Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
For Independent Minded People!
ISSN 2161-5543
In
This Issue:
1. DIY distilled water
2. 10 ideas for using Mason Jars
3. Clean house with only 3 ingredients
4. Does privacy matter –few Americans
seem to care
"I think we have more
machinery of government than is necessary,
too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious."
-- Thomas Jefferson
too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Make Your Own Distilled Water
Make your own distilled water from stream or lake water, salt
water, or even brackish, dirty water, using these DIY Solar Still Plans.
With just a few basic building materials, a sheet of glass and some sunshine,
you can purify your own water at no cost and with minimal effort.
Distilled water is not just for drinking, and it’s always worth keeping a few gallons of it on hand. Clean water free of chemicals and minerals has a number of valuable uses:
• Always refill the lead-acid batteries used for solar energy systems or automobiles with distilled water
• Water delicate plants like orchids with distilled water; minerals and additives like fluoride or chlorine that are present in most tap water can harm plants
• Distilled water mixed with antifreeze is recommended for car radiators, as it’s less corrosive
• Steam irons become clogged with mineral deposits unless you use distilled water
The principle of using the sun’s heat to separate water from dissolved minerals has been understood for millennia, salt ponds being the best example of how this knowledge has been put to use in the past. In salt ponds, seawater is drained into shallow ponds and then baked and purified in the sun until all that remains are crystals of salt. In this case, the pure water that gradually evaporated away was considered a useless byproduct, but as far back as the time of the ancient Greeks it was known that seawater could be made fresh and drinkable by this process.
A solar still works like a salt evaporation pond, except that the water that invisibly evaporates is extracted from the air; the minerals and other impurities are left behind and discarded. As the hot, moisture-laden air rises up to the slanting sheet of relatively cool glass sealed to the box, water condenses out in the form of small droplets that cling to the glass. As these droplets get heavier, they roll down the glass to the collector tube at the bottom and then out to the jug.
The box is built from 3/4 " BC-grade plywood, painted black on the inside to absorb heat. We used a double layer of plywood on the sides to resist warping and to help insulate the box, with an insulated door at the back and a sheet of glass on top.
Finding a good lining or container to hold the water in the inside of the box as it heats and evaporates can be complicated. The combination of high heat and water containing salt or other impurities can corrode metals faster than usual and cause plastic containers to break down or off-gas, imparting an unpleasant taste to the distilled water. The best liners are glass or stainless steel, although you can also coat the inside of the box with two or three coats of black silicone caulk (look for an F.D.A.-listed type approved for use around food). Spread the caulk around the bottom and sides with a taping knife. After it dries and cures thoroughly, just pour water in—the silicone is impervious to the heat and water.
Distilled water is not just for drinking, and it’s always worth keeping a few gallons of it on hand. Clean water free of chemicals and minerals has a number of valuable uses:
• Always refill the lead-acid batteries used for solar energy systems or automobiles with distilled water
• Water delicate plants like orchids with distilled water; minerals and additives like fluoride or chlorine that are present in most tap water can harm plants
• Distilled water mixed with antifreeze is recommended for car radiators, as it’s less corrosive
• Steam irons become clogged with mineral deposits unless you use distilled water
The principle of using the sun’s heat to separate water from dissolved minerals has been understood for millennia, salt ponds being the best example of how this knowledge has been put to use in the past. In salt ponds, seawater is drained into shallow ponds and then baked and purified in the sun until all that remains are crystals of salt. In this case, the pure water that gradually evaporated away was considered a useless byproduct, but as far back as the time of the ancient Greeks it was known that seawater could be made fresh and drinkable by this process.
A solar still works like a salt evaporation pond, except that the water that invisibly evaporates is extracted from the air; the minerals and other impurities are left behind and discarded. As the hot, moisture-laden air rises up to the slanting sheet of relatively cool glass sealed to the box, water condenses out in the form of small droplets that cling to the glass. As these droplets get heavier, they roll down the glass to the collector tube at the bottom and then out to the jug.
The box is built from 3/4 " BC-grade plywood, painted black on the inside to absorb heat. We used a double layer of plywood on the sides to resist warping and to help insulate the box, with an insulated door at the back and a sheet of glass on top.
Finding a good lining or container to hold the water in the inside of the box as it heats and evaporates can be complicated. The combination of high heat and water containing salt or other impurities can corrode metals faster than usual and cause plastic containers to break down or off-gas, imparting an unpleasant taste to the distilled water. The best liners are glass or stainless steel, although you can also coat the inside of the box with two or three coats of black silicone caulk (look for an F.D.A.-listed type approved for use around food). Spread the caulk around the bottom and sides with a taping knife. After it dries and cures thoroughly, just pour water in—the silicone is impervious to the heat and water.
read more here
PM’s Compendium of Useful Resources
I positively love
up-cycling, recycling, re-purposing, reusing, or otherwise
finding a use for things that a lot of folks would throw in the trash. From old
socks to scrap paper to old shower doors, I
can find a use for it. Even scraps of food can go into a soup, be fed to the
dogs or chickens, or added to the compost bin. On our homestead, very little is
left for the trash can.
Mason jars are the most
versatile of things. Besides using them for their intended purpose – canning
food – I have either tried or found 10 more ways to use these handy containers.
read more here
People have been cleaning with household staples like
vinegar, baking soda and lemons (or lemon juice) for a long time, and believe
it or not, these items are safe and often effective.
If you clean with these items, you may buy less, spend less money and have fewer harsh chemicals to worry about. Here's how!
If you clean with these items, you may buy less, spend less money and have fewer harsh chemicals to worry about. Here's how!
The Nanny State Updates
[Video] CNN
Reporter Blames Boston Tragedy On Conservatives
CNN's Peter Bergen apologized
after the fact but once again, the lame-stream media decided to immediately
advance the false narrative that patriotic Americans are the terrorists...
Caught on video because
otherwise, some people simply won't believe it...
A simple automobile GPS could be your best
friend in an
emergency. Either in your car or removed for hand-held
operation, it can navigate you to the nearest hospital
or police station for aid as well as show you the way
out of a chaotic city
emergency. Either in your car or removed for hand-held
operation, it can navigate you to the nearest hospital
or police station for aid as well as show you the way
out of a chaotic city
The
Parting Thought: Does
privacy matter anymore in America?
I love this country. I love the freedoms we used to have…George Carlin
Stop Giving Away Your Privacy
The
best thing you can do just say no!
For better or worse, you are the person most
responsible for shielding your Social Security Number. Therefore, your mission
is to limit the amount of people who have access to it
2.
Public schools: Your utility bills confirm
your address; your email and phone number give them channels to contact you in
an emergency. Asking for your Social Security number is a bit overkill.
3.
Little League, summer camp and other extra curricular activities: For the same reasons as school, a Social Security number should
never be required by these groups. If they ask for your child’s birth certificate,
show it to them, don’t leave it with them unless they can prove they will
protect it. And even then, can you really believe them? If you use credit to
pay for the activity, the organization may need your Social Security number but
If you pay for it upfront or with a direct debit to your bank account or credit
card, they don’t. Period.
4. Supermarkets: A frequent shopper card is neither a loan, nor a bank account. It’s
merely a tool grocery stores use to track your purchases, primarily for
marketing purposes. Regardless, many supermarket chains request customers’
Social Security numbers on their application
forms. Refuse and leave it blank if they ask for it.
Privacy is more
precious than ever, and getting scarcer. Government agencies
continue to push legal boundaries with surveillance cameras, drones, GPS tracking devices, x-ray scanners, stop-and-frisk searches
without a warrant, sometimes without a suspicion of wrongdoing. It’s not just
law enforcement agencies that are doing it. The tax man is in on the action,
too.
The American Civil
Liberties Union found this out by posing a simple question to the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS):
Do you obtain a warrant before reading the public’s emails, text messages and
other electronic communications? The bureaucrats naturally responded with 247
pages of documents, which reveal that the IRS
thinks it can read anything it pleases. Who needs a judge’s approval?
The cavalier attitude is codified in the 2009 edition of
the IRS
handbook, which declares the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable
searches and seizures does not protect emails because users “do not have a
reasonable expectation of privacy in such communications.” Citing the
hopelessly obsolete Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, which was
written a few years before Al Gore
invented the Internet, IRS
snoopers argue they only need a subpoena to browse through emails that have
been opened or that are more than 180 days old.
How dumb are we as Americans?
More specifically, how irresponsible and stupid is the U.S. government when it comes to our rights…
More specifically, how irresponsible and stupid is the U.S. government when it comes to our rights…
Get more privacy protection resources by clicking on the Privacy Tab at:
“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man
Join others striving for Financial
Independence in the Poor Man Survival community on how to take back control
of your money. Updated for 2013 and now includes a Will Kit.
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