Posted on 01/03/2014 2:39:13 PM PST by Kartographer
Excellent. Congrats on the Mexifornia escape ;-)
“Berkey was having issues with the blacks.”
I got mine before that issue came up and I’m sure that was fixed (if it was ever valid) since it is the gold standard. Agencies that work in third world countries only use Berkeys so Berkey would have been all over that issue.
My son, as a director of documentary films, has been all over the world in truly arm pit places and uses the Berkey for his crew and has for over twenty years and none have ever gotten sick from water.
I got the Katadyns years ago before Berkeys were sold here. A Berkey takes out smaller impurities than the Katadyn. I had three Katadyns and this Christmas gave one of them to my sister-in-law who had nothing. I also gave her a WaterBob. They are sitting on the coast at Corpus Christi and a hurricane coming in there would surely destroy water and power. I gave her a good windup radio and solar light lantern and other items in the past.
Sounds like you have the filter issue covered then. I wouldn’t worry about the pool water.
I wouldn't feel safe unless I were a tank of gas away....and 20 miles ain't! We're 165 miles east of Los Angeles, and IMO that's not far enough.
In my opinion, 165 miles is more than far enough. I don't believe zombies would actually drive starting with a full tank until it hit empty. More likely, they would drive to the first likely location, probably within a mile of their starting point. The survivors would then go a mile or two from that point. Refugees would drive out of the city until they literally ran out of gas and in some cases blocked their lane. I think you are more than far enough for practical purposes, if for no other reason than because as you get further from LA, you get closer to Vegas or some Arizona city.
As for 20 miles not being enough, you are almost certainly right. However, I have other considerations to balance. I suspect that 20 miles is far enough to substantially reduce both the number of zombies and their health when they arrive, and I am potentially betting my life on that.
I have come up with something, though. I ended up splitting it into 2 things instead of one, because of the way the flavors interacted. One is a chocolate/custard shake, the other is a soup.
Chocolate Custard Shake:
2 cups whole milk
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
UP TO 1/2 cup sugar (optional)
Heat the milk and cocoa together until the milk just starts to boil. Be careful if doing this on the stove, it can scorch easily. In a heat-proof dish, whisk the egg. Set the dish with the egg in a bowl or pan of hot water. Don't get the water too hot, you aren't cooking the egg yet, just warming it. When the milk is just starting to simmer, remove from heat and whisk it quickly into the egg. Chill, and add sugar to taste.
A couple of points:
-The heat from the milk is enough to cook the egg, so you don't have to worry about eating a raw egg. In fact, if you don't whisk it quickly enough you may find bits of poached egg in your milkshake. These bits don't hurt anything, but they can be unexpected.
-If you don't want chocolate, you can use brown sugar instead of white, and add vanilla and a dash of nutmeg to make eggnog.
-If you add a few tablespoons of strong coffee to the mix, it makes a very tasty mocha.
The Soup:
2 cups carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 oz beef (about 2 walnuts worth)
3 cups diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup peas
1/2 tsp ground flax
1 or 2 bullion cubes, and other seasonings to taste (I like parsley, thyme, and summer savory)
Brown the beef. Add carrots, bullion cubes, and enough water to cover, and simmer until the carrots can be pierced with a fork. Rinse the quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer, then add to the soup and simmer until soft and translucent. You might need to add more water to keep the quinoa from sticking. Add remaining ingredients (they don't take as long to cook as the carrots and quinoa.)
According to my calculations, this should provide all the nutrients necessary for one person for one day. Some of you might be noticing the problem already: After adding enough water to keep the quinoa from sticking, this makes about 3 quarts of soup. It is a very tasty soup, but even if I stuff myself I can't eat that much in a day! I'm still tinkering with recipes to see if I can shrink it down some without sacrificing nutrients, but, I'm starting to wonder if the “recommended daily requirements” might be exaggerated some.
I'm also tinkering to come up with more flavors. About halfway through the first day, I was really craving something different. I don't have a lot of time to experiment at the moment, but I might see if I could use part of the quinoa with the egg and milk to make something like rice pudding. I also want different flavors of soup, like split pea or chicken.
How cool is that! I think you are making progress and narrowing in on it!
Thats how I have been doing it as well. Dont get me wrong, we still have bleach, but we use it for a lot around the house so it gets rotated pretty quickly.. for water cleaning and sanitation we are now stocking the pool shock. Stuff works great. I rotated out 2 55 gallon barrels last weekend and treated it with this. Much easier to store than bleach.
You can also start a fire with it and any “organic” material, oil/soda/etc mixed with it.
marked
I stopped by IKEA yesterday and picked up four tea candle lanterns and a large package of tea candles. These are much safer than regular candles, cheaper than oil lanterns, and help you save your flashlight batteries for true emergencies.
Please consider making a substitution rate for (#1) Dried milk, and (#2) Canned Evaporated milk
as many ' preppers' have these on hand, or in food storage.
In tough times , many will not have access to whole (fat included) milk ,as fats turn rancid easily in long term food storage,
and lower the time that foods can remain palatable .
“Please consider making a substitution rate for (#1) Dried milk, and (#2) Canned Evaporated milk “
That makes sense. It is more concentrated, too, so more nutrients per volume.
The preview does show contact info, but no info about how much it is, etc.
Looks interesting.
LOL! LOVE that image!
I followed the link from Google to FB, and found this:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/When-There-is-No-FEMA/639982812689717
Nothing on Amazon, yet, either. Just that FB entry, but no price or buying info.
I was realizing the other day the many uses simple paper can have besides as writing or drawing material. It can be used as a simple funnel for transferring grains, herbs, etc into other containers, wrap food, can be a clean surface to work on, and can make clothing or object/manufacturing patterns with it.
A roll of white butcher paper is useful for a host of applications, as well as reams of simple printer/letter paper.
Isn’t it also possible to purify by distilling it, as if it were sea water, and the copper, etc would end up as salts?
“distilling it”
My son was a chemist and warned me years ago about drinking distilled water. He said it is blank of anything and will leach minerals out of your bones and body. You would not want that happening in an emergency situation that lasted a while.
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