How To Use Crayons As Candles

If you have kids, you likely have crayons! If you don’t have any candles in an emergency or when the power’s out, you can adapt and use some crayons as candles.

This couldn't be simpler really -

• Firstly you need some crayons; the non-toxic ones are best, although I am guessing that most are non-toxic these days. You then want a fireproof base to stand the crayon/candle on, a small plate works well.
• Use a match or lighter to melt some wax off the top of the crayon and drip it on the plate (see the photo), and stick the base of the crayon to the plate to hold it safe and secure in the upright position.
• Once the crayon is stuck to the plate (or whatever you are using for the base), simply light the top of the crayon. IMPORTANT – you have to wait until the paper sleeve catches, as it is the sleeve which acts as the wick and enables the crayon to burn like a candle.

The standard sized crayons burn for around half and hour; I haven’t tried the chunkier larger crayons, but I would assume they will burn much longer.

If you are a prepper or you take the kids camping/hiking etc, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep a pack of crayons in the pack.  They are great for keeping the kids entertained and they are a backup light source, AND they make great emergency fire-starters.

20 ITEMS TO KICK START YOUR FOOD STORAGE PLAN

1.  20 pounds of Rice.  As boring as it may sound, rice is one of the backbones of every food storage plan.  It is filling, nutritious  and with the use of  varied seasonings and condiments, highly adaptable in a variety of tasty meals.  The choice of white, brown or a combination of the two is up to you.  White rice has a longer shelf life but brown rice has more nutritional benefits.  In my own household, I like to combine the two along with some Jasmine, Basmati and Calrose sticky rice.

2.  20 pounds of Pinto Beans.   Like rice, beans are the backbone to every food storage plan.  You may substitute white, kidney or other types of dried beans but honestly, pintos are one of the least expensive dried beans and in my opinion, one of the tastiest.  Need help cooking beans? when you are done here be sure to read Survival Woman Learns to Cook Dried Beans and you should too and  Respect for the Lowly Pinto Bean.

3.  20 cans of Vegetables.  Green beans, peas, corn and canned tomatoes are good choices.  Let your taste and budget guide you.  Buy what you currently eat and enjoy.

4.  20 cans of Fruit.  Peaches, pears, pineapple, fruit cocktail – again, this is your choice.  Fruits add a nice sweetness to life and these days we all could use more of that.

5.  20 cans of Meat.  Chicken, tuna, shrimp, salmon, Vienna sausages, beef stew and yes, even the ubiquitous Spam will satisfy this requirement.  Did you know that you can even purchase canned roast beef? Again, let your taste and budget guide you – there is lots to choose from.

6.  4 pounds Oats.  Remember when you were little and Mom warmed your tummy with a nice comforting bowl of oatmeal?  That is what we are talking about here.  A bowl of oatmeal topped with canned fruit can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

7.  2 large jars of Peanut Butter.  Peanut butter is an excellent source of protein, with plenty of calories for energy and sustenance.  Besides, who can resist the taste of a gooey spoonful of luscious peanut butter?

8.  2 large jars of Tang or other powdered drink mix.  The only requirement here is get something you like and something fortified with Vitamin C.  I am not going to preach and tell you to avoid artificial sweeteners.  If Crystal Lite works for you in normal times, go for it.

9.  5 pounds of Powdered Milk.  Milk is a great source of protein and other nutrients.  In addition it is filling and can be used to top your oatmeal cereal or stirred into your coffee as a flavor enhancer.

10.  5 pounds of Salt.  It goes without saying that salt is an essential for survival plus it has a lot of uses other than as an enhancement for food. That said, our bodies need salt to survive.  Read more about salt in the article Reasons You Need Salt in the Prepper Pantry.

11.  10 pounds of Pancake Mix.  An all in one pancake mix (such as Krusteaz) only requires the addition of water to make up a batch of batter.  As with oatmeal, a big plate of pancakes, perhaps with some honey or jam, will make a satisfying meal that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

12.  2 pounds of Honey and 2 large jars of Jam.  We all need some sweetness in our life, even with Mother Nature or life deals us a blow.  I choose honey and jam over sugar but at the end of the day, you can make a substitution or simply mix and match.

13.  10 pounds of Pasta.  Pasta is familiar and easy to fix.  Pasta is a dense form of wheat but so much easier to deal with when you are first starting out.  Besides, it is a fabulous comfort food.

14.  10 cans or jars of Spaghetti Sauce.  Cheap yet satisfying, canned pasta sauce on a bed of pasta creates a satisfying meal that can be put together in minutes.

15. 20 cans of Soup or Broth. The beauty of canned soups and canned broth is that they are a budget friendly.  Soups are an all-in-one meal solution. All you need is a can opener and a spoon and you have a meal ready to go.  For an extra satisfying meal, try using a can of soup as part of the cooking water for your rice.  Yummy!

16.  One large jug of Oil. Choose olive oil, coconut oil or some other cooking oil, but definitely get some.  Oil is essential for good health, fueling our energy stores and providing support for fat-soluble vitamins and nutrients as they work their way through our system. Not only that, but a bit of fat in your diet adds flavor and makes you feel satisfied when you are done eating.

17. Spices and Condiments. Adding some spices and condiments to your food storage pantry will allow you to vary the taste of your storage foods, thus mitigating some of the boredom that is likely to occur over time.  The exact mix of spices and condiments is up to you but some suggestions include  garlic, chili, Tabasco (hot sauce), salsa, oregano, thyme and black pepper.

18.  5 pounds of Coffee or 100 Tea Bags.  There are those that will say that life without coffee is not life at all.  Whole bean (assuming you have a hand grinder), ground or instant – take your choice.  Or substitute tea.  Green tea and many herbal teas are quite therapeutic so if you like tea, this may be a good way to go.

19. 2 large bags of Hard Candies.  Hard candy can go a long way toward making an unpleasant situation bearable.  Butterscotch drops, peppermints and even lemon drops are good.  Have fun with this and pick up a couple of bags of your favorites!

20.  Mini LED Flashlight and Extra Batteries.  Okay, this is a cheater item.  It is not food but it is all important and so it will not hurt to stash a miniature flashlight or two along with the edibles in your food storage pantry.  My top pick of the moment in the Blocklite.  This thing just goes and goes and goes plus, it does not take up any storage space.

How to Make Sure Your Vehicle is as Prepared as You Are

The average American spends up to 12 years in their car, and that means that you are probably going to be spending oh… around a sixth of your life in your automobile in various stages of transportation, idling, and using colorful language to describe your frustrations to your fellow drivers.

While I can’t help with making the daily grind pleasant, in this article we’re going to explore some things you can do to make sure that the events that happen in and around our cars are less stressful – and that’s a good thing, because less stress = longer lives = more time spent in cars.

With that in mind, let’s think back to Understanding Emergencies and Everyday Carry. We can apply these same templates to our vehicles, to make the most unpleasant moments on the road a little more manageable.

Emergencies

The vehicle has unique problems that are particularly challenging. That’s okay, though, because these challenges still fall into our previously established categories of emergency “types.” In doing this, we can maintain some consistency, while only modifying our metric of how protracted the event is.  So, in evaluating how we’ll address our needs, we’ll first define our most likely emergencies by their types.

Type 1: High Intensity – Short Duration

There’s probably no better example of this kind of emergency than a car wreck. These happen in the blink of an eye and produce an overwhelming amount of pandemonium – and then they’re over. Car accidents take on a variety of levels of severity, but we can easily say that if you’re in a car accident, the accident doesn’t “last” for hours (even if the impacts do).

However, even though the quintessential Type 1 Emergency is the auto-accident, there are others:

- Carjacking
- Car fires
- Submergence
- Environmental emergencies (earthquakes, floods etc.)

All deserve to be considered when we pack our cars with gear and our heads with the skills to mitigate these emergencies.  Keep in mind that these lists are going to be extremely short, as our everyday carry (EDC) structure will take care of quite a few of these problems.

Equipment

- Medical kit (discussed later)
- Water (potable)
- Flares
- Defensive tools
- Fire extinguisher (such an overlooked necessity)

Skills

- First Aid
- Defensive driving
- Good situational awareness
- Vehicle defensive skills

There are a few occurrences that will show you the ‘weak points’ in your defensive driving curriculum. Your ability to manipulate things like your seatbelt or clutch are likely to suffer, so it’s important to make sure you have a mental outline of what you’re going to do, and practice it.

For example, I don’t wear my seatbelt if I’m going under 20 miles per hour. If something happens, I want to be able to exit quickly and not fuss with it. While I don’t advocate this, it’s a part of my baseline from when I worked patrol. Establish one for yourself as well, based on your vehicle and your comfort level with the above situations. No matter what happens, there are a few basic things you’re going to want to do:

Stop the vehicle from moving (if you can)
Safely put the vehicle in neutral, and utilize the parking break. Note: This allows you to keep the vehicle running, in case you need to move again quickly, and minimizes the chances that the vehicle won’t start again if you’ve been in a collision.
Safely exit the vehicle
Move to a safer location (off the road, etc.)
So, for me, my order of operations is as follows:

Move out of the area of whatever put you in danger (i.e., get the heck out of Dodge)
Put the vehicle in Neutral and engage the parking brake
a) Release your seatbelt slowly, cautiously, and without an excess of movement (this is a relatively small activity that can turn into a fine-motor-skill nightmare if you don’t practice it – especially if you’re hanging upside down, or some road-raged freak is trying to punch you through the window – both of which have happened to me)
b) Remove your seatbelt deliberately and without any ‘sudden’ movements. This generally will cause the belt to “lock” and resist your movements. Don’t get trapped by being in a hurry!
Do a mental sweep of the vehicle and the surroundings. Grab any equipment that you must have.
Exit the vehicle after a second quick spot-check in the mirrors.
Move away from any hazards, and place yourself behind something solid (jersey barriers, telephone poles, etc.)
This way, regardless of the emergency, I can get in and out quickly, am aware of the potential hazards before I get out, and I have anything I’m going to need to treat injuries or move on foot (second-line equipment) – which opens us up to address our second type of problem:

Type 2: Moderate Intensity – Moderate Duration

Before we start, it’s important to keep in mind that “intensity” is relative. There’s really not much about a flat tire that’s intense, and it’s usually resolved in a matter of hours. This seems really “ho-hum” because it’s common in our lives. You get used to being shot at or bombed, too, if it happens enough. So when we look at these problems, the key point is that these situations (like our “original” Type 2 Emergencies) expose us and increase our likelihood of finding ourselves in a situational Type 1 Emergency (such as being struck by another motorist while changing a tire. Ouch.)

So, what are our Type 2 Vehicle Emergencies?

Things like:

Flat tires, overheating engines/coolant issues, fender-benders, dead battery, empty fuel tanks, and the like. These are mundane and inconvenient, and that combination makes them uninteresting. It’s also where the majority of our planning and equipment takes place. In everyday life, the Type 2 Emergency challenges our resourcefulness and our ability to adapt and provide for ourselves. In and around our vehicles, it simply asks of us, “What have you done to prevent or mitigate this?”

So, what should we carry for these emergencies?

Water
Coolant
Motor oil (2 qts)
Jumper cables
Food (I throw a couple MRE’s in the back)
Emergency blanket (Mylar, poncho liner, sleeping bag – whatever you like)
Flashlight (headlamp type – it’s ridiculously inconvenient to try to hold a light and work)
Spark plug (appropriate to your vehicle)
Vehicle tool Set
- Screwdriver
- Ratchet set with appropriate attachments for your plugs
- Crescent wrench
- Multimeter
Fuses
Tire iron and jack
Gas can
This is going to depend on your level of skill and comfort with working around common automotive problems, but being able to take care of some of these ‘easy fix’ issues will go a long way in getting you out of the Type 2 hold-up and on your way to bigger and better things.


Skills:

Be able to change your tire, test your battery, and if necessary, knock corrosion off it. Be ready to tighten wires. Know how to check your spark plugs and change them if necessary. Be able to check your oil, and know how to check your engine for blown seals.  Your goal with this type of emergency is “Get myself home” – if you are stuck, you’re not going to dry out, starve, or freeze.

By the nature of the “Understanding Emergencies” structure, there is no framework for a “vehicle-specific” Type 3 Emergency. At that point, it’s simply a Type 3 Emergency. But, there are things you can do to prepare during the intermittent 12-year stretch of life that you’re going to be spending on the road, just in case you’re away from home and something significant happens.

Type 3: Low Intensity – Long Duration

The third line equipment is generally your backpack and contains the type of equipment you’ll probably not use unless you’re displaced; a benefit of this line of equipment is that it’s easy to pack and keep in your car, and it’s portable in case you have to move away from your vehicle.

However, keeping a kit in your car also allows you to quickly move in case of an emergency such as a flood, fire, riots, or earthquakes – all of which could potentially be Type 3 Emergencies. However, there’s always the risk of car prowlers and theft. For this reason, I isolate my vehicle third-line kit into two categories:

My backpack
A bin
The backpack contains equipment to cook, collect, and purify water, build shelter, and stay warm. These are core proficiencies that will keep you alive; the notion is that with these supplies, I can scavenge for food and collect what I need from the environment. With that in mind, the bin is a mobile supply point. This is where I keep two categories of supplies:

Consumables (water, food, and fuel)
Environmental supplies (such as clothing, blankets, etc.)
Between these two additional resources, you can use your vehicle third-line kit to tailor your mobile third-line to your specific needs, if you find yourself in an emergency.

Vehicle Third-Line Contents:

Food – (MRE x3)
Water – 1 gallon; 1 quart canteen w/cup
Cyalume chem lights x2
Medical kit
25 yards of paracord
Long underwear (2x shirt, 2x pants)
Socks x3 pairs
Sleeping bag
Poncho liner

Part II: Everyday Carry and Your Vehicle

The first consideration for EDC and your vehicle is a proverbial double-edged sword. Our vehicles can carry more than we can, but we can maneuver in places our vehicles cannot. For this reason, when I think about my vehicle equipment, I break it into a couple categories:

Vehicle-specific equipment: This is the stuff that is carried to keep the vehicle moving for as long as possible over as much terrain as possible. This includes your spare parts, tools, some coolant, water, and the like.
Augmented equipment: The equipment we can use immediately that will be no great loss if we have to leave it behind.
The vehicle is a solid place to keep your third-line equipment. This is the “get home” equipment that you could live off for several days without any scavenging or energy-intensive labor.  Of all your equipment, the third-line setup is the easiest to exaggerat, and make unappealing to carry. It’s also the most dependent on your level of skill and savvy with packing energy-dense foods, lightweight equipment, and water.

For this reason, please (x3) get some training. I don’t care if it’s from a Boy Scout – learn how to start a fire, collect and purify your water, and build a decent shelter. If you can do that, everything you carry will just help to assist.

Also, adjust according to your location. If you’re in Alaska, you should probably not try to survive with just a Mylar bag and extra set of socks. We can go over individual kits for your vehicle here, or if you want to tailor a specific set of equipment to your circumstances, here.

Part III: Sustenance

Keeping yourself fed, especially by the time you realize there’s an emergency, is going to start becoming more and more tricky as the demand for food articles increases. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, for example, looting cleared the shelves of anything potable and palatable in short order. If you didn’t steal, you were left with what you stocked on your own.

While it’s nice to have some things stuffed in the pantry, having some in your car is a good bet as well. There are a lot of different lines of logic on this, but my thought here is that you need food articles that conform to some very specific standards:

Calorie dense
Lightweight
Long shelf life
For this reason, I like canned tuna, Clif bars, Military MRE’s/Mountain House meals, and trail mixes. Water is a bit trickier, as not all plastics are food-grade, and in thermal extremes, you begin to get leaching where the container actually starts depositing chemicals into your Dihydrogen Monoxide.

This applies to both aluminum and plastic containers, and this is speculative on my part, but I don’t trust BPA-free containers either. For this reason, I restock my water out of my home each day, and carry my water containers to and from.

In addition to this practice, I keep a Katadyne filter in my vehicle kit. This way, if there is an emergency, I can ditch the contents of my typical carry bag (books, etc.) and grab the necessities. With that said, I still keep all the 1st, 2nd and 3rd necessity items in my bags at all times – so I have a bare minimum of equipment even if I’m walking around campus, grabbing lunch, or hiking.

Layering your equipment in this way will supply you with a fast, reproducible, and modular way to organize and use your kit.

Conclusion

It is highly recommended that after reading this article you evaluate your current vehicle preparedness supplies and everyday carry items based on your skills and possible needs.  And regularly check on the condition and quality of your preps stored in your car, as they are subjected to considerably harsher conditions in Summer and Winter while enclosed in your vehicle compared to sitting on a shelf in your garage or home.

http://www.theprepperjournal.com/2013/06/19/how-to-make-sure-your-vehicle-is-as-prepared-as-you-are/

DIY - Fire Starter

Fire Starter 

Corks in a jar with rubbing alcohol, toss a couple in under kindling, light fire.

How to: Save Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Saving your own tomato seeds is rather fun and has all sorts of benefits. Preserving heirloom seeds, ensuring a supply of your own favorites for next year, helping protect seed diversity, making a giant mess of stinky fermenting goo, it’s all there! It’s also pretty easy.

 As part of our seed selling business we save fairly large quantities of tomato seed but the process is the same whether you are saving from a pile of heirloom tomatoes or from a paticularily tasty one you just sliced up for lunch.

First things first, you need to get your tomato seeds out of the tomato.  You can slice them in half, in quarters, scoop some out of the one you’re eating or just use my preferred method: Squishing. A serrated grapefruit spoon makes a great seed saving tool, especially when dealing with smaller cherry tomatoes. Just cut them in half and scoop out the inside of the tomatoes leaving the skin and outer flesh behind.

Next the seed pulp is ready to be combined with water in a container.  Glass jars are simple and food safe, but yogurt containers and tupperware are perfectly suitable. The only really important factor is that the container needs a lid. It’s going to get stinky so the lid is not optional.

Make sure to label each variety as you go as tomato seeds all look very similar and the colored pulp is going to break down.
Place them out of direct sunlight and walk away for a few days. You’ll start to see the good seeds settle from the pulp down to the bottom of the container.

Now things will start to ferment. This fermentation process is breaking down the protective coating on each seed. After a few days and once you have a good layer of fuzzy stuff, dump it off, leaving the seeds in the bottom of the jar.  Any seeds at the top are duds, the good stuff is all at the bottom.  Top up the jar with some clean water and let it all happen again.  Once the seeds are starting to settle cleanly at the bottom they are done. Be careful not to leave things unsupervised for too many days as the seeds could start germinating.

Once the seeds are ready, pour off any remaining pulp and mold.

Using a strainer, give your seeds a final rinse. They should be looking rather naked by now.

Now you just need to let them dry.  A stack of clean rags or old tea towels work best, as paper towels sometimes stick.

Once again, label your seeds. Package them up a few days later when they’re perfectly dry and you’re set.  Next spring you’ll have more tomato seeds then you can plant.  Trading them with fellow seed savers and planting a few extra for gardening neighbors is highly recommended.

LOCAL EVENT: Gun & Knife Show Mountain View, AR

Gun & Knife Show

April 13 - April 14, 2013

Mountain View, Arkansas

Stone  County Fairgrounds, Mountain View, Arkansas

Saturday: 9:00am-4:00pm

Sunday: 9:00am-4:00pm

Admission is $5.00 per person 12 & older

For more information about this event -

timbovfd@hotmail.com

PHONE  870-746-4349

Brought to you by the Timbo Volunteer Fire Department

All proceeds to go the 

Timbo Volunteer Fire Department & First Responders.

LOCAL EVENT: Gun Show this weekend

DATE April 6 - April 7, 2013
DIRECTIONS 1927 Lacrosse Rd, Melbourne, AR 72573
CITY / STATE Melbourne, Arkansas
DESCRIPTION
The Melbourne Gun Show will be held on April 6th and 7th, 2013 at the Izard County Fairgrounds. Show times are 9:00am to 5:00pm Saturday and 9:00am to 4:00pm Sunday.

Location:
-Izard County Fairgrounds, Melbourne, Arkansas
(1927 Lacrosse Rd, Melbourne, AR 72573)

Show Times:
-Saturday: 9:00am-5:00pm
-Sunday: 9:00am-4:00pm

Admission is $5.00 per person.
Tables are $30.00 each.

Please contact for more information:
-(870) 291-7833

We hope to see you there!


For more information about this event, Please see below.
EMAIL mike.cone@centurytell.net
PHONE 870-291-7833

Please Confirm Events

Events are liable to change dates, times or even cancel without notice.. Be sure to check with the Event Coordinator for accurate dates and times and information.