Continue reading »]]> By  TNTCrazyLady

Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water. The acetic acid is produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. It is today mainly used in the kitchen, but historically, as the most easily available mild acid, it had a great variety of industrial, medical and domestic uses. Commercial vinegar today, is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes.

In today’s perceived ‘time pressed’ world, many of its great uses have been forgotten. However, since the ‘silent economic depression’ seems to be dragging on, vinegar is again being used in place of the newer more expensive products and since vinegar has an almost limitless shelf life, it is a great, inexpensive item for long term emergency storage.

Unopened bottles of vinegar can be stored indefinitely. Producers recommend that opened bottles should be used up within 6 months to enjoy peak flavor; although many (including me) have kept vinegars much longer than that (years!). All bottles should be kept in a cool, dark place – including those gourmet bottles with sprigs of herbs inside. You need to choose if they’ll be food or decor, since daily exposure to bright light can alter the flavor over time.

Remember long term storage for most things (especially food and medical items) need cool, dry, dark places. The opposite of what is generally needed to grow them

While most people think of vinegar as something that is made from wine, it can be made from the fermented juices of virtually any plant material, including rice, grain and fruit. Thus, while European vinegar is basically an alcoholic beverage that has gone sour (the word vinegar that we use today is French for sour wine vin is wine and aigre means sour), around the world vinegars are made from a broad variety of bases.

Vinegar is a totally natural food. In a bottle of vinegar there are no harmful chemicals or preservatives, indeed vinegar is a preservative itself. There are so many ways that you can utilize its virtues. It is not just for vinaigrette dressing. There are many healing functions you can use it for. It cleans and sanitizes almost as well or better than anything on the market, it deodorizes and is a natural way to get rid of ants, other insects, and unwanted weeds. Vinegar through history has also been a good way to preserve foods. It is of course used in pickling but also when you marinate meat it kills unwanted bacteria such as ecoli.

The many uses of vinegar have been passed down through the centuries from medical, food preservation and condiment ingredient, to cleaning. White vinegar is especially popular for the treatment of rashes, bites and other minor ailments when camping.

Vinegar actually makes itself when aerobic bacteria (Acetobacter aceti or often called Mother of Vinegar) comes in contact with alcohol, while exposed to oxygen. The bacteria turn the alcohol to acetic acid and water; the acid that is found in all vinegars. Acetic acid is what gives vinegar its unique sharp sour taste. While acetic acid provides the vinegar with its primary taste component, it is the nature of the actual alcohol itself that gives the vinegar its specific character.

So, is it worth it to make your own vinegar?

It is becoming more and more popular to make your own vinegar or enhance store bought vinegar. Good homemade vinegar, when made properly, generally has a much better taste and more variety of flavors than the store bought. It is also fun just to see the process of nature at work.

Making simple cider or white vinegar can be cheaper than store bought, not always though.

Homemade vinegar does have one drawback – the acidity level will vary greatly, as us home producers do not have all the strategic testing of the acidic level to guarantee a consistent level. It can be done, however it will be way more of a time consuming thing, than an expense thing.

You can basically make vinegar from anything that has sugar in it.

First the sugars must change to alcohol. Then airborne bacteria turn the alcohol into acetic acid.

You can make vinegar from sugar water or molasses.

For some facts, history, uses, how-to’s and resources on the Wonderful World of Vinegar! see http://www.scribd.com/doc/78280149/Vinegar-in-All-Its-Wonder-Common-Uses

“If it is to be, it is up to me.”
William H. Johnsen
Depression-era realist/impressionist painter

TNT a 50 something urban prepper ;-}

I share Preparedness, Homesteading, Self-reliance knowledge & doc’s at: http://NMUrbanHomesteader.blogspot.com/ & http://www.scribd.com/TNTCrazyLady

Continue reading »]]> by CCCooper

“You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.”

If we have a definite need, it is to be aware that things happen without advance notice. That knowledge gives us the small advantage to be ready BEFORE danger arrives. It also necessitates the need to be brutally honest with yourself. Accepting the personal responsibility for your own happiness, health, and well-being.

But there’s a price.

A price for inaction that will far outweigh any price you may pay for preparedness or mental awareness.

So, which price are you going to pay? And will you pay with the (fiat) currency in your pocket, the sweat of your brow, time invested in knowledge, or the most precious, your life or that of your loved one’s?

Will you set aside time? Will you “invest” time rather than “spend” time? Will you commit resources that will assist you in your journey or continue down that rut towards oblivion?

Decisions must be made now while you still have the freedom to do so. Procrastination at this point may have dire consequences and impact you and those that rely on you in a verybad way.

Hope that the above snaps some people awake and gives others the determination and assurance that they are on the right track.

Continue reading »]]> by CCCooper

Well, not really 12 steps…maybe a thousand or two. But, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.

Buy-In. A true and deep understanding of just how important this journey will be. It will mean the difference between thriving and subsistence. The difference betweem Freedom and subservience. The difference between you and your family being responsible for your own happiness rather than an out of control government dictating the happiness that you must accept…OR ELSE.

OpSec. Operational security. An acute awareness and understanding that the rest of the world does not think or feel as you do. A large majority are the unaware sheeple that have been dumbed down in our public school systems have no clue. make sure that YOU DO.

Take stock. Understand intimately exactly what you and your family need on a regular basis. Know how much you consume on a weekly and monthly basis. Ask what you would do if there were no grocery or convenience store. What if the power outages were extended. Or, perhaps, your water supply was somehow interrupted. How would you manage? Be honest with your self.

Have a plan. Have 2. maybe 3. Put it in writing and discuss with your spouse. Read and read some more. Then go back and look at your plan and come up with some contingencies. Brain storm some “what ifs” and seek guidance.

Allocation will be key. Allocation of time, energy, resources, and space. (Home storage, gardens, animals, weapons, etc).

Make the journey exciting. Make the journey fun. But never forget that the journey is a necessity.

Continue reading »]]> by GIJeff

Heya Peeps,

Well budgetary constraints are preventing me from doing too many reviews of late. On the other hand, some things I just HAD TO HAVE and bought as soon as budget allowed. One such item is the BK-2 Campanion knife. This is a full tang camping knife or survival knife with a 1/4 inch thick blade. First thing you can say about this knife is that, and I quote an unknown reviewer “it’s the perfect knife to have along if you ever have to field dress a BUICK”. Dave Canterbury, of Dual Survival fame calls it the “Becker train wrecker”. All I can say is that you won’t have to worry about breaking this knife, it’s built like a main battle tank.

The design of this knife is a drop point, which makes it less desirable for stabbing than some other designs such as spear point, but it’s still serviceable in this role. The grind is about 3/4 and that way for a reason. The knife is designed for chopping, batoning, and other camping chores, as well as food prep. For those of you not familiar with batoning, it’s the use of a knife as a sort of log splitter, in order to do so you lay the blade across the top of a vertical log, using another log to impact the blade through the log being split. Not every knife is built to take such abuse, and this one is probably OVERBUILT to take such abuse.

The knife weighs over a pound by a smidge, and is balanced around the index finger, which makes the 5.25″ blade surprisingly agile in the hand, and if you choke up a bit you get even more control. Choking DOWN on the blade and using a lanyard around your pinky to prevent the blade slipping out of your hand allows you to chop with it as one would with a camp hatchet, and it’s weight makes it as good a tool as the aforementioned hatchet. The only better tool I can think of that is as compact is a folding saw. I will be purchasing a corona 10″ saw later for review and testing.

When considering the contents of one’s BOB or GHB or even camping gear, having tools that serve more than one purpose is paramount. I love that this thing can chop onions and three inch diameter logs equally well. As a fighting knife it’s not optimal but is VERY efficient as a slashing weapon, I’ve been able to part pool noodles with it, although infrequently, and when I don’t completely slice through it I at least get 3/4 of the way through, which is fairly impressive for a 5.25 inch blade. I use the same pool noodles as targets for my swords and in my review of the Cold Steel Katana Style Machete and they are not terribly easy to cut through with a full blown sword unless proper technique is used.

I purchased my BK-2 on Amazon.com for fifty eight dollars and change, opting for the free super saver shipping. That’s a steal on an absolutely indestructible knife (within reason) that does so many things so well. The BK-2 as all BK or Becker knives has an ergonamic grip that fits the hand of most anyone well with no sharp edges or any other uncomfortable characteristics. The new kydex sheath is a one way reversible sheath that holds the knife only one way, which makes it more positively secure than the older two way sheath, while still retaining the ability to be worn left handed by removing four screws to reverse the belt loop attachment. I added some paracord through the many slots and holes around the sheath to wear it “scout style” for a day or two and then attached it to my pack strap. The “scout style” carry is very practical, keeping the knife from bouncing around, getting in the way, or catching on things even when climbing in and out of vehicles.

I did make one slight modification beyond the attachment of a lanyard I braided myself out of paracord. I took the scales (handle halves) off the knife and took some very coarse sandpaper to them to put ridges going along the handles where your fingers go and in the same direction. This adds to the grip of the knife considerably, as the original plastic or grivory grips are fairly textureless. They do sell micarta grips for this knife, but they are rather expensive, nearly the price of the knife, and I like to adapt where possible. I made the same modification to my Katana Style Machete from Cold Steel and it’s very effective, and cost me nothing but a little time to implement.

If you don’t have a good full tang knife in your kit, you really should and you could do a LOT worse than to choose this knife to rely on. The only knife of a comparable size that chops better than this one is a Tom Browne Tracker, which costs almost three hundred dollars. For those considering the “one tool” approach this is the perfect one. You won’t break this thing, and it can do most any task you might set for it.

Here is a link to the Amazon listing for this item
http://www.amazon.com/Ka-Bar-Becker-BK2-Campanion-Fixed/dp/B001N1DPDE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326042862&sr=8-1

Keep on Preppin’
GIJeff

Also check out my business website for emergency food supplies that actually provide nutrition, unlike most mainstream products on the market currently.
http://emergency-food-supply.com/

Continue reading »]]> Come learn survival, preparedness and sustainable living with us!

The Preppers networks are all about volunteering our knowledge and skills with each other. We share ideas, tips and basically network with each other to survive any type of disaster whether natural, man made, or economic. Information that you learn and share with others will help everyone learn how to find “Freedom Through Teaching Others Self Reliance.”

Joining the Alabama Preppers Network is simple, and most of all, it’s Free! To join, just follow these few steps.

1) Register to become a member of the American Preppers Network www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net The registration page is here: http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

2) Once you have your account, go to the index page of the forum and do your first post by introducing yourself in the new members area. http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/index.php

3) Once you know how to do posts, visit the Alabama forum and introduce yourself. The Alabama forum can be found by scrolling to the lower section of the index page where you will find a list of states, or you can go directly by following this URL: www.AlabamaPreppersNetwork.net

4) After you’ve visited the Alabama forum, follow this link to learn how to join the Alabama Preppers Network group: http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=564&t=2738

Continue reading »]]> The following article has been generously contributed for your reading pleasure by Rourke at Modern Survival Online. We strongly urge our readers to take Rourke’s advice and download or print (or both) the following guides, which are available 100% free. Ideally, retain a paper copy if you have a survival folder, and save a copy to your reserve USB drive, which should be a component of your bug out survival bag or stored at your bug out location.

There are tons of good downloads in the Survival Database Downloadsection of this website. For this article – I have selected 10 that everyone should have either printed and put away, or placed on a USB drive – or better yet both.

So – let’s get to it:

#10. FM 4-25-11 First Aid (2002) – Military First Aid Manual.First aid information is a must – get training before you need it – use this manual for reference.

#9. Guide to Canning – Being able to preserve crops to be able to provide for yourself and your family long after the growing season is over is important. This guide will help with that.

#8. Rangers Handbook (2006) – Crammed with info on demolitions, booby traps, communications, patrolling, tactical movement, battle drills, combat intelligence and much more

#7. Where There is No Dentist – The author uses straightforward language and careful instructions to explain how to: examine patients; diagnose common dental problems; make and use dental equipment; use local anesthetics; place fillings; and remove teeth.

#6. NATO Emergency War Surgery – While this is certainly not a manual that would stand alone in most persons emergency/disaster library, it is an absolutely necessary resource if you expect to handle any type of trauma where immediate comprehensive medical care is not available.

#5. A Guide to Raised Bed Gardening – This is not an “all knowing” gardening book – however it provides a lot of information to the “urban gardener” before or after TSHTF. Best to get the experience and knowledge of gardening NOW rather than later.

#4. FM 3-06 Combined Arms Operations in Urban Terrain – Combat techniques covered in the manual which may be very valuable in a “Roadwarrior”-type world.

#3. 1881 Household Cyclopedia – A massive resource of information that much of it has been lost over the past 203 generations. From Angling to Knitting – its here.

#2. FM 21-76-1 Survival-Evasion-Recovery (1999) – Excellent manual geared towards the soldier that finds himself behind enemy lines

#1. FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual – From Amazon.com: This manual has been written to help you acquire survival skills. It tells you how to travel, find water and food, shelter yourself from the weather and care for yourself if you become sick or injured. This information is first treated generally and then applied specifically to such special areas as the Arctic, the desert, the jungle and the ocean.1970 Military Issue Manual. General Introduction and Individual and Group Survival Orientation Navigation, Finding Water In All Parts of The Globe. How To Obtain Food, Start a Fire and much more!

Bugout cabin??

Well, there’s my list. Best of all – they are all 100% free. So, feel free to download them all.

Rourke

Visit Modern Day Survival Online or subscribe to their RSS feed for daily updates.

Continue reading »]]> With the record heat waves and drought across the nation, the American Preppers Network hopes that you have been prepared.  Disasters of any type can and do happen anywhere, at anytime, and without warning.  We are now witnessing and will continue to witness a prime example of how one disaster can cause a chain reaction leading to other disasters.  Here are some potential disasters to be aware of as a result of the drought and heat waves.

1) Water shortages.  Water is the number 1 most important necessity to survival.  The average human can only survive 3 days without water, and even less in a heat wave.  I hope you’ve stored some.  If the water system shuts down or does not have enough, you could turn on the tap only to have a few drips.  If you run into a situation where there is not enough municipal water supply to your home, start looking for other sources of stored water.

• Your hot water tank may have 30 – 50 gallons of water stored. 
• The top supply tank to your toilette is typically clean water that you can use.
• Your plumbing in your house could have a few gallons.  Open a higher faucet in your house as in a shower, sink, or upstairs source to relieve pressure, then open a lower outside faucet to retrieve water from your plumbing system.

Don’t short change yourself on water!  Make sure you have plenty for personal consumption.  If you stop sweating, that means you are dehydrated!   

Got Water?

2) Heat.  Heat poses many risks, including but not limited to:

• Heat Stroke.  Watch family members closely, especially the elderly, watch for slurred speech and disorientation.  When in doubt, call for help.  Time lost is brain lost.  Never leave pets or children in a vehicle, and keep them out of the direct sun.  Drink lots of water.
• Fire.  Fires are much more common in the heat.  Things dry out and become more flammable.  Keep dry brush and trash picked up.  Do not store fuel in or around your house, and keep well ventilated in a cool area out of the sun.  Keep grass cut short, especially if your city is rationing water and not allowing watering of lawns.  Do not store any flammables in the direct sun or in your attic.  
• Vehicle breakdowns. Avoid driving unless it’s absolutely necessary, or drive at nite. Check your fluid levels and make sure your oil and coolant are topped off.  Bring extra oil and coolant with you in case you need it.  DO NOT top off your fuel tank!  Make sure your tires are property inflated and not over or under inflated.  Bring extra water with you in case you do break down.  Drive with the A/C off when going uphill.  Watch your vehicles tempature when climbing grades.  If your car starts to overheat when going uphill, pull over at a safe location to let it cool.  Check to make sure your thermostat is working before you make your trip.

3) Blackouts.   The nations grids are maxed out.  With everyone using A/C, expect rolling blackouts.  If you are in a blackout, you can wrap sleeping bags around your refrigerator or freezer to help insulate it.  To conserve power, only use what you absolutely need.  Keep lights turned off and keep your A/C set to the warmest temperature that you can safely stand.  Do you have a generator?  Be prepared to use it.  Do you have plenty of non-perishable food stored?  If there is an extended blackout, you may need it.  Stores and gas stations will be shut down in a blackout.  Do you have an emergency battery powered radio and flashlights?

4) Food Prices   Expect food prices to increase.  Especially meat.  Many ranchers are butchering all of there livestock as there is not enough food and water to care for them, this means shortages in the future.  Produce crops are drying up. Prices of corn, wheat and other grains will increase.  Even produce grown in unaffected areas may increase in price as well due to demand.  If the blackouts are too severe, stores, gas stations and truck stops may close down temporarily disrupting the supply chain and preventing food from making it to the stores.

Stay safe during this heat wave and dought.  This is a serious and potentially devastating national disaster.

If you have tips, ideas, news, videos or pictures that you wish to share regarding this heat wave you can submit your article to americanprepper@yahoo.com.  If your article is chosen we will post it on your states preppers network blog.  Top articles will get posted on APN.  The top article of the week will win a free flashlantern valued at $49.95 (made in the USA).  Articles must be submitted before 7/29.

Feel free to copy and repost this article in it’s entirety.  Credit source as AmericanPreppersNetwork.com

Here are some free helpful pdf files to download

Fire and Heat Waves
- ARC – Are You Ready – Fire

- ARC – Are You Ready – Heat Wave

- ARC – Are You Ready – Wildfires

- Fact Sheet: Fires

- Fact Sheet: Fire Safe

- WildFires

Water
- ARC – Food and Water in Emergency

- Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water 

- How To Make A Solar Still (Plastic Cover)

- Purification Of Water On A Small Scale 

- Simple Solar Still For The Production Of Distilled Water

- Slow Sand Filters

- Water Purification

- Water Treatment

Fire Safety 

- Fighting Fire 

- Fire Safety

Get More Free Downloads here:
http://preppers.info/Free_Downloads.html

Continue reading »]]>
Here I have a 208/220V; 440V, 5 horsepower 3-phase motor that I am experimenting with converting to an inductive generator, powered by my Changfa S195 Chinese 12 hp diesel engine. I’m learning here; I have never done this before. In both clips, the motor is wired for low (208/220) voltage. That means it is wired Wye-Wye (two sets of windings paralleled), whereas it would need to be wired Wye (both sets in series) for 440V. Does this mean I could produce 440 volts with this setup? Undoubtedly. Rectify that to DC and power the plate circuit of a tube linear amplifier without the big transformer normally required. Add a small transformer for the low voltage stuff, and this would make a good power supply for a legal-limit ham radio station.

So anyway, in the first clip I am using only one capacitor, and it is the only capacitor I could find in the microFarad range that was rated for high voltage AC. It has nowhere near enough capacitance; I think it was 0.75 uF or something like that. As you can see, it didn’t work.
Digging around in cyberspace, I found reference to C-2C wiring for this specific purpose. Unfortunately the guy who was describing it didn’t have a firm grasp of what he was describing, having simply followed someone else’s directions. Thus, although it would seem that “2C” would imply double the capacitance of “C”, the narrative did not leave me with a feeling of confidence that that was what he meant. Not disrespecting the guy or anything, just telling it like it is.
So I searched further and ascertained that, indeed, 2C means 2C and not merely C2. I found other stuff about it too, which gave me the confidence to actually spend a bit of money.
Basically, it works like this: imagine a delta-wound, 3-phase motor. There are of course 3 legs to which the power connects; L1, L2 and L3. L1 and L2 will be the output. C, the first capacitor, connects in parallel across L1-L2. 2C connects in parallel across L2-L3. Nothing connects across L3-L1.
2C can be either a single capacitor of double the value of C or, as you see here, two caps of the same value as C, connected in parallel.

So I went to everybody’s least favorite online auction site and bought three identical, new, 55 uF 440V motor run capacitors. As you can see, this works; at least as far as producing voltage. Stay tuned, because next I plan to load it with some heating elements to see what it can do.
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Join the APN Forum at www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net
Visit the Alabama Forum at www.AlabamaPreppersNetwork.net

Continue reading »]]>
When the utilities were off for several days during the recent Alabama tornado event, I didn’t have a real generator here. This is how I dealt with it and kept from losing the food in the refrigerator and freezer. Read more about it here.
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Join the APN Forum at www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net
Visit the Alabama Forum at www.AlabamaPreppersNetwork.net