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Hiking Tips For Beginners – Test Your Gear to Know Your Gear!

hiking clean drinking water filters

by Ian D

The Importance of Knowing Your Equipment, and the Reality of the Using It.

A few months ago I decided it would be a good experience to go on an extended backpacking trip.   I carefully researched the area I was interested in by asking people who knew the area and by looking over various maps and descriptions.

I initially thought I’d attempt this solo but then asked my daughter if she’d like to come along.   She seemed interested and reluctant at the same time.  I described the hike to her as a leisurely and “easy” hike with several trails we could take and end the trip early if needed.

The one unexpected obstacle I ran into though was my wife.   She didn’t think it was a good idea for us to “jump” into this hike with little to no training or physical preparation.

My daughter and I are not in terrible shape but neither of us are doing long walks or running type activities on a regular basis.  My wife thought we’d be safer if we did a few day hikes beforehand and got used to having a pack on and carrying a heavier load incrementally.  I assured her that neither of us needed to do that and we could easily walk a few miles a day.

The total hike was only expected to be about 20 miles so that would only be about 7 miles a day or so.  So we eventually got the go ahead and started seriously planning.  We did all this serious planning about 5 days before the hike was to begin.

Then life happened and we were delayed by a meeting, a fence building project, and 100-degree record-setting temperatures.  We started packing about 2 days before the trip in the afternoons after working outside all morning on the fence project.   We ran out and got food and extra things we thought we needed and eventually had our packs “ready”.

My pack, an Osprey Kestrel 58, weighed in at 40 lbs and my daughter’s North Face Terra 55 weighed in at 30 lbs.   We figured we could handle the weight as we weren’t planning on very long days and we were going to hike at a leisurely pace.

The day of reckoning arrived and we headed out to the trailhead.  It was forecast to be sunny and around 96 that day.  As we got out of the car at 8:30 am, in the already 80 plus degree heat, the bugs proceeded to enthusiastically greet us.

Once we finally got our packs on our backs, I think we both knew right then this wasn’t going to end well.  We said goodbye to our ride and started up the trail.   We didn’t make good progress though, as we proceeded to stop about every 5 minutes or so for the next 2.5 miles, trying to figure out how to get our packs to sit comfortably on our backs!  We tried adjusting the load inside, the straps outside, and the internal frame adjustment.

We finally both found a somewhat better position that at least rested somewhat on our hips and shoulders together.  My daughter and I were in significant distress, discomfort, and dread from the packs, bugs, and heat!  We considered many times turning back that whole 2.5 miles and camping at the trailhead and hiking down to a place where the phone might work in the morning.   We believe that both packs have insufficient padding on the shoulder and waist straps.

Both packs seemed to just not be right for us, but this is probably more the fact that we clearly had NO idea how to set them up.  After 2.5 miles and 6 hours, we stopped for a water refill and lunch.  The water refill consisted of unpacking the brand new Katadyn Hiker Pro.

This worked flawlessly and allowed for a quick refill of both our hydration packs.  It uses quick disconnects that allow for direct filling of a similarly equipped hydration reservoir.  The cool water from the small stream was refreshing and turned out to be the one thing we both thought was the highlight of the trip.

Next up was lunch of some Backpacker’s Pantry Pad See You with Chicken.  But first I had to get my Solo Wood Stove going.  I knew how to use this stove as I’d pretested it a few years before.  The problem we ran into though was the waterproof matches we had simply would not light.

So the BIC lighter was used and after sufficient nursing of the kindling, the stove came to life.   The stove works fast and efficiently.   I only needed a small pile of twigs to get the water boiling and we were eating about 30 minutes later.

The problem was that 30 minutes gave enough time for every insect in the area to call their friends and come to greet us.  It was all we could do to eat our food, which actually turned out to taste really good, and not ingest some bugs with it.   We quickly finished, cleaned up, and “bugged” out so to speak!

Up to this point, we had yet to find anywhere desirable to camp for the night.  It was too rugged, hilly and any semi-flat spots seemed to be in the vicinity of the areas with a little remaining water, all of which were bug infested and quite smelly places.

So we trudged on in search of a possible campsite and toward the next trail junction which was a way down and out in case we needed to end things.  Around 6:00 pm we got to the junction of the trail we could escape on.   Here we could have made a hasty camp on the trail and hope for the best and then continue onward in the morning.   But I instead called the wife and requested an EVAC.  We discussed our options and decided to head down the trail the 6 miles to the trailhead.

We figured we could do the 6 miles downhill in about 3 hours, which turned out to at least be a correct estimate in the end.  This was some of the hardest 6 miles as we’d already been out for 9 hours in the heat and our bodies were both screaming for us to lie down and stop already.

In that 6 miles we were also contemplating every potential spot where we could stop and camp and still, the only places seemed to be right on the trail or bogs.   So we decided to keep going using the thoughts of a soft bed and a bug-free night to push us along.   Around 8:30 pm, we got to a switchback where there were about 2 miles left.

On the map, it looked as if the lower section of the trail was only a few feet below this switchback and we could take a “shortcut” to get there.  It looked as though someone previously had made a trail so we headed down that.   Unfortunately, the “trail” turned out to be a bad idea as it quickly ended a few hundred steep feet down, through deadfall, and some bushwhacking.

At this point, we both had no energy to try and get back up the steep slope.  So we decided to try a sideways hike through the bush to get to the trail.

This got us almost nowhere as it was simply too steep and closed in to make much progress.   We had both already fallen a few times and were on the verge of a mental breakdown.   I finally spotted the trail a few hundred feet down and it looked like it was almost straight down below us.   We had to slide on our backsides a few times to safely reach the trail and luckily there weren’t any serious rock cliffs.

Once down we thought we still had a few miles to go but luckily our near death off-trail experience had re-energized us ever so slightly.   It turned out to be only about a half a mile from the trailhead from where we had come out.

When we arrived there was a perfect camping spot, of course, in a nice dry grassy field.   I proceeded to essentially collapse and await our EVAC.   The wife pulled in about 5 minutes later which would have brought me to tears had I any water left in my body.  I imagine what we felt is remotely similar to what a soldier feels when the cavalry comes to the rescue.

Lessons Learned

  • Know your gear – If you have a backpack load it up and try it out. Simply buying it and letting it sit idly serves no purpose.  If you’ve loaded it to use as a BOB then you need to strap the thing on and walk a mile with it.  That way you’ll know how it feels and if you need help, as clearly we did, in getting it set up and adjusted properly.  The same goes for your water filter, stove, knife, firearm, and other gear.   Use it and know its functions and abilities, become proficient.
  • The Wilderness –  It’s got the word “wild” in it for a reason.   Be prepared for the bugs, heat, and rugged terrain.   If you think you could bug out by simply hiking into the woods with your family and survive, well, you’re wrong.  You’ve got to know the terrain and where water and campsites are.   Otherwise, like us, you could be in for a long uncomfortable hike.  Do your research and pre-locate camp and water on a map if possible.   Mark distances and account for the weather with regards to the number of stops you’ll need for breaks and water.
  • Backpacks – Apparently you need to know a few things when using one of these devices. I’m going to have to learn more about proper loading and adjustment of these things as we clearly couldn’t figure ours out.   So my advice is to ask a local expert to help set yours up and tell you how to use the thousands of straps, buckles, loops, and gizmos on these things.
  • Your Body – Let’s be serious here! Most of us American’s couldn’t hike a mile without getting winded.  Simply put, if you take care of your body then it will take care of you.  Get out and do day hikes with a partially loaded pack and work up to greater loads.   There’s simply no way you will understand the effects a pack has on your ability to move unless you strap one on fully loaded and try it.  Go explore your local wilderness and get to know it intimately.  That could be the forest, the mountains, or the inner city.   The more you know about the surrounding areas you live in the safer you’ll be.  Plus all that exploring will hopefully get you into better shape.
  • Hydration – It turned out that I was slightly dehydrated or had heat exhaustion as by the time we got home, I was shivering and feeling quite ill. You need to drink regularly and keep electrolytes in your system.  Carry electrolyte tabs with you to make sure you never “feel” thirsty, and the day before a hike or athletic event make sure you drink plenty of water.  What you drink today is used the next day.
  • Shortcuts – Be aware that the trails were generally made to avoid hazards and to get from point A to B in the least amount of slope. Thus why all the switchbacks are there.   But some trails as we all have encountered seem to be built by someone who’s a forest maze builder.   So if you’re going to take a shortcut to avoid the misery ahead then make sure you know the hazards or at least able to see the trail you’re going to.
  • Listen – There have been unconfirmed reports and rumors, that in some cases a wife’s advice has been known to be spot on. When your wife tells you something, try to listen to what she has to say.  Maybe even do some additional research and such to show you did listen.   This will make your wife happy and may get you some brownie points.   Then, in the end, discount everything she said and do whatever you wanted anyway.    How else is a man supposed to learn a life lesson?  Also, make sure you allow her a self-gratifying “I told you so!” as she picks you up off the ground and helps you into the car.

How Can I Contact My Family After The Grid Goes Down?

How Can I Contact My Family After The Grid Goes Down

The family disaster communications plan… by Moira M

You are at home waiting on the cable guy on a drizzly Monday morning. You relax in the quiet house since your spouse is at work, older kid away at college and younger kid in school. You settle in with a nice cup of coffee and the paper when suddenly the TV show is interrupted for a breaking news bulletin.

There have been terrorist attacks in your state capital and two other cities nearby. You grab your cell phone and get a polite message that the system is experiencing technical difficulties and to please try your call again later.

Your home phone has the same problem because it uses Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and the internet is down. This means no emails either. What do you do? Do you try to pick up the child at the local school? Do you try to make the hour drive to the college to pick up your older child?

What will your spouse do? Would you make it to the college only to find that your child had left for home or that your spouse had already picked her up? The best solution in this case would be to have a plan already in place for how to handle the situation and how to communicate when conventional methods fail.

In an emergency, whether it is a deliberate act or act of nature, communications can be disrupted. Not only can an increased load on the system cause failures, but the emergency at hand could damage the infrastructure. Storms take out towers and lines all the time.

Terrorists could intentionally target communications infrastructure. Not only does it cause a panic when people can’t contact loved ones, but it also prevents people from coordinating to resist them.

In the case of the famous and courageous resistance of the passengers of Flight 93 who tried to retake the plane on 9/11, crashing it in the process, but preventing it from being used against targets such as the White House and other occupied buildings communications played a major role.

The people on the plane were able to talk to loved ones to say goodbye. They were able to talk to emergency personnel and get news of the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

Obviously, we can’t speak for them, but if they had thought the plane would land somewhere safely in a ransom demand, the passengers may have reacted differently than they did knowing that it was highly likely the terrorists planned to crash the plane into a populated target. The next time, the terrorists may prevent such opportunities.

We live in the age of instant communication. At any given moment you can contact people by phone, text, email, video chat and instant messaging. You can get information on news, current events, and any conceivable topic under the sun via the internet, from your wireless device that works almost everywhere. What if that changed?

I used to think it was a convenient plot hole when a movie character was out of cell service at an interstate rest area. That was based on my experience living in Florida. Since then, I’ve lived in Vermont and Tennessee.

There are plenty of stretches of interstate highway in those two states without cell service, let alone the remote boondocks locations we would explore. If you have a car accident or breakdown in those places you either walk to find help or hope someone comes along.

Your personal emergency may be affected by lack of communication. This can be avoided by letting someone know where you are going so that if you don’t arrive there or get back safely in a reasonable time, then they can search for and potentially rescue you.

In a short term emergency, such as a hurricane, ice storm, blizzard, or terrorist event, there may be more people trying to use cell phones and landlines than the available resources will allow. The nature of the emergency might also knock down transmission lines and towers that provide the services.

Many people these days have VOIP phone service (via internet) which requires both electrical power and internet service to work. Long term emergencies, of an apocalyptic nature, would likely be the end of these services forever. We would have to turn to other methods of communication.

In the scenario above you could have a plan where one spouse always collects the older child and the other spouse always collects the younger. You could have a plan where you establish which route (and backup route) would be taken so that you could go from the other direction and meet the person, whether it be the college child or the other spouse. You could establish a central crossroads type location where a message could be left that would let other family members know your plan before they go miles in another direction.

There are many alternative methods of communications that we don’t normally use because cell phones are easier to use. If you had a CB radio or long-range walkie talkie, then you could communicate with each other when you were close enough. For emergencies, we should consider setting up some of these methods and including a generator or solar powered method to run them and recharge batteries.

For short term emergencies, it is a good idea for all families to designate one or more people who live far away to be the communications hub. If an ice storm hits Tennessee, then my brother in Florida would be our hub.

If my family was shattered when an emergency happened, instead of each of us trying repeatedly (and maybe unsuccessfully) to reach the others, we call my brother to let him know whether we are ok, where we are sheltering and/or how we plan to travel to the others. He could prevent each of us from traveling to where we thought the others might be sheltering.

That would help us to get back together more quickly. The hub person could also serve as a news center if the people in the disaster area had spotty access to news (such as road closures and storm paths), and let extended family know you were safe.

Depending on what had happened, CB radios, long range walkie talkies, and ham radio sets could be useful. These radios don’t require the infrastructure as landlines and cell phones. Ham radios require a license and training to use legally.

For long term emergencies, communication plans would be more difficult. By long term emergency, I’m referring to anything that disrupts society on a national or worldwide scale. This would include revolution or foreign invasion,  a massive EMP, anything that takes down the power grid, a pandemic or an apocalyptic event.

Again, CB radios, long range walkie talkies, and ham radio sets could be useful. These communications methods could allow you to talk to family and also to get information about what is going on in the disaster.

However, the Ham radio license would mean that your name would be on a list. Depending on the emergency at hand, that could make you a target of any group wishing to control the flow of information. Any large antennas could make you the target of anyone looking for a prepared location to raid for food, weapons, and other supplies.

If you don’t have a way to communicate, you would need to have a prearranged plan to meet up. If you’ve ever separated at a Wal-Mart Supercenter and then tried to regroup without cell phones, you can imagine what it could be like. You take the front aisle from produce to pharmacy.

Your spouse takes the left aisle from pharmacy to sporting goods. In this fashion, you could walk for miles inside the store without catching a glimpse of each other. Imagine this on a statewide or multi-state scale with various difficulties in place caused by the disaster.

Without a plan, you may never see each other again. Depending on the distance, you may decide not to try. If you do want to try, consider setting up a system in advance to improve the odds that you’ll find each other. This is even a good plan to establish with family members living in the same area. If communication is down, but the disaster destroyed the entire neighborhood where the home was located, how would your family get together?

Family homes or other landmarks could be designated in a particular order as meeting points. Meet first at Grandpa’s house. If it is destroyed or in an unsafe area, go to the big tree by the Baptist church, then mom’s house and so forth until the group could meet. In each case, messages could be left in some agreed upon fashion, such as painted on the house or driveway, nailed to a tree, or hidden under a particular rock.

In disaster movies we often see people trying to get together with loved ones and don’t know if they are dead or alive. If your group gets separated at some point or if you have family members living in other areas, you could meet at a central location at a fixed time.

An example could be to meet at the eastern end of the Trammell Bridge over the Apalachicola River in Florida at midday on the full moon every month. If that is too much travel, pick one specific time, such as December. The system isn’t perfect because, without a calendar, people may have trouble keeping up with months.

Since December includes the winter solstice, hopefully, people could keep track of when the days were shortest. In that part of Florida, December would mean colder weather and less chance of meeting up with a poisonous snake. In northern climes, a summer meeting time would be best.

Any place or time would do as long as the area would be relatively safe and the date and time could be calculated without a calendar. It could also serve as a place to leave a message without meeting up. You or your relatives could leave a message in code or plain English that gave information or instructions for meeting up.

Talk to your family and set up a plan. Test it occasionally so everyone is familiar with it. Be prepared. Remember that communication is an important step in being prepared.

How to Make a Rabbit Cage

how to make a rabbit cageby Anthony Purpura

For the longest time, I was toiling with the idea of getting rabbits for my homestead.  As we all know they grow fast, the feed to finished meat ratio is the best of almost any animal, they don’t require a lot of space and they are easy to raise and you can do it almost anywhere.

So what was stopping me from starting the adventure?  Well, like you guys and gals I didn’t have a lot of money for the initial equipment.  Like everyone else on this site, we try to provide for our families with high-quality food for as little money as possible.  BUT unlike some of our urban counterparts, we don’t have a problem with raising our own meat and processing it for food.

So one day I finally decided to get off my butt and start making my cages so I can raise rabbits. Below is the finished product. (Fig 1)

how to make a rabbit cage

After a lot of research on how to raise rabbits, house them and then ultimately breed them I determined what type of cages would fit my needs.  I decided this was going to be a two-part adventure for me. The first part was seeing if I could actually make my own commercial type cages a lot cheaper than store bought cages, and secondly, could I raise the rabbits and ultimately breed them successfully in the cages I made.

My plan was to make the cages 24” deep by, 24” tall by 36” across the front. I wanted to make three cages initially because according to my research once the baby rabbits (kits) get bigger the mom needs her own room. Plus it will be easier to wean the Kits off of mom if they were in different cages.

So I went to several stores to get my supplies, I purchased the wire 48” x 50’ (1”x 2” holes), hog rings 3/8” (1/2lb), hog ring pliers and hardware cloth (1/2” x 1/2”) to make my cages.  Man was I excited, I was finally doing it, I was going to make cages and raise rabbits.

I quickly learned I should have planned a little better.  The wire I bought was “ON SALE” and it turned out to be not such a great deal after all. They had wire that was 24” x 50’ for a couple bucks more, but NO I decided to get the 48” wire that was on sale and save $10.  I was figuring I would cut the wire in half to the size I needed, after all, how hard can it possibly be to cut that thin wire?

Well, cutting the wire was easy enough.  The problem was I had to cut each and every little square across the wire.  I figured I must have cut about 500 squares throughout the project.

After all that cutting of the wire my right hand was like the incredible Hulks hand. I wanted to go around shaking peoples hand just because.

The Cages

The original plan was to make the cages 24” x 24” x 36”.  After flattening my wire I quickly realized my cage was going to be a little smaller than I had planned.  My 48” wire cannot be directly cut in half to make two 24” sides and cut half of a square.

So they ended up being about 23” instead.  My 36” measurement fell in the middle of a square as well and ended up being 35”.  The 1” difference did not affect the overall construction all that much.

It did make the corners not exactly perfect, or as perfect as I would have liked them to be. I used some scrap pieces to make a straw feeder holder on the side.  I originally used the hog rings with just the crimping tool I purchased to crimp them together.

I did not like that they did not hold very tight.  I had to go back and really crimp them down with a pair of needle nose pliers.  I found out that if you crimped them down tight the cage had a more rigid feel to it and in my opinion, it made for a much stronger cage.

A funny side story to show how strong the cages are. My neighbor’s pony escaped in the middle of the night and it decided to come by and visit my rabbits.  In the morning I noticed hoof prints on the ground and all the rabbit food was empty from the feeders and one cage was on the ground.

That cage was pretty banged up.  I simply took the rabbit out, got a big rubber hammer and banged it back into shape.  Not perfect but not bad for a rabbit cage.  Other than the rabbit not wanting to watch Mr. Ed with me no harm was done and the cages stood up to the vicious pony attack.

The Door

OK now, this is where you really need to pay attention.  I was totally bliss to the actual size of the nest box and got into a jam.  The door opening is 1” smaller than the size of the nest box.  I was able to use another cage with a bigger opening but if you are going to use a nest box make sure you measure it prior to cutting the door and actually building the door.

I wanted to use the leftover pieces from the original 36” cut that’s why I didn’t really measure the nest boxes.  I simply said I have a piece this big and therefore this will be my door.  Also, notice how I left the cut sides longer. That way I was able to bend the wire back on to itself to make a hinge for the door.

make rabbit cage

The Base

My last step was to make the base, I decided to use wood because I had a lot of it left over from some pallets that I broke up several months ago.  I used six 2×4 for the legs and two long 1×4 for the rails and center supports.

I bought some oops paint at Home Depot for $5 and wow it almost looked like a pro built it. I came up with the measurements by lining up the finished cages and measuring them and adding a couple of inches in the event I made a mistake somewhere.

Conclusion

Can you make rabbit cages for a low or near nothing cost?  Well, YES.  But I will say they are not even close to commercial grade. The cages I made are strong durable, wash easily and I have used them every day since I built them.  But they do need a support underneath which adds to the cost. (I was not able to buy commercial grade materials locally.

Buying them online would have been too expensive once shipping was added). The three cages I built ended up costing me about $65. That included the crimping tool and all the materials.  The cages cost about $21 each to make. A huge savings compared to commercially purchased cages that run around $80 each.

Can you make commercial grade rabbit cages cheaper than you can buy them?  No, or at least I couldn’t. By the time I bought the commercial grade materials and equipment to cut it and put it together the cost would have been $15-$20 more per cage then I can buy it locally.

The company’s buy the materials in such bulk that we as consumers cannot compete. Commercial cages are very strong because they are made using thicker gauge materials, they will hang easily with the rabbits in them and not fall apart or need any extra support. But you do pay for that.

Should you at least try to make your own cages?  Absolutely YES.  If/when TSHTF there will not be any companies to buy cages from.  You either make them or you go without.  I chose to try and see if I could make them now while I still have the option of buying them locally if I couldn’t make them.

Kind of practicing what I preach to my friends, learn something now while we have the time so we don’t starve later trying to figure it out.

The best place to buy cages? For me, I looked in Craig’s List and found a guy that was getting out of the rabbit business and sold me two commercial cages for $30 each. The guy was nice and he included two nest boxes and two feeder trays already clipped to the cages.

I looked up the cages online and new they cost $80 each shipped, nest boxes $15 each, feeder trays $15 each, total per cage new $110.  So basically I got $220 worth of equipment for $60.  Which ironically ended up costing me about the same as the three I built at home.

Before I leave I will say one thing, OUCH, my hands still hurt from all that cutting to make my three cages.

I hope this article gives you a little guidance and insight if you are thinking of getting some rabbits and building your own cages.

How to Make a Seed Starter Box

how to make a seed starterBy Juleigh Howard-Hobson

Mirrored flush-mounted bathroom medicine cabinets are easily one of the most non-upcycled objects out there. They are short and shallow. They don’t stand by themselves. And, frankly, they aren’t very nice to look at once they are out of their recessed wall enclosure.

But, the thing is, just about every house has one…sometimes two or more. You can pick them up for a song at garage sales, rebuilding centers or CraigsList. Sometimes they are free at all these places because very few people actually want old medicine cabinets. New ones are cheap. Also, old ones are frequently….um….not as fastidiously clean as one would prefer.

All to the good, my friends.

You see, old medicine cabinets may seem useless if you look at them as cabinets, but if you look at them as hinged lid boxes….well….the possibilities to use them for are vastly improved.

One of the things they are great for, once you see them as a box, is as a seed starter box.

First, you must take all the shelves out. If you are lucky, they are clear glass shelves that you can tape together to make a nice glass sheet out of. Most medicine cabinets seem to have these sorts of shelves. If yours doesn’t, don’t despair,  use a piece of window glass or clear plastic or even cling wrap instead of the taped glass sheet.  Put the glass away for now.

how to make a seed starterSecond, you have to rehang the door of the cabinet. The mirror needs to face into the opening. I’ll get to why this is so later in this article.  Pull the pins out of the hinge, separate the two pieces.

Take the mirror out of its housing, then mount a door hinge to the mirror housing, put the mirror back in, and mount the other side of the door hinge to the metal frame of the cabinet.

It doesn’t have to shut like a lid or a door, it just has to move back and forth.

Third, take the wood and cut the middle out of it. Basically, you are making a frame. Now, tape or glue the glass(or plastic)  to this.

Line the interior of the cabinet with the aluminum foil. Top with the glass/wood frame.

Now, angle the mirrored door above the open part of the cabinet so that the most light possible enters the box. This is how the box will get warm enough to germinate seeds.

You can move this anywhere you want, because it is light and portable, making it a very handy sun catcher.

Put starter pots of seeds in it, water them. Set the glass frame in place. Then angle the mirror to catch the most light and there you have it. A seed starter you can use in any climate. We just used ours to germinate kale and cabbage seeds in early November.

how to make a seed starter

An added bonus to this is that you can also use it to cook some foods. It’s a little small to be a powerful solar oven, and it is much slower, but it got a lentil dish cooked in time for dinner when we tried it out. (We used a sweet and sour lentil recipe adapted from Jay Solomon’s Lean Bean Cookbook)

Supply list:

  • 1 Medicine cabinet
  • 2 Old hinges (old door hinges work well)
  • As many screws as needed for the hinges
  • 1 Piece of wood the same size as the cabinet
  • Packing tape (or a piece of glass/clear plastic smaller than the piece of wood above, or cling wrap)
  • Aluminum foil
  • Saw, hammer, screwdriver etc
  • Seeds, seed starter pots, water
  • Sunlight

Types of and Effects of Nuclear Weapons on Humans and The Environment

Effects of Nuclear Weapons on Humans

by Ron G

Think of this as a primer if you will. It is written to cover the basics that will matter most to you as a prepper. I am intentionally leaving out a lot of technical jargon; there are others willing to throw that out at you.  There will be some terms and concepts that do need to be understood. One I will use a lot is Ground Zero (GZ).

Ground Zero is that point on the surface of the earth directly under, at, or over, a nuclear detonation. Your location, distance, and direction, from GZ is very important.

It’s important that you understand that there are four types of nuclear detonations or “burst”. Sub Surface Burst, Surface Burst, Air Burst, and High Altitude Burst.

All nuclear burst will produce the same basic effects, blinding light, tremendous heat, massive blast wave, radiation, and the electromagnetic pulse. However, the type of burst will greatly determine the degree of each effect upon the target.

A Sub Surface Burst is one that occurs underground in which the fireball produced does not break thru to the atmosphere. The ground will shake and there may be a surface collapse at GZ but on the surface, there will be no radiation or EMP released or blast wave.  Really nothing to be concerned with and I mention it only because they have been used during weapons design testing programs in the past.

A Surface Burst is a detonation on or near enough to the surface where the fireball touches the earth’s surface. This is the one we almost always see in the movies and in illustrations for articles like this.  There will be a brilliant flash of light, a massive fireball, and an intense outward-bound blast wave outward from GZ. As the fireball starts to rise a second blast wave, this time returning towards GZ, arrives and brings with it massive amount of debris.

This debris is forced upward into the fireball and creates the stem of the familiar “Mushroom Cloud”. At GZ there is total destruction and depending on the size, design of the weapon, and to a degree, the terrain, the area of total destruction can be considerable. Large areas of partial and incomplete destruction will extend even further.

Meanwhile, the Mushroom Cloud continues to rise through the atmosphere, the stem discontinues and temperatures inside the fireball start to cool down. As it cools the prevailing winds will start to push the fireball downwind. The material inside the fireball, now radioactive, cools and starts to fall, largest, heaviest material first.

By the time it reaches 30,000 feet the fireball will appear to be just another cloud but this cloud will be leaving behind a trail of radioactive fallout for several hundred miles.

GZ will not be survivable and will be radioactive for a long time. The further away from GZ you are the better your chances. A safe distance downwind will be much further then a safe distance cross or upwind.

An Air Burst is a detonation in which the fireball does not touch the surface of the earth. It has all the other characteristics of a Surface Burst but there is no Mushroom Cloud and most important there will be no significant fallout. What the Air Burst will do however is create a much larger area of destruction. It does this by creating three blast waves.

As the expanding blast wave (or initial wave) strikes the surface of the earth, it is reflected off the ground to form a second shock wave traveling behind the first. This reflected wave travels faster than the initial wave since it is traveling through the air already moving at high speed due to the passage of the initial wave.

The reflected blast wave will merge with the initial wave to form a single wave. This is called a Mach wave. The overpressure at the front of the Mach wave is generally about twice as great as that at the initial blast wave.

If you have trouble picturing this try thinking of a ripple hitting the edge of a calm pond. This deflected wave becomes a second wave. The third wave will be the displaced air mass returning to GZ.

These types of detonation will double the area of destruction without the messy fallout. You can see the military advantage of this type of detonation. GZ will not be survivable but will not be radioactive for long. The distance from GZ you will need to survive the destructive blast are much greater but fallout will not be an issue.

Last of all is the High Altitude Burst. A detonation above 100,000 feet is a High Altitude Burst. No blast damage. No fallout. Your personal physical threat from this would be the potential flash blindness from the initial burst. The purpose of this type of detonation is the Electro Magnetic Pulse.

Lets review. A Sub Surface Burst is really not a military option. Surface or Air Burst, if you are at or are too close to GZ you are either toast or soon to be toast. If it was an Air Burst fallout is not a threat. If it was a Surface Burst and you are located far enough up or cross wind you should be in good shape. If you are downwind…

Fallout.  Fallout is material that was made temporarily radioactive in the fireball through a process called ionization. It has a known decay rate.

There are multiple layers in the atmosphere; each layer is capable of having different wind speeds and directions. As the fireball becomes a fallout cloud and raises and lowers thru each layer the winds in that layer will have an effect. Lower levels will have less effect while upper levels will have more. In predicting where the fallout will go it helps to be a weatherman.

Generally, Continental US weather patterns flow from the South to North and West to East. But, there are seasonal variations. Understanding Highs and Lows and where you are in relation to them, would be useful information.

Knowing that your westerly winds are the lower part of an upper-level low that is moving south you can determine that the fallout will mostly travel south and east. (I once had to explain why surface winds have no effect to an Air Force General. The Major who ran the DoD weather school just sat there and grinned.

Fallout Protection is all about Time, Distance, and Shielding. The longer it takes for fallout to arrive the less there will be. If you are in a safe space, the longer you wait to go out the less you will be exposed to. The greater the distance between you and fallout that has arrived the less radiation you will be exposed to.

The more mass between you and the fallout the less radiation will reach you. I think everyone understands these concepts well enough.

The next thing topic is very important. Targeting in Nuclear War.

In an all-out war the first strikes will be against an enemy’s ability to strike back. Missile Silos, Bomber and Submarine Bases, and Command and Control Centers will be the first targets. Major military bases, seaports and manufacturing centers would be secondary.

In a nuclear war, most targets are going to be hit with Air Burst. Let me say it again. In a nuclear war, most detonations are going to be Air Burst. (ICBM Silos and Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado will be exceptions to this). The fallout will be a problem, but probably not to the extent most of us think. Nuclear Winter? Forget about it. Totally made up bull!

One last thing, if you are outdoors and see an unexplainable, sudden, intense, flash of light and cannot identify the source, immediately drop to the ground, close your eyes, and cover your ears and open your mouth. You want to protect against flash blindness and the oncoming overpressure of the blast wave.

Remember, there will be a second blast wave in the opposite direction, so don’t be in a hurry to get up. Of course, you may be far enough away that the wave(s) may never get there. Count that as a blessing.

How to Make a Rocket Stove

How to make a rocket stove

by Randy

As a frugal and self, sufficient individual, you may be interested in an alternative to the earthen block, tin can or commercially made, version of a rocket stove.  Here is another effective alternative to those found in articles that are circulating on the internet, YouTube or in “Prepper Blogs” these days.

I have not seen anyone touting or describing how to turn common black stove-pipe fittings into a rocket stove so I will try to explain the process I use to make a rocket stove out of common stove-pipe fittings. This version is possibly one of the best compromise devices for cooking over wood in a grid down or where firewood is of limited supply.

When firing up this little stove, I typically use cut up and split SYP scraps from my home repair business, which I set aside for just this use.  I find that utilizing this design for a rocket stove it only takes about 3 or less, one foot sections of 2×4 split down into ¼ or ½ inch thick kindling to boil water in as little as 5 mins, if you have the wood pre-split and readily available, along with your utensils, pans, and foodstuffs close at hand.

With this very fuel-efficient, design, there is very little smoke exiting from the stove, and little or no ash to contend with.  Other than the usual soot associated with using SYP (southern yellow pine) wood due to the high resin content of the wood there are few drawbacks to this stove.

f using tree limbs gathered from the forest floor, this soot may not be as much a problem in a conifer filled area.  I carry my stove in an old canvas, firewood tote, so as not to get much of the associated soot on my person but this may or may not be suitable for you.

How to make a rocket stove

Some of the advantages of the rocket stove designs out there are the speed and efficiency they offer and this design is not different.  If you are familiar with hand tools, and your local hardware stores you should have little or no problem making one of these little stoves in as little as 4 hours or less not including time to gather your materials.

The tools I recommend for making this small stove are as follows:  Philips head screwdriver/cordless drill, 1/8 dia. And ¼ inch Drill bits, two dozen or so 1-1/2 to 1-1/4 inch long drywall screws, or deck screws, a set of good tin snips (I like the 2 inch long-bladed, RH version).

The drill you use should have at least 2 speeds, high and low.  I believe using the higher speed to drill metal works best. I also recommend leather, work gloves, safety goggles, pencil or sharpie a tape measure and a free afternoon to purchase the materials and assemble the stove.

Below I have listed the materials I recommend as well as some price points of the materials found at my local “ big box” store, for the major items you will need, these prices are only for comparison purposes and may vary as this article ages, your place of purchase will probably be different.  The prices I found are included next to the Item description as of December 2015.

Materials List:

One black pipe cleanout, T fitting, 6-inch dia. (may also use 8-inch dia. T as a substitute just make sure you buy corresponding fittings) $15.00.  This fitting will become the main body of the stove.

Two each cleanout caps/end caps, 6-inch dia. $6.00 each.  One will become the base/clean out at the bottom and the upper cap will become the burner plate/diffuser at the top of the stove.  When orienting the stove one end will be smooth, and one end will be crimped to accept the pressure fit, end caps.   Please note the two different orientations of couplings so when you buy them, you wind need to line them up with the correct configuration.

One 4 inch vent pipe, elbow, 26 gage or heavier, $3.50 ea. (I could not find 4-inch single wall black pipe, elbow fitting so I was forced to use a galvanized pipe).

The next Item you will need to purchase is a 4-inch window thimble made of 24 gage aluminum or if you cannot find a window thimble use surplus sheet metal left over from the 2 ft. section of vent pipe listed below.  I chose to go the route of using a window thimble as I had one on hand from another project.

A blank piece of galvanizing can be used if a thimble is not available.  I do not have the price of the thimble since I had it on hand.

How to make a rocket stove

The next item you will need to assemble your stove is a 2 ft. section of 4-inch dia. stove-pipe or 26 gage, galvanized vent pipe $4.00 each.

Next up for those who want to use a stainless steel “hose clamp” please find a clamp that will accommodate the dia. of the pipe you have assembled using the appropriate size of your legs coming off of the clean-out T, (mine was made of a 6-inch dia. coupling). I Opted out of using a stainless clamp and used some aluminum strapping I had lying around but the clamp would work just as well or better than my arrangement.

It might also be handy to have on hand ½ dozen or so, ¼ x ½ inch sheet metal screws with the slotted hex heads for easy driving.

The last item you will need is hardware mesh or wire.  The wire I used was 18 gage with ½ inch grid but you may find wire with larger or smaller mesh.  The fire-grate will be constructed from this material and the heavier gage, the better, as long as the mesh size remains smaller than 1 inch or so in order to retain the coals better in the small firebox.

The total cost of the materials of the stove should be around $40.00 to $50.00 not counting your labor, which I believe makes this a very affordable and portable addition to your arsenal of grid down appliances.

This completes the list of Items you will need unless you chose to insulate the 4-inch interior, lining of the stove to keep the outside body of the stove from getting too hot.  I chose to forgo the use of vermiculite or insulation since I wanted my stove to cool off quickly and give off radiant heat while it operates.  I could not tell if the stove would use less fuel by being insulated but some swear by it so let your stove be built as you please and publish and findings you have supporting insulation if you like.

A word of caution here, do not operate any open flame stoves such as the one described in this article, inside the home unless this item is vented through an approved fireplace or wood burning stove-pipe properly constructed and designed to prevent smoke/C02 buildup in your home. 

In addition, when using galvanized pipes/materials as a substitute for black stove-pipe realize that burning galvanized pipe will give off harmful fumes until the galvanizing has turned white and started to rust. 

This curing of the galvanized parts must be done prior to cooking or using of the stove to make meals over and should be done in a well-ventilated location such as an open fire pit or wood burning stove.  Once the galvanizing is burned or cured, normal use can be observed).  If you have a source of 4-inch black stove pipe you can eliminate this step, but again I was not able to find 4 inch, black, stove-pipe in my area.   

Now onto the fun part, the assembly of the rocket stove.  This assembly is pretty straight forward and if I leave out any details you should be able to figure out the assembly from the pictures provided.

First I took a pair of tin snips like the one listed above and cut a section of the 26 gage vent pipe/stove pipe about 10 to 12 inches long.  This was then assembled to the normal configuration so the sheet with snap fold becomes a pipe again (easier to cut the sheet when it is uncoupled). The section of short pipe can be set aside for now.

How to make a rocket stove

Next take the 4-inch vent pipe, 26 gage elbow, and configure the fitting so it represents a 90-degree elbow.  This may take some manipulation but the design of the modern vent elbows makes life so much easier for those of us who do home improvement projects, and in fact, it is very hard to find a true 90-degree elbow should you try to find one in the galvanized and aluminum duct or vent pipe.   A word of caution, do not substitute aluminum pipe for steel or galvanized pipe here as the aluminum pipe is very thin gage and will melt through after a few uses, (I found out the hard way).   

Now place the 4 inch elbow inside of the larger (body of the stove), cleanout T fitting, with the top of the elbow fitting in the top of the stove body (will fit down inside 1.5 inches from the top of the stove body) and the elbow portion sticking into the horizontal section of the stove T.   This smaller coupling will sort-of “slop around” in the bigger fitting for now but do not be concerned as we will address that issue shortly.

Now slide the 10 inch or so section of 4-inch pipe in the lower leg of the 4-inch elbow, at the horizontal leg of the stove body.  This will become the combustion chamber, once you get the stove assembled.  This will fit but your 4-inch elbow pipe should be able to be centered in the top leg and side leg with the 4-inch elbow touching the interior of the stove body at the inside corner of the curve.  Things will be secured later but for now just test fit and set aside.

The next step is to cut notches in one of your 6-inch caps (this will be your top burner plate/flame diffuser).  The cap, notches should be equally spaced around run of the pipe, mine are about 1.5 inches long by about 1.5 inches deep, and I made about 4 of them.

These notches do not extend all the way up to the flat part of the cap and are deliberately designed this way but if you choose to or did so by accident do not be alarmed things will work just fine this way also.

These notches will act as air vents and smoke exhaust ports.  You will notice that the 4-inch coupling does not come all the way to the top of the stove body, but this is to allow for the flames to form and breathe

Now get your drill and drill bit and drill 1/8 inch holes in the top of the stove body.  These holes need to be about 1.5 inches down from the top edge of the T-pipe.  I chose to make the top of my stove the smooth edge as my end cap compatibility was so oriented, as opposed to the crimped edge but this is not critical just so long as the lid/cap will fit inside or outside of your main stove body/Cleanout.  Now you can choose to drill a mirror image of these holes for the bottom edge of the T-Pipe but I chose to just push my bottom cap in place with the good pressure fit the smooth/crimped edge of the pipes come supplied with from the factory.  I chose to use a galvanized, 6 inch cap for the bottom as there is little or no heat buildup at the base other than a few coals finding their way to this location, and If I recall, I was not able to find the male crimp end made of black stove pipe when I assembled my stove a few years ago.

Now comes part where you center the smaller pipe and the larger pipe so the stove functions as a rocket stove and the walls will allow for convective air flow if you want to have radiant heat.

I drilled holes on the upper T-leg about 4 inches of the way down from the top at 4 locations symmetrically around the diameter.  Then using 1- ¼ inch drywall screws as set screws to hold the inner elbow in place.  I then repeated the process for the Horizontal firebox section of the 4” pipe and tried to run the screws just as a press fit and tried not to penetrate the exterior of the inter-pipe.

This did leave a small portion of the drywall screws proud of the 6 inch, T’s, outer wall but did a great job of holding the inner pipe and elbow in place using the 8 screws as jamb screws.  The pictures of the interior of the stove should make this pretty clear.

Next, I fabricated the thimble wall of the horizontal leg cover of the stove where the fire-box leg comes out of the larger leg of the 6” clean out pipe/main body of the stove.  In order to do this I held the 4-inch window thimble at the bottom of the stove and made a trace of the diameter onto the window panel.

The 4-inch diameter Thimble hole will be situated at the lower portion of the firebox so it should be positioned as such.  What this will look like properly positioned, will allow for dove tail fingers to be cut in the panel that sticks out past the traced line.

This will become a 6-inch circle, inside the center of an 8-inch circle, with the 4-inch thimble hole located at the lower center of the fabrication.  The 4-inch thimble, hole will be positioned so it rests near the bottom of the 6 inch horizontal opening of the body of the pipe, with the flat surface covering the remainder of the horizontal, 6-inch hole.  This sounds a bit complicated, but please look at the photos accompanying this article for clarification.

Now it is time to cut the 2-inch dovetail fingers into the sheet of aluminum or steel of the remaining metal outside of the 6-inch hole.   Dovetail fingers can be cut at straight or tapered cuts but should be spaced about ¾ to 1-inch intervals.

I found that tapered cuts work better for me but your results may vary.  There is a bit of art to cutting fingers but I came up with about 24 fingers (48 tapered cuts), using tin snips to make them.  I did not remove the alternative fingers but bent every other finger in, in order to fit inside of the 6 inch vertical leg of the stove body.  The remaining 12, alternative fingers fit outside of the body of the stove.

I then used my aluminum straps (or stainless hose clamp) and sheet metal screws to fit and hold the window thimble in place so the hole of the thimble helps hold the firebox of the stove in place.

Alternative methods can be used to make this cover up the horizontal hole, up to and including using a hole in a flattened piece of tin made out of any type of sheet metal as long as it will be large enough to make the cover accommodate the dovetails and hold the firebox in position.

Four to six sheet metal screws can also be used to hold this cover in place or in conjunction with the straps or pipe clamp.

The only thing that remains to be fabricated in order to fire up the stove is a fire grate.  I chose to use the hardware mesh mention in the materials list above.  I cut a section of mesh long enough to fit from the outside edge of the 4 inch, horizontal, firebox to the back of the body of the stove so my mesh was about 14 inches long.

The mesh was cut wide enough to make a role of wire mesh just big enough to just fit snugly inside the 4-inch diameter of the firebox.  The mesh can be a little short but should not fit outside of the 4 x 6-inch firebox section, fitting outside of the main body of the stove.

The pictures I took do not have the hardware mesh fitting in the firebox but what I found works best is to collapse one half of the diameter of the mesh so that it just comes within about ¼ inch of the opposite side of the mesh roll, with the large divert of the mesh on top of the basket or coals catcher (looks like a crescent moon laying on its back when it fits inside the 4 inch firebox).

This arrangement provides maximum, retention of the coals and draft of the air in the combustion chamber.

The next step is the decision to make this an insulated or radiant stove.  I opted to make the stove with the ability to radiate heat so I drilled about a dozen ¼ inch dia. holes 2 inches from the base of the stove body.  These are for convection and do not enhance the stoves oxygen intake as far as I can tell.  These may not even be necessary and if you are a mechanical engineer, you can tell if they are even needed.

On the second version of the stove I made for a friend of mine who fell in love with mine, I made some legs out of the remainder of the 4 inch galvanized pipe that was triangular in shape, made of three folds of metal bent into a one inch wide strap with the bottom of the triangle resting at the base and the back tabs screwed into the wall of the 6 inch body of the stove.

These were made of 12-inch strips cut 3 inches wide with a 6-inch base but if you use small, light, weight pans to cook with these should not be necessary.

I hope you found this article to be informative and give you and your alternatives if the grid should ever go down and your source of wood to burn is scarce.