Category: Fuel Storage & Distilling

Build Your Own Wood Gas Generating Stove

What will you do when your fuel runs out, or your energy system fails? How about burning wood? I used to dismiss burning things for energy off-hand as a dirty and wasteful heating tool, nothing more – not a source of actual power or energy.  However, learning what I have in the past few months has given me a new appreciation for this readily-available resource.  My perspective was changed somewhat, and it was kind of a shock to me, because i’m pretty open-minded to alternative solutions.  My mindset is this: until I have a wealth of  food and supplies in …


Some Woodstove Experience, by C.V.Z.

Being without electricity in the middle winter is cold. We didn’t have any heat during an ice storm. With that winter in mind, we finally purchased a wood stove for heat and cooking opportunities. As the wife and mother, I had this horrible image of an old black pot bellied stove belching smoke and catching the roof on fire. I could hear the neighbors complaining about the smell and my kids going to school smelling like they had just burned down the house. Images of black walls and ceilings and truck loads of firewood haunted me with every winter wind. …


Letter Re: Off-Grid Living on an Alaskan Island

Hello, Many US military personal who serve on an isolated duty station, in effect live off grid.  For example I was in the U.S. Coast Guard and stationed at Cape Sarichef, Alaska for a year. [It is at the end of Unimak Island.]           We had three large Caterpillar generators.  We got our water from a reservoir that was filled from mountain runoff.  I would go the reservoir when needed and start a small hand pull pump (during the winter could take almost 30 minutes to get started.) This would pump the water along a buried pipe line, with …


Letter Re: Suburban Preps on Long Island, New York

Hi All, I’d like to contribute some details on my preparations in a region where tricky geography, difficult society, and extremely difficult legal issues can make planning difficult. As for tricky geography, Long Island is essentially a 100-mile long 23-mile wide (at its very widest) ‘no outlet’ roadway prison stuffed with nearly 8 million people. Take a peek at the Wikipedia page about the island to get the idea. We are east of New York City with its 50 million people in the immediate 35 mile radius. When things get Schumeresque – there is very little most residents will be …


Letter Re: Forever Preps – Preparations You Can Buy Once, and Have Forever

JWR, Thanks and God Bless for your wonderful blog. You do mankind a great good every day your site is up and passing information to the masses. Please keep it coming. I find it a rare and surprising occurrence when my real world work experience and professional knowledge actually prove some use to the on-going threads found at SurvivalBlog. Since I’m a career Maitre’ de in fine dining restaurants, it really isn’t surprising; I seriously doubt anyone will be worried about wine vintages or the proper service of escargot after TSHTF. However I was pleasantly surprised after I read Andrew …


Letter Re: Observations From a Canadian Farmer

Hi Jim:  I have been reading SurvivalBlog.com for several months now and have found it very interesting.  I purchased a 640 acre farm in 1970 in the Little Clay belt in Northern Ontario and started from scratch.  I was 25, not married and knew no one in the area when moved from a large urban city, six hours drive away.  It was daunting and I learned a lot of lessons the hard way.  Since I used up all my cash I also had to work out to make ends meet. Here are some of my thoughts in no special order: …


Letter Re: You are Only as Good as Your Equipment

JWR: I had to smile when I saw your comment about Fiskars products yesterday.  A recent experience pushed my Fiskars lopping shears (“loppers”) up to the top of my favorite tool list. During a lull in this ridiculous winter, my kids and I cleared a small area of my land to make room for some fruit trees we’re planting this coming season.  The vast majority of the stuff we cleared was between 1″ to 2″ in diameter. It was not really big enough for firewood, but big enough that it seemed a shame to us to just waste it.  So …


Letter Re: You are Only as Good as Your Equipment

I am a two-year every day reader of the SurvivalBlog, and going through most of the entries that people write I have noticed that the majority of people believe that in a post SHTF scenario we will be faced with daily battles with marauders trying to take or food and goods. This brings people to the assumption that they must only stock up on only ammunition and firearms. As we all know as readers of this blog that when SHTF we will not have grocery stores or any of the facilities that we take for granted as of today. We …


Letter Re: Do-It-Yourself Campfire Starters

Dear Mr. Rawles,   I also have a suggestion for DIY fire starters.  I have been making these for several years and they work great for fire pits etc. I would caution about using them to start a cooking fire though, due to fragrances and color dyes. We use a lot of 4” and 6” pillar candles in our house. We don’t have small children, so an accidental fire is not a very big concern.  I used to throw out the candle butts and decided I’d like to somehow recycle them. So now every couple of months I make fire …


Letter Re: Do-It-Yourself Campfire Starters

Dear Mr. Rawles, First thank you and thank you again for your wonderful web site. I feel I have learned so much by reading it. I developed lots of important ideas good not only for emergencies but for more “mundane” preparedness. I want to share with you and your readers how I make simple and inexpensive fire starters for the fireplace, grill or campfire. I get a pound of Gulf Wax [canning paraffin] ($3 dollars per box) and melt it in a mason jar in a pot of boiling water. I then take finely shredded office paper (free) and stuff …


Letter Re: The Golden Hours

JWR,   I’ve been reading SurvivalBlog for about a year and participated in this year’s Ten Cent Challenge. Just thought I’d throw in a quick comment about the recent post, The Golden Hours by Brad H. A much better way of tranferring fuel by siphon is to spend a couple bucks on a “jiggler” type siphon which allows the user to start a siphon without the risk of getting fuel or other noxious liquid into their mouth. [JWR Adds: A siphoning slurp can mean a trip to the Emergency Room, or worse!] At my place of work, we use these to defuel our …


The Golden Hours, by Brad H.

The three main factors in determining who lives and who dies WTSHTF are situational awareness, overcoming inertia, and dumb luck. The first two you have some control over. The third is always going to be beyond your control, except for Divine intervention, so don’t worry about it. If you are at mid-span on the Golden Gate Bridge when Al Qaeda sets off a nuke in San Francisco, or “The Big One” hits. In such cases, acceptance of God’s will is all you have to do to prepare. For those who are lucky enough to not be killed immediately when disaster …


Prepared? I Hope So, by C.W. in Arizona

Those of us who wish to be prepared for whatever may lay ahead, are always faced with unique situations and challenges.  Those challenges may include such things as: lack of funds, a difficult location, non-supportive or elderly or disabled family members, your age or stage in life, etc. The list goes on and on. However, is it imperative to find solutions and make plans?  I think so!  While my situation is a little unusual, I count myself as truly blessed to be one of those individuals who knows the time to be prepared is now, rather than later.  I am …


Letter Re: Two Snowbound But Prepared Elderly Sisters

We are sisters, age 67 and 73  and live in Southeastern Connecticut near the shore on several acres.  We were fortunate that we grew up on a 100 acre Connecticut farm where we grew our own food, farm animals, had a smoke house, three freezers filled with what we raised, three ponds, learned to shoot, trap, fish, and had very capable parents.    Until several years ago, we lived as most Americans do, on the grid with only a week or two provisions in the home.  I had moved to West Virginia in 1990 (retired early) and lived alone with …


Alternative Energy Sources For Emergencies, by Smiledr

Being in preparedness mode opens your eyes to a number of factors, not just Beans, Bullets and Band-Aids. As a battalion coordinator for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s CERT program, I was asked to give a presentation on Alternative Energy sources for an emergency situation. My research into this was very enlightening, and I found a number of great ideas. This does not encompass everything available, but it is fairly thorough. So, why Alternative Energy? In an emergency, such as a major earthquake, there can be a loss of power, gas and water. If it is a short-term problem e.g. …