Soliciting Contributions

[walterceal@yahoo.com]

I saw this list and thought I might share what I have thought to arrange for myself in the hopes that we can spark a really good discussion about different ideas and ways for people in different situations to cope with the new normal....

Home made soap – almost any seed oil will act as a displacement agent. Texture can be changed with various materials such as corn starch or fine sand. I went with stockpiling soap concentrates that need to be thinned out before use. I don’t expect things like soap and laundry detergent to become scarce quickly.

DIY electric power – I chose thermo-electric, using peltier modules, copper plates and a stack of aluminium heat sinks. I will always have something to burn for heat and there will be plenty of cold air and water around to use as a coolant. No moving parts, nothing to replace and not dependent on weather conditions to use.

Water heating – I am just going to put a copper pipe filled with graphene (printer toner) in contact with my draft furnace exhaust pipe and pump the heat energy into a nearby tank of water that is raised above my bathtub and drains using gravity. Water towers still work... (copper conducts heat nicely, graphene conducts heat almost 4 times faster) Also worth noting: heat being conducted through solid metal doesn’t care about gravity the same way as liquid or gas does. This saves on drilling holes and patching leaks later on...

Food dehydrating – The lamps I used for my indoor garden cabinet produce infra-red and plenty of ultraviolet a/b. The lamps kill off bacteria, viruses and insects so in addition to growing food, they can be used as “warm” refrigeration or a means of drying out food in a sterile fashion.

Food storage – after food is dried, some plastic containers will do nicely. My goal to produce fresh food all year round and not stockpile too much of it at all...

Solar Thermal gain – half-pipe mirrors are an excellent way to collect solar energy and concentrate the heat into a thermal mass. Fresnel lenses are also a great way to produce a lot of concentrated heat from sunlight, even enough heat to smelt, forge and cast metals including iron. A half-pipe mirror can be made of out cardboard and aluminium foil if needed and a fresnel lens can be created with clear plastic and enough water to form a half-globe sitting below the surface of the plastic. CAUTION : this is not the same as a magnifying glass.... this is more along the lines of a death-ray level of heat energy....

DIY Toothpaste – plenty of baking soda and salt on hand.... tastes horrible but works well.

Cold and Wet Weather clothing – Clothing comes and goes with time. Survival training in this category is more important than having a specific type of clothing. In order to stay warm, you need to stay C.O.L.D. CLEAN clothing is warmer clothing. Grease, oil (including skin oil) and other forms of soil will affect the article of clothing’s ability to insulate. Avoid OVERHEATING as this produces sweat and skin oils which will quickly reduce insulation. Wear clothing LOOSE and LAYERED to trap air between the layers and to give yourself the option of removing layers or putting them back on as needed. DRY clothes are warmer clothes.... never try to stay in wet clothing in extreme cold.... you are better off naked with an emergency blanket against your bare skin while drying off your gear than to stay wet!

Harvesting seeds for sprouting – I am looking forward to learning more about pollination and collecting seeds. For the time being though, I am just concentrating of producing root crops that can be cut an inch or so below the foliage and replanted for a much faster crop than from seed each time. I have nearly 50 different varieties of heirloom seeds all tucked nicely away in my freezer in mylar bags. Even if my replanted root crops fail, I will still have seed to start over....

Water purification – distillation is the simplest means to get clean water and anyone who has two containers, one that is mildly heated and the other being cooled with a connection between them will be able to produce clean water this way. You can get higher quantities of water with greater heating and cooling levels but I don’t recommend you do this for drinking water. Some chemicals found in our rain and groundwater can evaporate as easily as water at temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius.

Sources of fertilizer – I am using potting soil without any fertilizers and plan to use the forest as a source of fresh soil while dumping my scraps and bio-waste to replace what I take. I don’t see much need to build a composting system where I live as I can find high quality soil by simply walking for 5 minutes in any direction I choose.... I may decide later to build a proper composting system after all the rules and regulations go out the window...

Technology – I have archived quite a bit of science and technology, how to videos and material properties guides and have an older smart phone that I keep the battery charged up but not connected to the phone. I made sure all the files I stored on micro sd cards can be read and used by the phone when needed. Bulk micro sd cards are only $15 for the 1TB size cards when you buy 10 or more.... They are small, portable, not sensitive to heat or cold (unless extreme) and as long as they are not connected to anything, they lack enough metallic surface area or wire length to be affected by even the largest scale EMP event which makes them a great candidate for permanent storage.

[iceagefarmer]

Woman needs 730,000 Kcal of Russet potatoes to feed her for a year, 2,508 potatoes.
Man needs 1,387,000 Kcal of Russet potatoes to feed him for a year. 4,755 potatoes.
Totals for a M & F is 7,263 Russet potatoes annually.

This is informative, thanks. I have to mention that I did just hear an interview with Andrew Taylor from SpudFit -- his gig is more about breaking food addiction than self-sufficient eating, but he DID demonstrate that one can survive on potatoes alone for a year.

That is a lot of potatoes.

[iceagefarmer]

I cannot see myself growing over 7,000 potatoes annually. I'm a Realist & somewhat analytical, these dietary specific needs could be looked at and addressed. Increased Fat intake is a desired energy source and pantry storage is easier and takes up far less room. Fat also burns hotter in a body, needing more fat intake during winter cold weather.

Thanks again for getting me thinking on this track -- I included some thoughts in today's video (and gave you props!)

[Agnostic]

Rocket mass heater

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_mass_heater