BlindSquirl
Drinkable Water
by BlindSquirl on 12/30/10
This is a reprint of the article I did for Backwoodsman Magazine and is the first in a series about putting together a 72 hour (or longer) preparedness kit on a tight budget.
I'll add pictures as soon as I can figure out how.
The McNett Aquamira Frontier Pro water filter is available for about $20. It's rated by the manufacturer to filter greater than 99.9% of Cryptosporidium and Giardia from up to 50 gallons of water. It attaches directly to a variety of hydration systems and standard water containers with 28mm threads. It comes with a few accessories including a draw tube and 4 replacement prefilters. The draw tube allows you to use the filter with common water or soda bottles. Simply attach the tube to the intake side of the filter, insert it into the bottle, screw it on and suck on the bite valve end.
If you figure a gallon of water per person, per day (that's a minimum); one of these filters should provide one person clean drinking water for a month and a half of constant use. That's pretty good for $20. Plus, with the 28mm threads mentioned earlier, the Frontier Pro can easily be turned into a gravity filter to provide water without pumping (or sucking).
Here's the cheapest way I've found to do it.
Where possible, I'm including links to supplies that offer Amazon's Super Saver Shipping (i.e. purchase $25 of qualifying products and they ship for free. I hate buying a $5.00 item and paying $12.00 to have it shipped.)In addition to the filter, you'll need the following:
Two empty 2 liter beverage bottles (I used sparkling water; I didn't need to wash the bottles after emptying them.)
Something to punch holes with (I used a 1/8" paper punch.)
Two pieces of Duct Tape, each approximately 2" long (Gorilla Tape is a brand I highly recommend).
Approximately 18" of paracord (a prepper staple), fish line or whatever you have that can be used as a handle. (I've taken to using nylon covered fishing leader material and sleeves; I describe this better in an upcoming post titled titled, "A Fistful of Snares".)
Some #4 cone-type coffee filters.
A 2" long piece of Latex tubing (a.k.a. surgical tubing) for connecting to a hydration bladder or beverage bottle. (You might be able to get by without this but latex tubing is pretty handy to have anyway.)
I discuss things to filter water into later.
Remove the labels and caps and cut the bottoms off of the 2 liter bottles.
Fold a piece duct tape over the edge created by cutting the bottom off of one of the 2 liter bottles. Fold the other piece of duct tape over the edge directly across from the first piece. This reinforces the plastic so the handle doesn't tear out when you fill it with water.
Now punch a hole through the tape and the bottle side, approximately 1/4" down from the edge. Punch a second hole as close to directly across from the first hole as you can. This is where you'll attach the cord for hanging the filter. Using a hole punch makes a nice clean hole; points or sharp corners give a rip or tear somewhere to radiate out from. In a pinch, you can heat the end of a nail in a fire or with a lighter and push it through the plastic.
Now tie one end of the cord through each hole, creating a loop/handle that the bottle can hang from with the cap end pointing down.
At this point, I also punched corresponding holes in one of the bottoms removed earlier. I threaded the handle/loop through the bottom so it could be used as a loose fitting cover for the reservoir, helping to keep debris from falling into it when filtering water.
Insert one paper coffee filter into the now handled bottle and push it down into the neck of the bottle. This will become your disposable/replaceable prefilter and should buy you some more use from your Frontier Pro.
Slide the second bottle (without the loop) into the bottle containing the coffee filter and push it down as far as you can, without poking a hole in or tearing the coffee filter.
Screw the Frontier Pro water filter onto the exposed threads of the lower bottle.
You can remove the bite valve from the end of the Frontier Pro by simply pulling it off. Once that's out of the way, attach the hose from your hydration bladder to the fitting on the Frontier Pro that was exposed by removing the bite valve. The hose from my 10 year old Platypus bag didn't fit snugly enough to stay in place so I simply inserted that into the bite valve fitting and used a 2" long piece of surgical tubing to jump between that and the hose from my Platy Bag (I had to pull the bite valve off of the Platy Bag too).
Platypus Bags are an inexpensive alternative to other name brand Hydration packs (I do have a Camelbak HAWG that I got as a Christmas present a couple of years ago). But, in the spirit of doing things on a budget, you can also use empty plastic beverage bottles to filter water into. Simply attach one end of the Latex tubing to the Bite Valve end of the Frontier Pro water filter and let the other end hang down into the beverage bottle. If you're careful, you can hang the filter with only the draw tube inserted into your filtered water container.
I'll also be posting a description of a DIY hydration and Ziptop freezer bag dryer in the future so stay tuned.
For filling the reservoir, I took another 2 liter bottle and cut the bottom off of it. I use that to scoop water from whatever source I want to filter and dump it into the hanging system. If you hang it about shoulder high and there isn't a lot of crud in the water you're filtering, it'll filter 2 liters pretty quickly (with no pumping or sucking). The coffee filter prevents a lot of crap from getting to the Frontier Pro, theoretically increasing its service life. When it's time to replace the coffee filter, simply pull the two 2 liter bottles apart and replace the used filter with a new one. Coffee filters are inexpensive enough that you can replace them every time if you like.
This allows you to filter water while still being able to do something else. Just pour the water into the two liter bottle and let it filter into whatever container you want to use.
My "belt and suspenders" philosophy also has me treat the resulting filtered water with Iodine, just in case.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health web site (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-iodine.html) "Iodine can be used as an antimicrobial agent for the emergency purification of water. Tablets and solutions are commercially available. Effects generally occur within 15 minutes."
One form of commercially available Iodine for water purification is Polar Pure. "It will destroy water-borne pathogens including Giardia cysts and microorganisms that pass through filters when used as directed. One bottle will treat up to 2000 gallons." The bottle has a dosage chart on it and the cap is used for measuring and decanting the solution. It is a self contained package that also has an indefinite shelf life.
My wife and I also supplement our diets with Iodine by adding a few droppers full to juice, coffee, etc. every day. Iodine is important for the functioning of your Thyroid gland.
While Iodine can leave an "objectionable" taste in the water, Vitamin C helps to neutralize the taste.
Electro Mix by Alacer is an electrolyte replacement powder
that doesn't contain the sugars that most sports drinks do. By combining one
packet of Electro Mix with one packet of another Alacer product; Emergen-C, in
1 liter of water, you can replace important electrolytes and get 1000 mg of
vitamin C all at once. Both products come in 36 packet boxes.
I highly recommend using both of these mixes. They're inexpensive and provide nutritional supplements that most people can probably benefit from anyway.
That's probably enough to digest in one reading so I'll end here.
Check out my web site for more info on being self sufficient.
Why My Self Watering Planters Are the Best
by BlindSquirl on 05/28/10
OK, time to take the gloves off.
Earthbox makes a great product, their self watering planters were the first I ever saw. My Mom even has one outside the house in Florida. I think she has Cherry Tomatoes in it. The problem is, I can't afford them.
I'll assume the same thing about the GrowBox. I'm sure it's a quality product, otherwise they wouldn't still be around. Again, I can't afford to buy enough of them to grow any amount of real food.
I actually received a Tomato Success Kit from Gardener's Supply as a birthday present a few years ago. My Mother-in-Law had one and they grew a bunch of Tomatoes on their deck, so they got me one. I've got Radishes in it right now.
Guess what? Too expensive.
My background is in Product Design so I did the research, saw what everyone else was doing and improved on them. Once I knew how it should function, I set about making it simple and inexpensive to build.
Which brings me to the EarthTainer. Come to find out, the guy who developed this thing is an Executive with a Silicon Valley semiconductor company. I figured he was either an Engineer, a government employee or worse yet, a government engineer! Nobody else could come up with a more complicated, obfuscated contraption. Really, check it out, he's posted the instructions on the GardenWeb Forums in the container gardening section.
My homemade self watering planters are built from 4 purchased parts, two rubbermaid totes, one 5' long piece of 2" PVC and a 6" plastic flower pot. Under $20 for parts if you're a careful shopper. That's it, no cable ties, no wire rope clips or fender washers and no WD-40!!!! I kid you not, he calls for WD-40!!!!!. Then I read what fertilizers he's using, one of them is "E.B. Stone Sure Start fertilizer (or equivalent)"and he must have it delivered by the truckload. At the end of the instructions, he has the audacity to say "So that's all there is to it."
Then, to top it all off, this guy tries passing these things off as "Green"!!!!!! He's also giving the plans away free. Gee, I wonder why?
You get what you pay for folks.
I give you $10.36 worth of instructions and a proven design for only $5.00.
And that's why my homemade self watering planters, self irrigating planters, SIPs, whatever you want to call them, are the best you can build or buy.
BlindSquirl
My self watering planter plantation.
by BlindSquirl on 05/26/10
OK, so it's the end of May and it's been unseasonably warm, mid to upper 80's.
I've finally got most of the garden at least in and sprouted. The corn, beans, squash and peas have all come up. So far the deer fencing has kept the rabbits out. I have one of the four self watering planters inside the fence and planted with carrots. I have another self watering planter (actually a tomato success kit) on the deck planted with the first crop of radishes and another 3 self watering planters filled and ready to be planted once I move them inside the deer fence.
I've also got parts for another 3 self watering planters that I may put in the yard outside the deer/rabbit fence.
I have 10 topsy turvy or turvy topsy knockoffs from Menards planted with multiple varieties of tomatoes and peppers strung on wire rope on the deck on the south side of the house.
Tomorrow I'll head to the Farmer's Market to see about picking up some more plants to transplant. There was a mishap with the stringing of the wire rope for the turvy topsies and some plants were hurt.
I blame myself.
Bucking the Trend
by BlindSquirl on 04/30/10
OK, smoking is bad for you, cow flatulence is killing the Polar Bears,blah, blah, blah. Anything done to excess is probably a bad thing. But 10+ years after giving up cigarettes, I've taken up smoking a pipe. So far about 3-4 bowls a week, the way tobbacco was meant to be smoked. Not 3 packs a day.
A couple of years ago, I stumbled across a description of a "Churchwarden". It was generally a clay pipe with a really long stem and was sometimes referred to as a tavern pipe. Some people think the long stem was so that tavern patrons could have a smoke and then the next person could break the tip off so they wouldn't get germs from the previous user. Really? Did people in the 1600's know what the hell germs were?
My theory is that a really long stem simply gives you a cooler smoke. Surprisingly, it does. When I first started looking, there was a guy in Novz Scotia (I think) who was making hand rolled clay churchwardens. By the time I decided to take the plunge, he was out of business. BTW, his pipes were about $60-$70 each if I remember correctly so I couldn't throw away that much cash to see if I liked smoking a pipe.
What finally opened the door was www.pipeshoppe.com. I emailed them and KC Ellis was decent enough to create a "package deal" for me; a 16" colonial clay and a shorter 7" colonial clay for $20. A quick trip to the local tobbaconist and I was in business. I have to admit, it's pretty relaxing to sit on the front porch and puff away.
Since then, I've purchased tobbacco seeds and am going to grow a couple of plants this year. While doing research I found that there's a heck of a lot of tobbacco grown in ... Wisconsin! who knew?
I'll post my progress, at least, as long as tobbacco is still legal.
New video posted
by BlindSquirl on 04/26/10I've posted my first video on YouTube showing "The Squirl's Nest". As I think about it, the name fits pretty well. I've counted as many as 17 squirrels in the yard at one time underneath the bird feeder. Apparently I'm not doing enough to keep the population in check.
What it's all about.
by BlindSquirl on 03/22/10
This blog will describe the current and upcoming projects of www.blindsquirl.com. First is the DIY instructions for the self watering planters. These make it possible to grow your own whatever, virtually anywhere and almost effortlessly.
Next will come the manual to get the most out of the planters. Sure you can put potting soil in and use chemical fertilizers but that's not (I hate the word) "sustainable.
Once that's finished and available, I'll be working on an 8'x8' greenhouse that I'm targeting to be able to build for under $100.
I've also built a rainwater catchment system with an integral roof scrubber that diverts the dirt, leaves and crud from the roof so it doesn't go into your barrels.
Along the way, I'll be giving some frugal tips too.
Inaugural Rant
by BlindSquirl on 03/22/10
As I type this, the House has just passed the Health Care Takeover Bill. While many believe this is a case of elected officials ignoring the will of the people, I think it's much simpler than that. The people who voted for it all have something to gain personally from it. One word describes it best, GREED. They're getting some kind of benefit, in terms of campaign contributions, the guarantee of some nice cushy lobbying job once they're voted out of office or maybe they own stock in a company that stands to benefit from this legislation, they're going to get their slice of the pie. There may be a few who voted based on some ideology but make no mistake, our "Public Servants", for the most part, are serving themselves.
OK, enough politics. My future posts will be about how to get by on what little you're going to have left after they finish redistributing your wealth.
