I’ve been using old prescription bottles, and plastic gum containers as travel and camping spice containers for years.
But I never thought of this. It’s a great idea. These would be small enough to take in your bug-out bag, instead of big bottles of spices. Takes up way less space. Great for hikers, campers, and RVs too.
Our guest blogger OmegaMan recently visited the Smokey Mountain Knife Works, here is his re-cap of his great day at their facility.
Located in Sieverville, Tennessee, Smokey Mountain Knife Works falls into the greater Gatelinberg, Pigeon Forge area.
They advertise themselves as a knife store “If It Cuts, We Carry It” but you will not believe what is waiting inside for you..so much more than you ever imagined!
Upon first entering the large retail center you will be taken back by an amazing collection of Civil War rifles that are actually for sale. Dozens upon dozens of these ancient beauties line the walls and can be had for $500 to thousands depending on condition.
The greater retail space is broken into smaller sub sections mostly by manufacturer. Boasting over 2,000,000 knives….every knife you can think of is here from pocket knives to tomahawks. This is a multi-level store with the upstairs housing an amazing historic collection in their History of Knifes Museum. You could spend an easy hour alone tracing back the history and interesting evolution of blades.
One section houses Camo gear, tactical vests, holsters, patches and related military garb. Need some MRE’s…there over there!
Another is dedicated to Swiss Army knives. What an amazing assortment!
Need an air raid siren…they have those too, although the clerk is only able to demonstrate it on a limited basis, (very loud in the building lol).
SOG Knives, United Cutlery, Case, etc, Mykel Hawke, “Gunny”, Gerber, Buck frost Cutlery, Gransfors Bruks…you name it… showcase upon showcase…over 157 brand names….unbelievable!!!
Downstairs was amazing too. An incredible assortment of collectibles. I mean fossils (trilobites and everything), Civil War relics , World War II items including helmets, uniforms, letters and photos. I could have spent all day in this area going through thousands of rare items. So, so cool. Beyond description!
Country cooking and southern retail items took up a major part of the bottom floor as you walked by streams, and waterfalls meandering through water wheels and old mill machinery. Oh..look….”there’s a gattlin’ gun over there”…
Most people only see the outside front of the beautifully massive 100,000 sf Smokey Mountain Knife Works outlet. Little do they know the company has another massive building in the rear. Employing over 250 people at any time, all were very courteous and knowledgeable.
Head on up to the greater Gatinberg, TN area, you will not be disappointed. There is so much to do from Dollywood, to the miles upon miles of tourist attractions in the greater tri-city area.
But definitely check out Smokey Mountain Knife Works. Every member of my family had so much fun and all took home something to remember!
I’m always looking for new ideas around the campsite, and this looks like an awesome way to cook your favorite camp style BBQ Baked Bean recipe.
Plus, look at all that BACON, BACON, BACON!!!
That’s a whole lot of bacon! “Baked BBQ Beans “… Love the presentation … beautiful !
*Only one word of caution, make sure your tent is well ventilated in the night!
Although nearly 8,000 people are bit by venomous snakes each year, there are usually no more than eight deaths. However, this should not lead backpackers and hikers to believe it isn’t something to worry about. Snakes do not want to waste their poison on humans, but rather rodents and other small animals to feed on. If a bite victim is not treated quickly, the venom can be deathly. Even a bite from a so-called “harmless” snake can cause infection or allergic reaction.
While in the outdoors, do not pester, bother, or provoke snakes or other animals as you are in their territory. Do not play with them or attempt to pick a snake up unless you are a trained professional. If a snake is to bite a human, it is merely defensive in nature and will likely only leave enough venom behind to cause illness.
Avoid hiking in areas where snakes are known to be. Stay out of tall grass and on the trail as much as possible. If you must invade snake territory, wear long pants, ankle-high boots, or even snake-proof gaiters. Also, be careful when stepping in areas where snakes could be hiding, such as under rocks or logs. If you are entering an area where you can not see your feet, kick ahead of you to give snakes enough warning and time to slither away. However, always keep your hands and feet out of areas where you are unable to see them. Also, be careful around rocks or while picking up firewood.
All snakes will attack if they feel threatened or surprised, but only a handful are actually venomous. In any case, treat every bite seriously while you are backpacking or hiking. This list includes the:
Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately if someone has been bitten by a snake. If treated correctly, many bite victims will not have serious injuries. However, medical support needs to know the correct anti-venom to use, as this is the only treatment. Attempt to identify the snake or remember its appearance in order to let the hospital or poison control what type of anti-venom is needed.
You may also call the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. The center can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in any kind of poisoning. You may call them with any questions regarding prevention or treatment. This national number is connected to all the local poison control centers. It does NOT need to be an emergency to call the National Poison Control Center – you may call them for any reason 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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This is a pretty cool meme project we came across and wanted to share.
Pretty self-explanatory – draw yourself (or a character) as a survivor in a zombie apocalypse, and include your preferred zombie bashing weapons and your safety/survival equipment. Then post and pass it around!
Have fun! Be sure to share yours with us.
Download Full Meme Image Template: Click Here
There are no products in this group.
There are no products in this group.
A Survival Cache is essentially a hidden storage for important survival gear/supplies that you can go to in the event that your home has been destroyed or you’re unable to get home for whatever reason. Caching your supplies is a highly recommended action for several reasons. Just as squirrels bury their nuts before winter to provide food in spring, you too can learn something from nature. Here are a few good reasons for caching:
If the crisis persists for a long period of time, you’re likely to have looters and raiders going from house to house, demanding your supplies or your life. Historically they’ll only kill you if you put up a fight and really you should just give them what they want (unless you’re prepared to take them on). Another alternative to protecting your self from looters is to just hide your supplies in your own home. Don’t bother storing your food in the obvious places (like the kitchen) it will be the first place they look. If they can’t find it, they’ll just go to the next house.
The best way to hide your food is to bury it. You’ll need airtight containers, I suggest 5 gallon buckets and you’ll need to plan ahead. Bury your supplies at night so nobody will see you, and bury your supplies next to memorable object (not in the middle of a field). You could make a map to remember where you hid everything but it’s recommended you just remember the information and keep it in your head (it’s much safer there). Bury your caches next to signs or next to other memorable object so you don’t lose them. It goes without saying but try to get the ground to look normal after you’ve buried the supplies.
A safe trick is to keep a small amount of food in the kitchen or some obvious place, so that if and when the looters come by they can just take what they want and be on their way. If you want to make sure they don’t come back… poison the food! You’ve got to be creative. Hide your food in the walls, the floors, and odd locations around the house. Try not to advertise your supplies and don’t make a point of telling people that you have a year supply of food. Word gets around fast so don’t be surprised if get a lot of knocking on the door when shit hits the fan. You’ll be better off telling people you have nothing.
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There are hundreds of different DIY passive solar air collector plans floating around, but I’m focusing on a few that incorporate recycled aluminum pop, beer or juice cans as the “solar absorber“.
These DIY pop can solar panels are inspired by Cansolair – a commercially-produced product invented by a man from Newfoundland, Canada.
Passive solar air heating is considered the most cost-effective renewable energy – utilizing the energy from the sun by capturing it with an absorbing medium. There are plenty of online sites dedicated to passive solar applications, but you can get the basics via Wikipedia.
Passive solar heating intrigues me. It’s the only “free” heating source that I can think of. If it worked at night, it would be perfect.
Crowd Sourcing a Design
I intend to build one of these at some point and my research has turned up several designs and methods of construction – from very well executed to the afternoon “garage experiment”.
After spending several hours sorting through many pages of Google results, I’ve narrowed it down to a selection of results that’s representative of the designs, methods and materials DIYers are experimenting with – from good to bad.
A couple of these show up repeatedly in just about any Google search related to pop or beer can heaters (the Red Garage Project for example). I’ve included what I feel are the best designs that merit a look and some interesting ideas that you could adapt for your own purposes.
I know mine will incorporate the best ideas taken from the designs highlighted below.
1. Solar Panel out of Aluminum Cans (by Malden P)
This design most closely resembles the commercial product sold by Cansolair. The site has very good pictures and step by step details to build a full-size passive solar heater.
Rating: Excellent Design. Definitely worth a look
2. Beer Can Solar Heater (by bornonazero)
This is a similar (and very well executed) design originally presented as a pictures-only You Tube video. There’s also an updated video with a bit of descriptive narration added.
Rating: Definitely worth a look.
3. Greg’s Pop-Can Solar Space Heating Collector (Greg West)
This design on “Build it Solar” is excellent. The PDF download is very detailed with good pictures. It features aluminum plenums in a box made of polyiso rigid insulation and has a flat face of Twinwall polycarbonate glazing. Lot’s of good ideas in this one.
Rating: Well worth the download (3MB PDF).
4. The Ubiquitous Red Garage Project (Hemmings Blog)
This version pops up in a lot of searches which is really frustrating because it’s not a good design and it probably turns more people off the idea than it inspires. I have no idea why so many sites linked to it or posted about it.
The design has efficiency deficiencies like no plenums – meaning the air doesn’t pass through the cans – which is kinda the point, and what produces most of the heat.
On the plus side, he built a second, larger version and I have togive him props for recycling a patio door for the glazing.
Rating: Take a pass or give it a quick scan and move on.
This one is a bit crude in the approach, but it would be fast and easy to do. However, I’m not so keen on the idea of superheating Styrofoam and pumping the resulting off gasses into my home.
The best takeaway from this one is two unique methods to make the holes in the can bottoms:
• using a blow torch (which would be pretty much instant)
• using a belt sander, which takes out the full bottom cleanly.
If you needed to MacGyver one of these in an emergency, then this would get you there. If you’re going for a longer-term installation, keep looking.
Rating: Have a quick look just to say you did.
6. Brian’s Pop Can Solar Heater
This one is kind of in the middle of the pack – the functional design looks to be sound, but it loses points on the fit and finish.
If I’m going to invest the time and energy in building one of these, I want it to look good and be reasonably sure it will stand up to the extreme conditions it will be subjected to.
Brian does provide some performance data that shows what kind of results you could expect (in Alabama).
Rating: Look it over for ideas to use.
7. Moonshine Solar
These small-scale window units are a little different and I’m really drawn to them. The designer started with few randomly placed cans in a housing and has since revised the design twice, incorporating some of the conventions common to the more sophisticated designs.
I like the idea of having a portable “room heater” as opposed to – full-sized panel mounted on the side of the house for several reasons.
• Less cost to build
• No installation required
• Portability
My partner and I both work at home, but our offices are in different areas of the house – a couple of portable “space heaters” would be more likely to keep us comfortable than a single large one located in the only practical location, which is a long way from my office.
Rating: Definitely worth a look [Update: It seems the website for Moonshine Solar has been taken down since I was doing my research. Still, an idea that’s worth consideration.]
Passive solar heaters make sense and are an excellent DIY project that should pay for itself in a year or two. There are a lot of good ideas in examples above but the main points to consider carefully would be:
The pop can heater is just one of many types of passive solar heating installations. I’ll explore other designs in the coming months.
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