The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) annual Field Day.

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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Reader G.L. wrote to mention:

“For anyone interested in dipping a toe into the ham radio waters, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) annual Field Day this year is the weekend of June 22 & 23. Nearly every ham club in the country will be out in a public park somewhere that weekend, and many will be specifically using off-the-grid setups. These are public events. So if you’re curious about any aspect of ham radio, consider yourself welcome to drop in, introduce yourself, ask questions, see what is involved and (with assistance) actually get on the air and talk to someone. The ARRL has a club finder at http://arrl.org/find-a-club.”

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A new and very useful how-to video: DIY Mousetrap-Style Fuze With Time Delayed Ignition For Smoke Devices.

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A great lecture at Hillsdale College by the now elderly “Young Turk” Newt Gingrich: What to Do About the DOJ.

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Reader C.B. wrote:

“I read the Thursday 5/30/2024 blog and recommend referencing a YouTube site. At Perun Defence-Economics, the individual does outstanding military analysis, putting out one video per week, on Sundays. Had a recent update on Ukraine this past Sunday about Kharkiv. He was born in Croatia, and raised in Australia. Based on his location and word pronunciation I suspect that he speaks multiple languages. As a military intel guy, you should find his site really fascinating. Went from about a 5K gaming channel to about 500K on his analysis just since the Ukraine conflict started. Very dry sense of humor and he kills as a PowerPoint presenter.”

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A.K. suggested this video from Pinball Preparedness: Evicting Farmers and Ranchers. Killing the Food Supply In The Name of Climate Change.

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SaraSue sent this snippet:

“It just so happened that I ran out of laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent, and no desire to drive out to Costco, or waste money at a Dollar General. I stockpile certain things in case I need them. In this case, I had: bars of Zote and Ivory soap, washing soda, borax, Oxyclean, citric acid, salt, baking soda. For the electric dishwasher, I put together the following recipe:

Citric Acid: 1 1/2 Cups
Washing Soda: 1 1/2 Cups
Baking Soda: 1/2 Cup
Sea Salt: 1/2 Cup

I had purchased the citric acid quite some time ago when prices were starting to skyrocket. I paid $14.99 for a 5 lb bag 3 years ago (purchased 10 lbs), and that same bag is now $25.99. I had purchased the large bags of baking soda from Costco at $7.99 bag for 13.5lbs and it’s $10.99 now, where I live. I can make dishwashing soap for pennies on the dollar. No, you don’t need a dishwasher, but while I have the convenience, I use it.

There are tons of recipes for homemade laundry soap on the Internet, but I made a 2-gallon container of laundry soap for about 50 cents, whereas if I bought it at Costco it would cost $18 for the brand I normally use, which used to be $14.99. Inflation is out of control, so time to fall back on the tried and true homemade solutions. No, we don’t need a washing machine or drier, but while I have the convenience, I use it. I also have clothesline and clips in case I need to hang dry clothes.

Other than that, one of my dairy cows went to her new home along with her steer calf. And somewhere along the way this week, I got poison ivy on my hands. I pour straight 3% hydrogen peroxide on the spots periodically, and that is keeping it from spreading and is drying it out, although it stings! The 4th garden bed was filled hugelkulture style, topped with good compost and planted. I received a new book this week, “The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies” and I’m dying to dive into it. I purchased 6 gallons of strawberries and large heads of cabbage from a local farm – I will be busy processing them. My two new Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd puppies are here, but covered in ticks. I spent a great deal of time bathing them, pulling ticks, blow drying them, and spraying them with a natural tick spray + a flea and tick collar. They have a vet appointment next week for first shots and tick treatment. My big German Shepherds don’t like them at all. I have a lot of work to do training dogs for their respective areas of work.”

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A music video by way of our recently back online WSRA friends: The Apocalypse (The Man Comes Around.)

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Reader L.E. sent this:

“If any of your readers are interested, this is a list of the topical liniments that I have used and what their main ingredients are.

- Sloan’s Liniment: The main ingredient is Capsaicin (hot pepper oil). Recommended for post-herpetic neuralgia (ghost pains after an attack of herpes or shingles.)
- Tiger Balm Liniment: Main ingredients are Menthol and Capsaicin
- Aspercreme Liniment: 2 formulations, one has Salicylic Acid (aspirin) the other has Lidocaine (a numbing agent)
- Castor/Wintergreen oil: Main ingredients are Methyl Salicylate and natural cortisone to reduce swelling
- Ben-Gay Liniment: Main ingredients are Menthol and Salicylic Acid (aspirin)
- Icy Hot Liniment: Main ingredients are Menthol and Wintergreen oil
- Combat Cream Liniment: Main ingredients are Arnica, Ginger and Menthol
- Bio-Freeze Liniment: Main ingredient is Menthol (Like using an ice bag, very cooling)
- Absorbine Jr.: Main ingredients are Wormwood Oil and Camphor.
- Sportscreme Liniment: Main ingredient is Trolamin Salicylate (aspirin)
- Voltaren: Main ingredient is Diclofenac.
- SalonPas Patches: Main ingredient is Lidocaine, for “ghost” nerve pain from herpes or shingles
- Watkins Liniment: Two types; the red one has Spruce Oil and Capsaicin, the white has Turpentine and Camphor

Of all of the above, I found that I cannot tolerate anything with Capsaicin in it, it burns too much. The best one I found was Combat Cream which has a lot of Arnica in it, and later, using a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel on the painful spots. This gave relief for about 2-3 hours. I have also had good luck with the White Watkins Liniment, and my own homemade liniment using Siberian Pine Nut Oil with a couple drops of Wintergreen oil in it.”

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They voted with their feet: The GlockStore to Host Fourth Annual Open House Celebrating the Company’s Move to Nashville.

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JRG had this comment:

“I read the review of the pre-manufactured rocket stove with some interest. We keep several Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) block rocket stoves located in camp locations where we sleep out. Just to avoid having to move the units from site to site. For slightly less than $60 (could be more money now, this was at least 10 years ago), a standard 8” cmu with sides cut to form 4 stoves were thrown in the grass adjacent to the camp. The Diamond wire cook surface is taken from site to site, placed in a slot in our camp box.

The metal ammo can container rocket stove is a great idea. I’m wondering if a G.I. water can that is beginning to leak could be repurposed to do the same thing.

Thank you for the review. If a person had no [deeded] bugout land where materials could be left in place, a stove like this would be very helpful. It appears to be well manufactured. Rocket stoves work quite well.”

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Lumin wrote us:

“I had not intended to send in a snippet this week because it was a straightforward and uninteresting week, until 3 AM this morning when I had a life and death situation with carbon monoxide flooding throughout my house. What happened?

My closest neighbors asked me to save the ash from my wood burning stove for them in metal buckets so that they can use it in their outhouse. Otherwise, I would just bury the ash outside in the snow.

I filled my neighbor’s ash buckets last night before going to bed. I didn’t want to set the ash buckets outside because I didn’t want the wind to blow hot embers out of the buckets and start a fire. Therefore, I foolishly put the ash buckets downstairs in the garage so that the warm buckets rested on the cold cement floor to cool off before I gave them to my neighbors.

Over the next few hours, while I was sleeping, carbon monoxide rose from the ash buckets, flooded throughout my house, and triggered all of the carbon monoxide alarms.

I initially didn’t know it was the carbon monoxide alarms because I had never experienced this before. All the alarms went off at 3 AM, and all at the same time. At first I thought it was the smoke alarms so I ran downstairs to grab the fire extinguisher, but there was no smoke.

What was going on? How could all of the smoke detectors distributed throughout the house alarm at the same time? I examined one of the detectors, and printed on the front was “SMOKE AND CO ALARM” and “MOVE TO FRESH AIR”. I immediately opened the doors and windows and went outside, and the alarms went silent after a few minutes. I grabbed the owners manual for my wood burning stove and in the “Ash Removal” section there was a waring in large bold print that read “NEVER STORE HOT ASHES IN A GARAGE OR BASEMENT. HOT ASHES WILL GENERATE CARBON MONOXIDE AND/OR FLAMMABLE GASES. THESE GASSES MAY CAUSE SUFFOCATION AND POSSIBLE DEATH.”

I immediately took the ash buckets outside far away from the house and buried them in snow.

I was up all night reading and learning about carbon monoxide. Thankfully, I did not exhibit any symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, which is an extremely deadly poison.

I also learned that carbon monoxide is slightly lighter than air, and therefore easily mixes with air and easily distributes throughout the house. I was under the incorrect assumption that carbon monoxide was denser than air, and would therefore pool in low places. That is not true.

I keep ceiling fans on 24 hours a day to help distribute the heat from my wood burning stove throughout the house, so last night I was also distributing carbon monoxide throughout my house.

I would most likely be dead this morning, having died in my sleep, if it weren’t for my carbon monoxide detectors. Please test your carbon monoxide detectors, make sure they have fresh batteries, make sure you have multiple detectors distributed throughput the house, and make sure they are placed correctly (they are placed high, like on ceilings, for a reason).

I won’t make the foolish mistake of storing ash buckets in my house again.”

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And, lastly, Elli O. wrote:

“Dear Readers,
I am an everyday reader and a sometime contributor. There are days when I read something on this blog that really impacts the way I live today and prepare for tomorrow. Then my brain went on a rabbit trail or two…

Rabbit Path #1– How has this blog impacted your life/lifestyles? Has it made a difference? Have you learned something valuable? If so, then I would encourage you to do two things. The first is to share that knowledge with others. The second is to help contribute to the blog- either by writing an article or possibly financially supportting this blog. JWR only asks once a year for assistance during the 10cent/day challenge; I know these are tough days economically, but if you haven’t given to Survivalblog yet (or have some extra to share) please consider giving NOW!

Rabbit Path #2- Although I have never met in person anyone on this blog, I feel like we are family. When a writer shares of a recent situation from which they learned new survival techniques or when someone shares what did/didn’t work, I feel like I just got an email from a distant relative- I may not know them well, but I can to relate to them! And when someone is struggling and shares that they were tempted to give up (SaraSue, I’m talking to you!) know that there are those of us out here in email-land who are cheering you on and begging you to hang in there!!!

So, family, to JWR and Avalanche Lily, for those who have contributed to this blog in any way, thank you for being part of my day, and improving my life.”

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