Seriously thoughtful are you prepared?

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Camp Stove, with the smallspare propane bottles. Takes up very little space.....
And people........DON'T FORGET THE MATCHES!!

This is why in our 'Earthquake Bag' we each have
------------------
Triox (Heximine) stove and fuel for three days and two liter cook pot
2 Bic lighters, Firesteel, tinder.
-------------------

The stove is about the size of a deck of playing cards, a box of fuel tabs fits (12 tabs) inside and each tab will make 2 liters of boiling water easily.



I wouldn't want to try cooking a seven course dinner on it, but for boiling water in an emergency, it's fine. Fits in a pocket if needed. Fuel can't accidentally spill. Easy to light.

With redundant lighters, together we have four Bics and two fire steels. The tinder is enough to start 10 fires. For tinder we carry cotton balls dipped in petroleum jelly that are pushed inside short lengths of plastic soda straws to reduce mess. They will light and burn in the rain.

Stitchawl

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

There are only a few ways to survive the end of civilization. And I'm not telling...

You are so dumb. I can see your "escape to the country" residence right under your name! Just how stupid do you think I am!!!

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

You are so dumb. I can see your "escape to the country" residence right under your name! Just how stupid do you think I am!!!

Temper, Temper.... Escaping to the country does no good, where do you think everybody will be trying to escape to?

To escape the fall of civilization takes much more thought than that. And in the end you (or your descendants) will just be barbarians, anyways. You pays your money and makes your choice...

I decided I didn't want to be a barbarian the last survivalist wave (late 1970's). That's the Mel Tappan joke... He wrote the book (literally) on how to use guns in a survivalist mode. He died in 1980 - I'm still cranking along.

That doesn't mean I couldn't have a power outage...

[desertgrandma]

[QUOTE=Stitchawl;1169197]This is why in our 'Earthquake Bag' we each have
------------------
Triox (Heximine) stove and fuel for three days and two liter cook pot
2 Bic lighters, Firesteel, tinder.
-------------------

Best put some matches in there.....those bic lighters are notorious for running out of fuel.......

[desertgrandma]

Wait....firesteel? tinder?

(runs to google)............

[SameOldStory]

This has always been my favorite fire starter backup If your matches or lighter gets wet this will ALLWAYS work.

One edge has a "flint" edge (probably more like the "flint" in a cigarette lighter). The bar itself in a magnesium alloy. Shave off a little of the magnesium onto the kindling and strike the flint.

My biggest problem is that I lose them too easily.




A fire piston is one of the neatest fire starters around.




A "see thru" demo


Fancy demo


Practical demo (with a little patent pending BS)


Malaysian Fire Starter - no rubber O ring or synthetic lube

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Temper, Temper....

...

I know that fancy out house of yours really leads to a secret underground bunker with an Olympic sized pool and a 1,000 sq foot gourmet kitchen. It's also staffed by young women dressed like the girls in one of the Elvis movies.



And if you don't let me in when the BIG ONE comes, I'm gona tell EVERYONE.

That'll show him I'm not just any kind of fool!

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

I know that fancy out house of yours really leads to a secret underground bunker with an Olympic sized pool and a 1,000 sq foot gourmet kitchen. It's also staffed by young women dressed like the girls in one of the Elvis movies.



And if you don't let me in when the BIG ONE comes, I'm gona tell EVERYONE.

That'll show him I'm not just any kind of fool!

If I did that, those girls would BBQ me! (As Rene' Artios said "It would be a short life, but a happy one.")

If you can walk up to the door, you won't need to come in...

(That's a hint for one of the ways...)

[SameOldStory]

Swedish firesteel

Thanks Stitchawl and DG. Beats my old magnesium fire starter!

I'll be ordering one of each From Amazon

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

If you can walk up to the door, you won't need to come in...

Booby trapped, huh. VERY smart.

Hmmm. This might be harder than I thought.

I may just have to take all my friends and family over to Kindlekitten's place.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

...

I may just have to take all my friends and family over to Kindlekitten's place.

That's my plan. Unless I've already moved to Alaska by then...

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Joebill

As for flushing with no power. I fill the tub as a hurricane approaches. Use a small bucket to dip the water to pour into the toilet to flush it.

Those bottles and buckets the kitty litter comes in make great emergency water containers.

[SameOldStory]

Scenario
You've grabed your survival pack and headed to the mountains. It's a dark moonless night. You have to pee.

Do you use a flashlight and give yourself away? Do you wander in the dark and hope that you don't fall and break you neck?

A real life saver!

Spoiler:

Night Vision Binoculars $69.99

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

Swedish firesteel

Thanks Stitchawl and DG. Beats my old magnesium fire starter!

I'll be ordering one of each From Amazon

Actually, in many cases I really do prefer the magnesium block fire starters, especially if tinder is a problem. The mishmetal ferro rod on them (if you use the 'Doan's' brand and not the 'Coghlan's,') throws enough spark and the magnesium burns hot enough to light wet kindling. The problems occur when you are in windy conditions and the magnesium shavings blow away before you can ignite them. You need to scrape them onto a piece of duct tape, which in itself will prolong the burn. Using PJ-soaked cotton balls solves that problem, as well as reducing the size of the ferro rod needed. The 'Swedish Fire Steel' throws a very hot shower of sparks, again, much better than the 'Coghlan's' brand of ferro rod.

Truth be told, I really prefer a piece of real flint and a steel striker used with char cloth and unraveled jute, but not for emergency use as too easy to wind up with damp or wet tinder. I forged my striker from an old file. I wanted something shaped a little fancier than this one.


I have a nice fire piston but the size of the tinder cup makes for a very, very small ember. It's good for starting fires when camping, but I wouldn't want to rely on it in a survival situation. Fun, but not as reliable in all conditions as a fire steel or flint and striker.

Stitchawl

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

Booby trapped, huh. VERY smart.

Hmmm. This might be harder than I thought.

I may just have to take all my friends and family over to Kindlekitten's place.

Originally Posted by kennyc

That's my plan. Unless I've already moved to Alaska by then...

resumes first boys

Originally Posted by wodin

Those bottles and buckets the kitty litter comes in make great emergency water containers.

I have a LOT of miscellaneous containers filled with water that is suitable for nothing but toilet flushing (or possibly putting out fires). even though I have a fresh water pond and a continually renewable source of water, I LIKE being able to flush the toilet!