American Survival Blog

I just realized that I forgot to post an announcement her regarding the new American Survival Blog. ASB has officially merged with Red Alerts (from which it originally spun off) and from now on all survival postings will be there.

ASB was originally created because Red Alerts was a politics,crime and culture blog. However I now do my crime blogging at Greenville Dragnet and as I posted on Red Alerts America is too far along the path to disaster to think politics can be of any use. From now on Red Alerts will deal with preparedness and survivalism. We will still brush up against politics as we provide links to news of interest via our headlines function but Red Alerts will primarily concentrate on survival related information.

I will leave this version of ASB up as several of the articles are still fairly popular but all new material will be at Red Alerts. Thank you for all the support and I hope to see you at Red Alerts: The American Survival Blog.

Yeah, I know I haven’t been keeping up with the site but I do have a couple of good resources for you to peruse on basic/primitive skills that will help you as society slides into chaos. Enjoy:

Hedgehog Leatherworks has a great short article on primitive jerky making techniques. This will definitely come in handy if something happens to our grid. There’s also a video:

In a similar vein, Rasch Outdoor Chronicles has a post on Brain Tanning that is simple to follow and includes links to more in depth instructions.

Sunflower Ammo has instructions on how to put together a filtration system using those commonly available gravity water filter elements and a couple of buckets:

Pioneer Living Survival Magazine has a great post on making charcoal.

Trail Boss TV has an some thoughts on the single shot break open 12ga. I included it only because it echoes much of my own thinking and I like to see people agree with me.

Americans Networking to Survive have come up with an interesting concept for post-SHTF cooperation. It might be a good place to start networking.

I happen to be a huge crayfish fan and I am also a proponent of crayfish trapping for padding out your larder in the lean times. The “river lobsters” are found almost everywhere, breed quickly and are pretty nutritious. They are most active at night and can be baited with gizzards, dead worms, corn and quite a few other types of refuse. You’ll need a trap though, which can be purchased from Amazon or if you’re handy one can be built fairly cheaply, as this Pathfinder video demonstrates:

Crayfish cannot support you as a primary food source. I have never seen anyone pull more than an appetizer worth from a single trap (but then again I’m from the North East) but as a protein and vitamin rich addition to your pasta or Ramen crayfish can help stretch out the larder you have. And they are delicious with Tabasco. But more importantly they are easily trapped, and a trap line is my preferred method of making meat in an emergency because it requires the least amount of time and energy, freeing me up to do all the other things that will need doing after TEOTWAWKI.

Trapper Arne’s Crayfish Page is a good start on learning about harvesting these little morsels.

It’s no secret that I like my .410. I like the .410 000 buck loads that have been available (thank you Judge owners) and since my main .410 is the .45/.410 Survivor by Harrington & Richards I keep a few hundred rounds of .45 colt rounds around (thank you cowboy action shooters) for in case I have to do a little social work. Before the Judge came out my .410 was was basically a single shot .45 carbine for defensive purposes but now there’s more options which give the little .410 much more versatility. Nowadays the popularity of the Taurus Judge means that ammo companies are scrambling to find hard shooting .410 rounds that aren’t too hard to shoot out of a snub nose barrel leading the creation of  exotic loadings that are being touted as THE load for .410 pistoleros.

The Firearms Blog posted about one such round being developed by Winchester called the PDX1 which will be available in a .410 loading  comprised of three 000 buck “defense discs” backed by 12 bbs. The press release available on Winchester’s website has this to say about the round:

Highly effective in both shotguns and 410 compatible handguns, the PDX1 in 410 gauge features a distinctive black hull and black oxide high-base head and combines three plated Defense Disc™ projectiles and 12 pellets of plated BB shot. The result is the ideal personal protection load for short range engagement with the performance needed to stop threats. This load is also suitable for varmint hunting and pest control. Designed for use in the Taurus Judge, this new personal defense round provides maximum protection at close range.

The rounds have theoretically been available since February but I haven’t seen any. For Survivor owners out there the PDX1 rounds might be of interest because the discs are designed to engage the rifling of the barrels (though they had the short barrels of Judges in mind when they designed it) while the bbs take advantage of the spreading effect rifled barrels have on shot. Thus with a center mass shot the three discs should produce accurate hits to vitals while the bbs will hopefully score hits in the neck, face, shoulder, stomach and groin. Like this:

The round is the best of both worlds, in theory. I haven’t seen the round fired from either smooth bore or rifled long barrels. This American Rifleman video from The Shot Show has some scenes of the round being shot from a Judge and the round seem to work fine, though the fact that if you blink you’ll miss the patterning scene does not inspire me with confidence.

But from a longer barreled judge or a Survivor the ammunition will perhaps be exciting, and I’m curious to see how smooth bore shotguns handle the rounds. But frankly, is this round going to be much more lethal than the 000 buck that’s available now? The 3in 000 has five .36 caliber balls in it, the 2 1/2in has three. Will flattening out the three buck balls and adding 12 bbs really make a difference at close range?

This list has been floating around the Internet since the Y2K panic. Someone sent this to me recently and it was probably the tenth time I’ve come across it so I decided to archive the list here for posterity. I do not endorse all these uses and recommend caution when you experiment with some of these.

If you are a Comparative Religion or Folklore wonk like me you’ll be interested to know that some of these vinegar uses were first made popular  in the late 1800s/early1900s by “occult” chapbooks like Egyptian Secrets and John George Hohman’s Long Lost Friend which were collections of Christian prayers, eyebrow raising home remedies (like distilling black snails to cure warts!) and recipes for making such farm hold staples as molasses. Ten or fifteen years ago you’d have to visit a botanica or other specialty shop to get your hands on one of these. Now they are becoming increasingly popular, (as is folk medicine in general) as it becomes clearer to more and more people that we are pretty much going to be on our own as our economy is ridden off a cliff.

Anyway, here’s the list:

1. Arthritis tonic and treatment; 2 spoonfuls of apple cider vinegar and honey in a glass of water several times daily.

2. Thirst-quenching drink: apple cider vinegar mixed with cold water.

3. Sagging cane chairs: sponge them with a hot solution of half vinegar and half water. Place the chairs out in the hot sun to dry.

4. Skin burns: apply ice cold vinegar right away for fast relief. Will prevent burn blisters.

5. Add a spoonful of vinegar to cooking water to make cauliflower white and clean.

6. Storing cheese: keep it fresh longer by wrapping it in a vinegar-soaked cloth and keeping it in a sealed container.

7. Remove stains from stainless steel and chrome with a vinegar-dampened cloth.

8. Rinse glasses and dishes in water and vinegar to remove spots and film.

9. Prevent grease build-up in your oven by frequently wiping it with vinegar.

10. Wipe jars of preserves and canned food with vinegar to prevent mold-producing bacteria.

11. To eliminate mildew, dust and odors, wipe down walls with vinegar-soaked cloth.

12. Clean windows with vinegar and water.

13. Hardened paint brushes: simmer in boiling vinegar and wash in hot soapy water.

14. Clean breadbox and food containers with vinegar-dampened cloth to keep fresh-smelling and clean.

15. Pour boiling vinegar down drains to unclog and clean them.

16. Clean fireplace bricks with undiluted vinegar.

17. An excellent all-purpose cleaner: vinegar mixed with salt. Cleans copper, bronze, brass, dishes, pots, pans, skillets, glasses, windows. Rinse well.

18. Make your catsup and other condiments last long by adding vinegar.

19. To clear up respiratory congestion, inhale a vapor mist from steaming pot containing water and several spoonfuls of vinegar.

20. Apple cider vinegar and honey as a cure-all: use to prevent apathy, obesity, hay fever, asthma, rashes, food poisoning, heartburn, sore throat, bad eyesight, dandruff, brittle nails and bad breath.

21. When boiling eggs, add some vinegar to the water to prevent white from leaking out of a cracked egg.

22. When poaching eggs, add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water to prevent separation.

23. Weight loss: vinegar helps prevent fat from accumulating in the body.

24. Canned fish and shrimp: to give it a freshly caught taste, soak in a mixture of sherry and 2 tablespoons of vinegar.

25. Add a spoonful of vinegar when cooking fruit to improve the flavor.

26. Soak fish in vinegar and water before cooking for a tender, sweeter taste.

27. Add vinegar to boiling ham to improve flavor and cut salty taste.

28. Improve the flavor of desserts by adding a touch of vinegar.

29. Add vinegar to your deep fryer to eliminate a greasy taste.

30. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to fruit gelatin to hold it firm.

31. Steep your favorite herb in vinegar until you have a pleasing taste and aroma.

32. Use vinegar instead of lemon on fried and broiled foods.

33. To remove lime coating on your tea kettle; add vinegar to the water and let stand overnight.

34. To make a good liniment: beat 1 whole egg, add 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup turpentine. Blend.

35. Apply vinegar to chapped, cracked skin for quick healing.

36. Vinegar promotes skin health: rub on tired, sore or swollen areas.

37. Reduce mineral deposits in pipes, radiators, kettles and tanks by adding vinegar into the system.

38. Rub vinegar on the cut end of uncooked ham to prevent mold.

39. Clean jars with vinegar and water to remove odor.

40. Avoid cabbage odor by adding vinegar to the cooking water.

41. Skunk odor: remove from pets by rubbing fur with vinegar.

42. Paint adheres better to galvanized metal that has been wiped with vinegar.

43. Pets’ drinking water: add vinegar to eliminate odor and encourage shiny fur.

44. For fluffy meringue: beat 3 egg whites with a teaspoon of vinegar.

45. Pie crust: add 1 tablespoon vinegar to your pastry recipe for an exceptional crust.

46. Half a teaspoon per quart of patching plaster allows you more time to work the plaster before it hardens.

47. Prevent discoloration of peeled potatoes by adding a few drops of vinegar to water. They will keep fresh for days in fridge.

48. Poultry water: add vinegar to increase egg production and to produce tender meat.

49. Preserve peppers: put freshly picked peppers in a sterilized jar and finish filling with boiling vinegar.

50. Olives and pimentos will keep indefinitely if covered with vinegar and refrigerated.

51. Add 1 tsp. vinegar to cooking water for fluffier rice.

52. Add vinegar to laundry rinse water: removes all soap and prevents yellowing.

53. After shampoo hair rinse: 1 ounce apple cider vinegar in 1 quart of distilled water.

54. For a shiny crust on homemade bread and rolls: just before they have finished baking, take them out, brush crusts with vinegar, return to oven to finish baking.

55. Homemade sour cream: blend together 1 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup skim milk and 1 tsp. vinegar.

56. Boil vinegar and water in pots to remove stains.

57. Remove berry stains from hands with vinegar.

58. Prevent sugaring by mixing a drop of vinegar in the cake icing.

59. Cold vinegar relieves sunburn.

60. When boiling meat, add a spoonful of vinegar to the water to make it more tender.

61. Marinate tough meat in vinegar overnight to tenderize.

62. A strength tonic: combine raw eggs, vinegar and black pepper. Blend well.

63. Douche: 2 to 4 ounces of vinegar in 2 quarts of warm water.

The guy usually given credit for this list is Henry Godwin, and old timer from the survival forums in the 90s.

I’ll add my own little use here that ties into #6 above. If you have cheese getting moldy cut the mold off and wipe down the rest with vinegar and you’ll get a few more days from the cheese. I’ve tried it and it works.