Notes for Tuesday – September 01, 2015

September is Kilted to Kick Cancer Month. It was a wise move, not picking January. (Brrrr!) September is also National Preparedness Month.

o o o

Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  9. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  4. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  10. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 Lifestraws (a $200 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 60 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

EMP Protection For Electronic Safe Locks, by PrepperDoc

1

Like many preppers, I have a safe with a digital lock that I purchased before I understood EMP, and I would now like to have some protection for that lock against the E1 component of an EMP attack. (Because the lock is not attached to any very long wires, the E3 component is not an issue.) I present here a simple technique that may provide significant (although imperfect) protection and which is amenable to becoming a commercial product by a motivated individual (and I freely give away the idea). Such additional protection would be expected to raise the probability that I won’t have to hack into my own safe after an EMP event.

The accompanying photo shows a swath of household aluminum foil simply pressed over my digital lock and held in place with a rubber band. The outer portions are hand-pressed to lay as flat as possible against the painted surface of the metal safe door. If you are careful, you can remove and re-install it several times. A bit of structure provided by some masking tape around the lock would probably make it last even longer. As I will demonstrate both by theory and experiment, even this simple system is likely to be of significant help, increasing the probability that your lock will not be harmed. Also, it could very easily be manufactured and a far better version sold at a profit by an enterprising person. Create a steel mold a bit larger than the typical electronic lock by grinding away at a slice of a steel rod. Take 1/16″ aluminum or steel and hammer it to fit over the mold (the “bubble”) to have a fairly flat circular “brim” around the “bubble” that can lay flat against the safe front. Add a bit of the thinnest Velcro fabric you can find to secure it to the safe (possibly even indenting a spot or two in the “brim” so the “hat” will lay as flat as possible to the safe. It’s done. Now, market it!

Because electronic locks may be relatively small with short wires, presenting a small “aperture” to receive E1 energy, some may actually already be relatively resistant to EMP. There are commercial locks available for under $200 that have been shown to be unaffected by “simulated EMP”[1]. However, my particular low-end lock hasn’t been tested to my knowledge, and there would be a gunsmith charge on top of the purchase price to put a tested lock in place. That would raise the total cost beyond my mid-range safe’s value. Hence, I pursued this attempt to protect my existing lock. (In case you’re wondering, yes, I have the ability to break into that safe.)

If you aren’t interested in a lot of electrical engineering discussion, immediately skip down to the last section on experimental confirmation.

What is the electromagnetic threat signature of the E1 attack? The milspec “test” waveform (See Figure 1 of Ref. [1] ) that is used to simulate an E1 (hopefully similar to the real thing!) is a very rapidly rising and falling pulse (a few nanoseconds) creating a very high voltage/field, which has a frequency spectrum that is fairly constant (and large) from very low frequencies, up to about 10 MHz, and then declines as it moves from there higher. (See Figure 2-15 of Reference [2]). At 1 GHz the simulated spectrum is three orders of magnitude weaker than it is at 10 MHz, which would suggest that the primary goal should be to protect against “short wave” frequencies and lower. Note, however, that the actual observed signal (See Figure 3-1 in Reference [2]) has many very fast “ripples” and therefore may have more potent microwave energy than the simulation test signal; so, good microwave protection may also be important. As I will attempt to argue, my suggested solution probably provides significant (but not total) protection at these frequencies of interest.

To actually calculate the resulting electromagnetic field versus time, or measure the exact protection such a device would provide to my electronic lock would be quite a computer or measurement feat. (Hint: This would be a great thesis for a Masters’ student in Electrical Engineering.) However, one of the things I learned during my training in electromagnetics and electrical engineering was to hunt for similar problems that did have a known solution. In this case, the “brim” of the cover, together with the steel door of the safe, acts like a very thin waveguide for the transmission of electromagnetic waves. This effective waveguide has “defective ends” because it never makes connection laterally to the safe door but to very small wavelength (high microwave) signals, and it resembles an infinitely wide but not very tall (about 1/8″) waveguide. Also, when looked at from the lower-frequency circuit designers’ viewpoint, if the entire system is about 12″ in diameter with a 6″ diameter central bubble, the brim has a surface area of about 85 square inches approximately 1/8″ or less from the safe door, and therefore has roughly a capacitance of >150 picofarads, representing an impedance of about a thousand ohms at 1 MHz and 10 ohms at 100 MHz, 1 ohm at 1 Ghz. That’s not a really low impedance but not an open circuit either; it helps to make the shielding effect better at higher frequencies in the circuit designer’s view.

Let’s further examine the waveguide analogy to the brim. Waveguides are widely used to transport electromagnetic energy from transmitters to antennae. However, they are usually used only for microwave (>1 Ghz) signals, because of the problem of “waveguide beyond cutoff.” That is, if the dimensions of the waveguide aren’t at least the size of one wavelength of the signal to be transported, the waveguide can’t maintain the most common electromagnet field (the TE10 wave), and transport fails. In our case, we don’t have a normal “waveguide”, but our system resembles one that is very thin (say, 1/8″) and wide (about 12″ wide), about the size of a 1 Ghz wave, suggesting that our hat brim may function well to impede the transmission of signals below 1 GHz from the outside to the area of the bubble (where the lock is located). This is an approximation, of course. This is not going to be perfect isolation; with elaborate test equipment one would likely quantify the leakage level, but it will be much better than doing nothing at all. I’ve used this trick before (with real waveguide) to get connections into and out of a microwave cavity, but to completely block microwave energy from escaping. It worked perfectly in that instance, even when probed by a nosey biomedical safety officer. So I think it has a good chance in this instance also. It’s certainly far better than nothing! It is true that “slots” in waveguide can be used as actual antennas (suggesting EMP energy could slip through), but it only works if the slot is on the order of one wavelength. So, again our system may significantly impede energy below 1 Ghz.[4]

If you wanted to possibly improve the shielding at very low frequencies, one trick would be to sand the paint off a small area (maybe one square inch) of the front of the safe and have a copper brush affixed to the aluminum shield that would make contact at least at that one spot. This will be most helpful below 1 MHz. I didn’t test this.

SafePhoto

One disadvantage of this proposed solution (and an option for improvement) is that it does not directly provide magnetic shielding. However, in air the magnetic field is related to the electric field via physical constants. Knocking down the E field by conductive shielding (this solution) will cause both the resultant E and H fields on the inside to be reduced. However, there’s an improvement for this also! If you construct the shield out of a ferrous substance (e.g., steel) and provide brush contacts at say three points, you probably add significant magnetic shielding as well. I have not tested this at all.

Experimental Confirmation of Simple Shield

To test this protective system, my wonderful wife performed a test with an AM broadcast band radio receiver that suggests this idea actually works. My biggest concerns were at frequencies < 1 MHz. The portable radio picked up a strong signal from a local 5kW AM radio station about eight miles away, which is well within the local published range, at a frequency just under 1 MHz. The signal had no static, showing a very high signal to noise ratio. Plastering the radio up against the painted, non-conductive safe using aluminum foil with a “brim” of approximately 4″ reduced the station’s strength down into the static, just barely notable. Since AM radios have “automatic gain control”, it is not easily possible to measure the actual shielding level. This suggests a very significant amount, probably > 20 dB. [That is merely an educated guess from years of Ham radio experience.] Note that no attempt was made to directly, physically connect the foil to the safe. Although this is clearly not perfect shielding, by significantly reducing the field that reaches my electronic lock, it may significantly increase the probability that it escapes unharmed from an EMP event. A final suggestion is that if you do not anticipate needing to re-enter the safe for quite a while, it would be wise to use aluminized a/c duct tape to simply tape down the edges of the lock cover. A similar improvement has been tested on garbage can Faraday shields with very significant improvement.[5]

REFERENCES

References


[1] Dayton T. Brown, Inc., Electromagnetic Susceptibility Test Program Performed on Eight Lock Assemblies, accessed at: http://www.libertysafe.com/images/downloads/SGEmpTesting.pdf


[2] Savage E, Gilbert J, Radasky W. The Early-Time (E1) High Amplitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) and Its Impact on the U.S. Power Grid. Accessed at: http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/reliability/cybersecurity/ferc_meta-r-320.pdf [Note: this is a very extensive reference on the characteristics of the EMP induced wave.]


[3] Waveguide Cutoff Frequency, accessed at: http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/antennas/waveguide/cutoff-frequency.php


[4] Wade, P. W1GHZ Microwave Antenna Book, Chapter 7: Slot Antennas. Accessed at: http://www.qsl.net/n1bwt/ch7_part1.pdf


[5] disasterprepper. EMP Trash Can Faraday Cage Testing in Lab. Accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3S2KDuVxaU

Letter Re: Fishing Pliers

Hello,

I would like to respond to the question about reliable fishing pliers. First, let me give you my experience with the subject. I have been a hunting and fishing guide for over thirty years, and for the last nine I’ve been a fishing guide for salmon in Alaska. While I have tried many types and brands of fishing pliers over the years, I have yet to find a pair that I would be excited about. However, there is one pair/brand I would not recommend, and that is Mustad fishing pliers. This summer while king salmon fishing I had a pair break (see attached photo) while removing a hook from a king salmon. I tried twice to email the company through emails provided on their website to which I received no response. I went to their Facebook page and again sent a message and again had no response. So to say their customer service was less then good is an understatement. Needless to say they will be the last Mustad product I will purchase. Sorry that I do not have a recommendation for a quality pair of fishing pliers. If I come across a pair that I find to be great, I will let you know. Thanks – M.Y.

News From The American Redoubt:

An incredible video of an ultralight flight through Bull River Valley ending at the Forrest Bird Museum. – T.T.

o o o

From Snake River Shooting Products: Need to take down a drone? A munitions company offers firepower

o o o

Wyoming man files suit over massive EPA fines for building pond – B.B.

o o o

Amateur Repeaters Fall Victim to Washington Wildfire – John Jacob of Radio Free Redoubt

o o o

A recent video from our friend, Wranglerstar, shot at and near the Columbia River: The Amazing “Super Scooper” Firefighting Plane (Wranglerstar is one of our favorite video bloggers.)

o o o

Active Fire mapping – R.W.

Odds ‘n Sods:

For a moment there I thought I was reading the plot line of a “Dirty Harry Movie”: 600 police gunshots during Stockton bank robbery were ‘excessive,’ report says – T.P.

o o o

How America can be saved from stupid people – J.C.

o o o

May you never find yourself in this situation, but if you do: Urban foraging — if you’re still stuck in the city when disaster strikes – D.S.

o o o

The editor of the Weaponsman blog suggested a video that incorporates some good tips: Saturday Matinee 2015 35: Uncertain Tomorrow (Web pilot, 2015)

o o o

China Rocked By Another Massive Chemical Explosion – GJM

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks – It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.” – Samuel Adams

Notes for Monday – August 31, 2015

August 31st, 1992 is the day that Randy Weaver surrendered to the Federal Authorities, ending the 10 day siege on Ruby Ridge. This is the incident that preceded the Waco siege and is known for the unconstitutional rules of engagement and overzealous actions by the jack booted thugs of the federal authorities that resulted in the death of two innocent people– Sammy and Vicki Weaver, Randy’s son and wife. It is notable that Randy was acquitted of all charges except missing a court date and violating bail conditions on an ATF sting operation where it is suspected that Mr. Weaver did nothing wrong but that the ATF informant altered the shotguns sold to him by Weaver resulting in Weaver’s arrest. In addition, the missed court date was due to clerical errors on behalf of the court. All involved Federal agencies were publicly reprimanded, and the state of Idaho attempted to press charges against some individuals for their actions but were stymied due to federal interference.

o o o

SurvivalBlog’s economics editor, Mr Econocobas, needs some help due to his travel schedule, so we are now actively seeking a part-time economics editor. You would only be in it for the glory plus a few free books and a nice birthday present each year. The ideal candidate to fill this role would be someone with a strong economics background and sagacious discernment, someone who already combs the global economic news several days a week for other reasons and is retired or semi-retired. Email us if you are interested. – HJL

o o o

We are now halfway through Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog writing contest. If you have been wanting to write about a project you have been working on or have a desire to share some of your knowledge with others, this is an excellent opportunity to submit it to us. Don’t forget that we now will publish pictures if you submit those with your article! Follow the directions on our contest writing page and submit it to us soon to get entered in this round of the contest. For those who have already won in the past, make sure you also check the contest page. You may be eligible to win again, depending on what prize you won and how long it has been. Those who made honorable mention in the past have no restrictions on winning other than the regular rules. – HJL

Scot’s Product Review: SGK 440 Portable Power Solar Go Kit

This is something I wish I had owned back in my old days at the newspaper. We sometimes had to go places where there was no electricity and coming up with power could be a real hassle. As the years rolled by, the need for power got bigger and bigger. When I started, the cameras were mechanical and we shot film. By the end, everything was digital and required batteries, plus we had computers and cell phones too. We often drove around blowing fuses in cars with inverters plugged into the lighter socket in a desperate effort to keep stuff running. With the Solar Go Kit, I would have had fewer problems and lost much of my fear of electron deprivation. Preppers may well face the same issues that my guys had when working in disaster areas and needed power for their gear.

The Solar Go Kit SGK 440 is a compact, though somewhat heavy, combination of batteries, power analyzer, chargers, inverter, and power connectors that should allow you to keep many of your electrics operational in most any situation. It is packaged in a Pelican 1520 case that measures (in rounded numbers) 20x16x7.5 inches. The case itself comes in at under 1.5 pounds; however, once we stuff all the goodies in, it hits 46 pounds, according to my bathroom scale. The bulk (26 pounds) of the weight comes from the two 22 amp hour 12-volt absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries that are the heart of the system.

The kit goes for $789.99. The tested unit had some extras–a twin USB outlet and four of the superb Anderson Power Poles. These options add $30 for the USB and $36 for the Power Poles. Note that the inverter has a USB outlet as well as 120 AC, so you could get by without the optional USB port. The Power Poles are widely used in the amateur radio world and are highly reliable and versatile connects for 12-volt loads.

The Go Kit I reviewed came with a rigid 20-watt solar panel that weighs about 4.6 pounds and is 17x17x1 inches in size. Unfortunately, the manufacturer of the panel dropped this size from its offerings and now SolarGoKit is looking for a replacement at a reasonable cost and size. They do offer the PowerFilm R21, which is somewhat unique in that it rolls up and can actually fit inside the Pelican case. This feature makes it costly though at $289.99, but it is hard to beat the compactness. Another option might be one of the folding panels you can find on Amazon. Just be sure to get enough capacity to get current back into the batteries fast enough.

Everything in the kit is solidly constructed. The batteries and some of the components are mounted beneath the panel secured in the bottom half of the Pelican. The AC charger, inverter, power analyzer, and four outlets with Anderson Power Poles are mounted on the panel, accessible when the case is opened. The charger and inverter plug into the Power Poles, and if they are not being used could be disconnected and other equipment plugged into their spots. On the left side of the case is a waterproof plug for a solar panel input, while on the right side is a waterproof 12-volt cigarette lighter-type plug and a waterproof twin USB outlet. The inverter has two AC outlets and an additional USB plug. All in all, this is a lot of versatility in a small package.

I was very impressed with the build quality and choice of components, which I expected as the owner of SolarGoKit.com, Jim Thompson, has a background in aerospace engineering. All of the electrical connections are well made, properly crimped or soldered, then covered with heat shrink wrap to protect them. The external connectors are waterproofed, and the case is a Pelican, which is one of the best carry cases you can get. It is waterproof and so airtight that you get a valve to equalize the pressure to enable you to open it if you change altitudes. There are perforations made in the case for the external connectors, however, and Thompson warns you not to sink it in water; it should, however, stand up to rain and humidity just fine.

The AGM batteries he uses are one of the better things to come along in battery technology. They hit the market in the 70’s and just keep getting better. Their huge advantage over regular batteries is that the acid that reacts with the lead in the battery to make electricity is held in a fiberglass mat so that it can’t leak out of the battery, unlike the one you will probably find in your car. Those batteries are called flooded or wet cell batteries, and they literally have a pool of acid waiting to spill if the case is cracked or tipped. You have to monitor them as they eventually need to have water added to replace that which evaporates. Then there is the fact that they vent hydrogen gas when charged. That’s the stuff that made the airship Hindenburg explode back before WWII.

An AGM battery shouldn’t leak, even if you hold it upside down, and unless charged improperly it vents little gas. While AGM’s should not vent much in the way of hydrogen gas, it is still recommended to charge them in an open area with good air circulation. As long as it is treated right, it won’t lose much if any of the water in the battery that keeps the acid liquid and reacting with the lead. You find AGM’s in uninterruptible power supplies for computers, motorcycles, alarm systems, and most anyplace that needs a battery you can essentially forget about and use in odd positions. They generally have a 5 to 10 year life expectancy. The primary drawback of AGM’s is higher cost.

You get two options for recharging the batteries in the Go Kit. The first is the built-in 1.5 amp charger that runs off 120 volts. The charger was chosen for its compact size so that it would fit in the case, but be advised that you could charge the batteries at a higher rate than 1.5 amps. I spent some time researching AGM’s, and it looks as if the two 22 amp hour batteries in the Go Kit could safely be charged at 10 amps, which would speed things up a bit. If you do decide to use a larger charger, you need to be sure that it, like the built-in one, is designed to handle AGM batteries. It needs to be a smart three-stage charger that begins at a higher voltage, called the bulk charge rate, and then slows down after the battery hits about 80% of capacity. It then switches to the absorption rate and takes it to 85-95% of capacity and finally switches to the float rate to finish it off and maintain it. If your charger simply tries to stuff electricity back in as fast as possible, you run the risk of overheating the battery and shortening its life. Most smart chargers can be left connected to the battery to maintain it at 100% for long term while standard chargers will simply toast your battery. I’ve been there and done that.

Even though you could charge the batteries faster with a bigger, heavier external charger, chances are if you have access to utility power, speed won’t be so critical, so you could get by without a bigger charger. It might be more of a concern if you expect to use a generator.

The specs for the batteries used in the kit say that you will get 200 charge cycles if you use 100% of the charge. Running a battery flat is a really bad idea, so don’t do it. You will get 500 cycles if you drain them 50% and 1,200 if you only pull them down 30%.

One of the very smart features of this kit is the inclusion of the GT Power RC 130A Power Analyzer Battery Consumption Performance Monitor. This lets you keep tabs on the voltage of the batteries as well as how many watts you are using. It can show how many watt hours have been consumed, which will tell you how much of the total capacity of the batteries is left. The unit resets to zero every time you power down, so you have to remember how much power you used in each session between charges. When it hits 250 watts used, you should stop using it and begin charging, unless there are no other options in a crisis.

If you aren’t going to use the kit, you should store it fully charged. That’s true of any battery. It is recommended that you recharge it every six months. You could also keep it on the charger at all times to be sure it is always at 100%, but that might compromise battery life a bit. I’ve seen arguments in both directions about keeping batteries on a maintenance charge, but it makes sense that if you might need a battery unexpectedly you would want to keep it on a maintenance charge even if that is at the cost of some battery life. On the other hand, if you expect to have warning before you need it and are diligent and won’t forget, then the every six months plan seems like a winner and is what Thompson recommends.

Try to store and use anything with batteries in moderate temperatures. They don’t like heat any more than I do. Cooler temperatures slow down the self-discharge rate, which is how fast any battery goes dead just from sitting. However, on the other hand, lower temperatures reduce available capacity. Even though it is contained in the fiberglass mats, there is water in the battery and it seems best to me to not let it freeze. Overall, somewhere around 70 degrees is probably the happiest place for both me and an AGM battery.

The kit gives you three types of power– USB, which is 5 volts; a cigarette light socket; and Anderson Power Pole outlets for 12 volts, plus an inverter that converts the 12 volts into 120 AC. It provides a steady 400 watts of power and can handle brief surges of up to 800 watts. Computing what you can do with the 12 volt and USB outlets is fairly simple. Just find out how many watts your device uses (or its battery holds) and divide that into the number of watts the kit can provide.

The two 12-volt batteries in the kit each provide 22 amp hours of electricity. Work is figured in watts, and watts are amps times volts, so you get 264 watts per battery or 528 watts total. Don’t forget, however, that we don’t want to go below 50% of the battery, so let’s round it off to an easy number like 250 watts. That’s a pretty fair amount of electricity. My tablet computer’s battery takes about 20 watts to fully charge, so this kit could charge it more than 10 times, which would keep me going for a long time.

Figuring out what we can do with the AC power gets more complex as we are dealing with a higher voltage. Because math makes my head hurt, I often use an online calculator to sort out how much runtime I can get from a battery/inverter combination. With this kit, if I were to fully load up the inverter with 400 watts, say four laptop computers or some other combination of devices, I would only get about half an hour of run time. That’s not so great, but it’s still better than not having the tools. If I were more reasonable, I could stretch that out a lot longer.

To be most efficient, however, you should try to avoid using the inverter. The process of making 12 volts DC turn into 120 volts AC uses up energy that is lost in the process. It is sort of like friction. If you can stick with USB and 12 volt equipment, you will get much more run time. I have discovered that many things I have with power adapters can actually run from 12 volts, so skipping the adapter and making a cable with Power Pole connectors can save a lot of energy. If you need to make light, there are a bunch of 12-volt lights on Amazon.

Now that we have an idea about all the great options for getting the juice out of the Go Kit, we have to now consider getting it back in. Every time we take a watt out, we have to put it back and beyond chief issue of finding the power to put in, we also have issues with the time it takes. If you charge them too quickly, batteries won’t last long. That won’t be an issue with the 20 watt solar panel or the 1.5 amp charger that came with the test kit, but they both take a while to replace the used electricity.

Figuring time to recharge is more math work, alas. Since amps times volts equals watts, the AC charger will put about 18 watts back into the batteries in an hour. If we have pulled out 250 watts, then we will need something like 14 hours to get them back in. If we have a bigger charger, like a 10 amp one, then we could charge much faster and get most of the charge back in three hours. One of the problems about batteries, though, is that the last few percent of charge need to be done slowly, so an absolutely full charge can take 10 or more hours even with a bigger charger. The advantage of the bigger charger has to do with being able to quickly get the battery back to 85% or so.

The solar panel gets more complex because of the vagaries of sunlight. Clouds are a colossal pain. The sun also moves around a lot, and if the panel isn’t aimed well it loses efficiency. Then there is the night thing. With the 20-watt panel provided in the test kit, we should be able to recharge our half used batteries in 13 hours, but we don’t get that many hours of sunlight in a day. In fact, according to the solar power industry, most of us only get an average of four to six hours of sunlight a day strong enough to run solar panels at their rated output. A panel may produce power the rest of the day, but it will be at reduced efficiency. Throw in some clouds and rain and you won’t be getting much power at all.

If you were to get a bigger panel, however, you could charge in less time. A 100-watt one should do pretty well, particularly if you can keep it running while using the unit during the day.

One final idea on charging would be to connect it to the cigarette lighter socket in your car. You could plug into the solar input connector or one of the Power Pole plugs inside the case. This isn’t the best way to charge it, but if you are mobile, it would pack some watts back in, taking advantage of some of the gas you are already using.

To use the 120-volts outlets on the inverter or the AC charger, you have to have the case open, which means using it in sheltered location. That’s a good thing as 120 can be dangerous and you don’t want to use it in the rain.

The only thing I can think of changing is that I would have liked to be able to access the fuses from the top panel. They are underneath it; should you blow one, you will need to open the unit up. I would also add some sort of carrying case for the solar panel and, due to back trouble, buy a folding luggage cart for it to ride on.

I’m very impressed with the kit. They offer a similar one with one battery for $40 less, but unless you have an issue with the weight of the kit, I would buy the one with two batteries. Thompson can also customize kits for special purpose, such as running medical gear, and he offers a version for amateur radio operators that puts out the 13.8 volts that a lot of radio gear desires.

– SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor, Scot Frank Eire

Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Cold Steel/Rawles Voyager Limited Edition

Disclaimer: Neither Jim Rawles or Hugh J. Latimer asked me to do this article, nor did Lynn Thompson from Cold Steel. I received an e-mail flyer on this limited edition folder and requested a sample for review. No one involved in this project, including myself, are profiting from the sale of this folding knife. All proceeds are going to charity!

—————

100_6275

The Cold Steel Voyager folder is one of the best-selling folders in the Cold Steel stable of knives. It’s always in demand. I really like the Tri-Ad locking mechanism on this line of folders. It’s super strong, to be sure. You can see how the Voyager has been brutally torture tested by going to the Cold Steel website and viewing their videos. It’s amazing the testing that is done on this line of folders. Lynn Thompson puts his money where his mouth is. I’ve tested several of the Voyager folders in the past for articles, and I walked away totally blown away. My torture testing didn’t come any where near what Cold Steel did in their testing. Still, I was more than a little impressed with this line of folders.

100_6276

A quick look at the Rawles Voyager XL folder is in order. The knife only weighs in at 7.8 oz, and considering the size of the knife, this is a light-weight, to be sure. The blade thickness is 4mm, and the blade length is 5 1/2 inches. This hummer is big. The OD green Griv-Ex handle scales were specified by Jim Rawles, and I love the aggressive checking texture. It will allow the knife to stay in your hand under any weather conditions. The Voyager is very light and fast in the hand, too!

The Rawles Voyager was made to Jim’s specifications, and it also has heat-treated 6061 Aluminum liners. This Voyager also has the new American CTS XHP Carpenter’s steel blade. (The regular line-up of Voyagers doesn’t use this steel.) The blade is a Tanto-style, which I love, and it is black DLC coated to fend off the elements. As mentioned, this folder has the Tri-Ad lock, one of the strongest if not the strongest locking mechanism on a folding knife, and it was designed by custom knife maker Andrew Demko, who is also foregoing any profits on the sale of this folder.

100_6277

I like the ambidextrous thumb studs on the blade for rapid opening. However, I found I can easily “flick” the blade open, with very little effort and do it very fast! There is also included a spare pocket/clothing clip, so you can carry the knife in the left pocket, if you are a southpaw. The Voyager comes with one clip attached for carry in the right front pocket, but it only takes a minute or two to remove that clip and use the other clip on the other side of the folder.

The blade has survivalblog.com stamped on it as well as Jim Rawles’ signature with the word “Voyager” on the blade as well. There is a lanyard hole towards the butt of the handle, and that’s always a nice touch if using a knife over water. The blade is partially– 50% of it– serrated. Having this feature on a knife meant for survival is never a bad idea. You will also note that the blade is only sharpened on one side– the logo side. This makes the knife much easier to re-sharpen, and it also gives the edge much more strength.

100_6281

Since this is an XL Voyager model, you can grip the knife up close toward the blade, or you can move your hand further to the rear of the handle, giving you a couple more inches of reach, which is something that can be important when using a knife as a self-defense tool. Like all Cold Steel knives, this baby came hair-popping sharp out of the box; I expect no less from Cold Steel. I’ve said for years that they set the gold standard when it comes to sharp knives, and I stand by that statement.

I wasn’t about to torture test my Rawles Voyager. As I said, I’ve tested this line-up before and have walked away impressed. I’m not at all sure I will carry this sample since it’s a limited edition. It might just go into my knife collection.

For more details on this limited edition folder, you can go to ltspecpro.com and be sure to pick one up. Retail is only $115.99, and this is an instant collectible – a limited edition. Keep in mind that no one involved in this project is profiting from the sale of this knife. All profits are going to charity!

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Peanut Butter Hummus, by A.S.

How would you like a quick homemade dip for those dinner guests that arrive suddenly or a quick, healthy dip for your family that is nutritious, easy, and healthy to boot? This will take just 15 minutes of your time and make 1kilo/2.2 pounds of delicious dip ready to eat with carrot or celery sticks.

Note : If you are cutting the unhealthy carbs from junk, such as deep fried takeout, this is an ideal alternative.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups canned chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained until all the “froth” from the water is gone
  • 6 Tbsp peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice (bottled lemon juice is fine )
  • 1 tsp ground paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 6 cloves of fresh garlic
  • 3 Tbsp Greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp ground rock salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix in the olive oil.
  2. Do short bursts of your blender till the chick peas are no longer whole and the whole mix is firm but not runny.
  3. Sprinkle crushed peanuts over the dip and serve!

Once blended, you can taste test your dip and add more lemon juice or salt according to taste; some olive oil rises to the surface after a day and the garlic brings out the texture and taste of all this spicy Mediterranean dip. You can even use this for meats as a garnish as well. To add more variety, I add some chili and other herbs to give a variation, so enjoy.

It will last in the fridge for up to 7 days (though it never lasts long in our fridge)!

o o o

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Letter Re: A Year’s Supply of Food/Cooking Oil Alternatives

Dear Hugh,

With regard to the discussions about a renewable source of cooking oil, bio-diesel, and perhaps lubricating oil as well, I’ve often thought peanuts (aka, “goober peas”) may be a viable option for those of us who live in the south. Obviously, they’re not as visible as sunflowers, and statistics at this website seem to suggest that they produce a higher yield of bio-diesel than rapeseed.

I’ve read bits and pieces about backyard peanut growing, but I suspect large scale cultivation may be necessary for meaningful oil production. At any rate, their obscure growing nature, nutritional value (including protein), and possible light lubricating oil production may qualify them as a survival crop worth examining. If anyone has any experience with small-scale peanut farming, I would certainly be interested in hearing the story!

Best Wishes – SH in TX