Poor Man
Survival
Self
Reliance tools for independent minded people…
ISSN
2161-5543
"Attack another’s rights and you destroy
your own."
-- John Jay Chapman
Building
a solar dehydrator
This
is so simple that it can be done in an afternoon.
DIY Solar Dehydrator
Most things can be dehydrated. It involves removing the
moisture from food items to preserve them.
You
will need…
- A piece of plywood
about 3 feet long and a foot wide
- Two pieces of 2×4 as long
as your plywood
- Two more pieces of 2×4
as wide
as your plywood
- A piece of plexiglass
to fit on top of your finished box
- Matte black paint
- Nails or screws
- A drill bit to make
really large holes in the 2x4s
- A table
- A box as wide as your
plywood – can be wood or cardboard
- Screen to fit on top
of the box
Assembling
the dehydrator
- Take your 2x4s and
screw them along the edges of the plywood to make a shallow box.
- With the large drill
bit, make 6 or 7 holes in one of the short ends. These will be vent holes.
- Paint all of this with
the black paint.
- After the paint is
dry, attach the plexiglass to the top of the box. (This is your air
warming unit.)
- Prop up the air
warming unit on the table with the vent holes on the higher end. Set the
box on the table next to the air warming unit, with an open end up. Vent
your air warmer into your box so the warm air will flow into the
lower side of the box. It will look like a slide. This whole set-up
should be facing full sun.
Using
your solar dehydrator
Place anything you want to dry inside. Use shelves if you need
more space. Place the screen over this and wait. If you position your
dehydrator in full sun facing east or south in the morning, you could have
dry material by evening. Western sun will dry material partially and will
finish drying in the next day or so
Storage bin rack from recycled plastic coffee
containers
My basement shop is filled with hundreds of small parts of
various quantities and types. I build lots of different kinds of things, mostly
from found or salvaged items.
I noticed that my
office was throwing away at least one, sometimes more, of these nice, sturdy, plastic
containers every week. There had to be a good use for them, I thought. So I
began collecting them.
I found that the
big box hardware stores wanted hundreds of dollars for their plastic storage
bin rack systems. I didn't have hundreds of dollars to spend. At least not on
plastic bins.
Step 1:
Materials and tools needed
Materials needed:
·
Qty 21 - plastic coffee containers (rinsed out, unless you
enjoy that stale coffee smell)
·
Qty 1 - 24" x 48" plywood sheet, 1/2" thick
·
Qty 1 - 1x6 pine board, 8' long (ripped into 2-1/2"
wide boards, then cut to 48" long each. This will give you 4 boards, but
you'll only use 3 of them)
·
Qty 30 - 1-5/8" coarse drywall screws (to hang the
containers on and to attach the boards to the plywood sheet)
·
Wood glue
·
Paint (if you want to get all fancy)
More at:
My
relentless search for useful things turned up these gems…
Do Some Grilling
Without the Grill
The SolSource Solar Cooker is a 4-foot parabolic disc that reflects the
sun’s ray’s onto one point: your skillet or pot, etc. It can boil water in as little as 10 minutes
or cook a steak in 20…never worry again about propane or charcoal.
OneEarthDesigns.com
Catnip Beats DEET for Repelling Mosquitos
Here’s a DIY
Recipe to Use:
·
Rinse
2 cups stemmed catnip
·
Roll
lightly with a rolling pin, then place a quart jar and cover with 3-4 cups of
mild rice vinegar
·
Seal
the jar and store in dark place, shaking once a day for two weeks
·
Strain
·
Spritz
on your skin, in the yard or other places for which you want to be left alone
·
Avoid
cats…
Convert an Old Refrigerato or Freezer into a Garage Tool Storage Center,
use kitchen pot racks in your garage to hang tools…
Col. Littleton No.
11 Survival Belt
MacGyver would approve of this
American-made belt…the band sneaks in 27 feet of 650 pound-per-inch parachute
cord, which can be used for shelter, tourniquet or towline…
15 Things You Can Always Get for Free
On any given day, you can get
something shiny and new without paying a dime. Here's how to get free stuff,
both online and in stores.
You’ll
always find good stuff at our store…
Yours in freedom,
Bruce ‘the Poor Man’
P.S.
Please share this with others who might benefit
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