So far the food is odd and not overly good. But I probably have to much good food in my life and that is why I am a small round ball.

More weekend Prep

50 lb bag -o- rice
Big ol thing of coffee.

The AK for my wife will have to wait for the next paycheck.
We talked about saving more money. We don't think saving money is wise.
I have a co-worker at work who I believe is a preper. He is also a serious investor.
He has spent his whole life attaining wealth. He took all is wealth and dropped it into his home and a single condo. As he put it "A lifetime of equity". It vaporized over the last year. His home is now worth less than the equity he put into it.

Our family will continue to buy food, ammunition and other supplies. They seem more valuable than most investments. We also continue to pay down debit. Taxes are always something we fight with, and now they are going up.

I received about half my order of ammo, all of the shotgun and only the 7.62 AK rounds. The second part should be here soon. My first allotment of .410 rounds. I still have failed to find any 45 Long colt round.

The plan continues to be AK this month, and next month at the gun show Feb 13th I will get my AR-10

Prepping continues.

More Ammo

Purchased another shipment of ammo.
308 20
12ga 00 20
.22 LR 500
9mm +P JHP 50
12ga #6 Shot 25
.380 Frangible HP 50
7.62 X 39 FMJ 20

That's Jan ammo order
Made another payment on the Land!

Got tactical pants for the boys and I.
Paul said his tac pants are his fav pair of pants.
Green for Ferf
Blue for Wog
and a couple pairs of black for myself.

My sister is currently IM'n me all sorts of survival links.
I also advised her to start her own blog.