Stored stuff - Readiness series (foods & other multi-use perishables)

A hoarding practicum

This installment is a core element of our Disaster Readiness strategy. Again, I don't propose dedicating a closet or wall of your garage to stockpile emergency gourmet rations (though you could do that also), preserved and packaged foods that expire and need replacing in five or ten years.  Instead, endeavor to make only a slight lifestyle change: Simply buy and store more of what you like to stock up anyway for day-to-day consumption. And with just a little know-how, many of these things prove useful for two or more purposes… at least, MacGyver would say it is so.

Of course, it's the dual-use and healthy stuff that you want to double up on (in storable form; multi-uses noted also); something like the following:

Week one:

   olive oil (cooking, heat/light fuel, medicine)

   toilet paper

   oatmeal, pre-cooked (skin cleanser, medicine)

   honey (sweetener, antibiotic)

   powdered milk (yogurt-making)

Week two:

   baking soda (cleanser, medicine)

   brown rice (hot compress)

   toilet paper

   dried pinto beans

Week three:

   toilet paper
   coconut oil (fuel, medicine)

   quinoa

   toilet paper

   crackers

Week four:

   corn starch (cleanser)

   packaged tuna

   popcorn (insulation)

   toilet paper

   toilet paper

Get the idea? And surely you notice my obsession with good ol' TP. Reason is twofold. First, it is an item that runs out readily-from retail store shelves during a natural disaster and from a home full of guests (refugees?). Seems we can never buy enough. Second, toilet paper is the sort of thing that may prove inordinately valuable for trade with desperate neighbors as stores run dry of everything most useful.  Soap is another -like cigarettes, fuel or matches in wartime- valued higher than cash or gold coins for barter. And don't go cheap: preferably the premium two-ply, ultra-soft, jumbo sized rolls (referring to toilet paper, of course).

Make sure everyone understands your system to rotate home stock from back to front.  I am listing stuff that tends to last when properly sealed.  But even TP is perishable, eventually. Those grain moths and roaches may not appreciate the Charmin; but silverfish and termites do. To them it’s good as angel food cake. So get everyone in house on board to grab the oldest packages first.

Too bulky? Get creative: Repurpose dead space under beds, on top of cabinets, behind fake walls.  Consider wedging bulk packages of TP up between rafters in the garage (clearly marked with date purchased) to serve meantime as extra insulation.

You could even make a list… if you really like lists, specifically of items having dual-use or emergency-use value that can be stocked up extra. (Future posts to this blog will feature many of those to print and keep in your off-grid Readiness Box.) Make your inventory in a format easy to reference and update frequently and print off handy shopping lists.  Build your surplus gradually, so the spouse hardly notices extra expense.  But make sure you restock after that family reunion over Christmas holidays.

   Below is my own listing of perishables for starters...

Perishables:

Pantry (non-refrigerated):

baking soda

baking mix, or make your own:

  wheat flour

  baking powder

    (baking soda & cream of tarter)

  shortening powder

  buttermilk powder

  powdered eggs

  sugar

  salt

vegetable shortening

cooking oil

butter

corn starch

sourdough

white vinegar

apple vinegar

white sugar

brown sugar

powdered milk

powdered eggs

cocoa powder

coconut oil

honey

maple syrup

oatmeal, precooked

soy sauce

instant soups

dried fruits & vegetables

  raisins

  banana chips

  apple chips

  coconut

  tomatoes

  potatoes

  mushrooms

  pinto beans

  rice

  powdered greens

    (complete protein: moringa, spirulina, azolla)

  noodles

  spices

popcorn

corn meal

salami

pickles

packaged tuna

canned chicken

crackers

tortilla chips

nuts

chocolate chips

cheese

quinoa (gluten-free, complete protein)

powdered chocolate mix

powdered lemonade (or other flavor)

instant coffee

instant tea

lemon juice (or fresh lemons)

Medical & hygiene:

prescription medicines

aspirin

ibuprofen

antibacterial ointment

cortisone cream

sterile cotton bandaging

ace bandaging

sterile tape

tweezers

needle

suture thread

super glue (dermal adhesive)

liquid bandage

scissors

nail clippers

fine tooth comb

decongestant

rubbing alcohol

hydrogen peroxide

liquid hand soap

shampoo

portable toilet solution

witch hazel

distilled white vinegar

ammonia

boric acid (eye wash)

liquid bleach

aloe vera gel

petroleum jelly

liquid Castile soap

Fels-Naptha laundry bar soap

epsom salts

baking soda

corn starch

borax

moist heat pad

instant cold pack

sealed tooth brushes

floss

tooth paste

deodorant

essential oils (lavender, lemongrass, etc.)

Feel welcome to copy and paste this list into your favorite task manager or checklist utility. Google Keep works good. And refer back later for my updates. Of course, you will want to customize your own list. Do your own research online to compare lists of other "pantry preppers", as well as multi-use ideas:

25 Must Have Survival Foods
Unexpected Uses For Your Leftover Coffee


More ways to store spare toilet paper:

TP TeePee

TP d'Art

Sakir Gökçebag – Installations Made Out of Toilet Paper

No con intended

Insurance ad review series: Liberty Mutual

I wouldn't call it "false" advertising.  Liberty Mutual Insurance Group launched a nationwide TV ad campaign which appears to be well-intentioned.  It even attempts to inform, cluing potential car insurance shoppers to compare policy and claim service features before price.  As the old cliché warns: Not all insurance programs are created equal… despite state Department of Insurance attempts to standardize and regulate. Peek at this video to see what I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb6zMBS5x9w

After all, however low the price, that shiny car is hardly worth its new smell when the buyer discovers it delivered without standard components. Imagine learning afterward that there is no spare tire and no jack, no owner’s manual, and no remote to disarm the hypersensitive alarm. Yeah, that’s going to cost $500 extra, says the dealer; and to get one, you have to drive fifty miles to visit the closest service department. Once there you discover that the warranty actually covers the Drive Train only. No wonder it was advertised so cheap. Look out, because many low-ball insurance plans are proven similar.

   Liberty Mutual Insurance? It isn’t one of those scams. Their broad contract and exemplary service complements fair pricing. Check out more Liberty TV ads here:

https://www.libertymutual.com/liberty-mutual-videos/commercials

Full disclosure: I am a longtime agent for Safeco Insurance who was recently adopted into the Liberty family group. (Though, I would have said the same before.) Officially, the "Liberty Mutual" brand now refers to their Commercial Lines of insurance. If you respond to one of Liberty's ads and phone up to ask for Personal Auto or Property insurance…  they should refer you to an agent quoting Safeco.

   I used to like Safeco's advertising content and style. Though segments from my favorite Safeco campaign are no longer to be found.

I might have given Safeco TV ads gold stars for being informative, entertaining, and relevant. Even their newest crop of Marty & Edna ads are better than most. Problem was then as now:  Their TV spots are hardly aired anywhere. 

Marty & Edna's kitchen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idNC1KHQNvg

Marty & Edna's beds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7gHdiXazIs

Liberty Mutual's media promoters have decided (rightly) not to make impossible promises price-wise.  There are simply too many variables and numerous value differences for general price comparisons to serve as any shopping guide. Liberty has, however, chosen to promote a generalized comparison of certain policy service and rating features.  One they call accident forgiveness. Then there is full replacement value of your car, easy claim filing and life event discounts.

The obvious problem for me as a California-licensed agent is this: Little of these breaks are actually available for customers in my state. Proposition 103 rules (1988 state ballot measure) continue to trump such dispensations. For instance, if you are legally liable for accident-caused damages or injuries, your California insurance premiums must be surcharged to differentiate you from statutory "good drivers"…  at least until the incident is three years past. No break for the guilty. No forgiveness. Nor is there such thing, anymore, as a simple unintended accident.

Independent Agents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QymowGMTf_A

Second problem, again with Liberty Mutual's accident forgiveness strategy: Who empowers my insurance company to grant forgiveness? Have insurance underwriters been drafted into some sort of vehicular priesthood? Are they become superior justices? I don't think so…  And underwriters that I know (independent insurance agents are honored to work with many), they don't want that role or responsibility.

Truly, this approach plays into the bias of many a reluctant insurance shopper.  Typically, insurers are viewed as arrogant; displaying a high-and-mighty attitude about the funds that they manage on behalf of risk-sharing pool contributors. Yet another cliché, but yes: Perceptions matter. Everybody knows that premiums collected aren't actually the Insurer's to keep. It's only borrowed money, so to speak, to hold in trust; their compensation being the interest earned while shared funds remain in their care. Who thinks of his insurer as “on my side” anymore? Hardly anyone.

Third catch: This waiver of premium surcharge for a "first" accident is nothing new or unique to Liberty Mutual.  It has been common practice for decades among Preferred-Risk insurers; that being those whose guidelines always did select for good drivers from households which are less prone (statistically) to generate auto accident losses. Set aside the argument that no underwriter really has a crystal ball revealing my future of profit or loss. (One can wish!) But this practice of legal discrimination and preference was standard for Safeco Insurance Company and its direct competitors. It saved policyholders a lot of money… even in California not so long ago. That is until Prop 103 won the day.

ACV vs RC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6b6-eZ9kDQ

Other benefits promoted by Liberty Mutual Insurance present similar credibility problems, if taken too literally. Such as a new driver discount:  Means lower expense, right? Maybe less than it might have been (though not in California).  Reminds me of the day my wife came home, arms loaded with full shopping bags, to declare proudly: "Just look at all the money I saved!" What’s that cliché? Less is More…

   Consider the promise of no incriminating questions at claim time…  How is that supposed to work? Can there really be such a thing as full value replacement for vehicles?  And new car gap coverage is again nothing new or particularly unique.

Yes, I can hear my clients now:

"What about all the money I put into my car… new tires, rebuilt transmission, custom rims? Do I get replacement credit for all that?"

Answer: Hardly. 

"I thought my rate would go down when my boy started driving.  That's what the advertisement promised."

Did it really?

"Sure, I rear-ended that car.  It stopped for no reason, just when my cell phone started ringing. Was that my fault?  The TV guy implied that my insurance company would take my side. It's what insurance is supposed to do."

Yes, yes and sort of yes… depends.

Even in states where Liberty or any insurer is allowed to grant such liberties, they all come at a price… with discriminating conditions and limitations. Just like the rest of your insurance policy provisions.

So buyer beware!  Read your policy and look out. You know, if it sounds too good…  And all that jazz.

Some clichés are good reminders after all.

TN tornado claim 2008

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g366O3DqBCE

Heat - Readiness series (2)

Me gottem TP… you keep warm

Look for a following installment about items to store with special value, barter for trade with neighbors during an energy crisis. TP is one of those, as in ‘toilet paper'.  I have even tried stuffing bulk packages of the stuff between roofing rafters to serve as extra insulation until needed otherwise.

This recipe for portable heat, to warm space or for cooking, features another use for that soft and cushy, highly absorbent commodity; a dual-use that I bet you never imagined. This idea borrows from the traditional ‘buddy burner' credited by some to the Amish:

 www.justpeace.org/buddyburner.htm

Buddy Burner

Start with a quart-sized paint can rather than the tiny tuna can. Just make sure your cans are pre-burned to clean off old paint, glue or lining. When it cools, wipe off any remaining soot. Instead of cardboard, grab a roll of toilet paper to serve as your wicking material. For fuel, try rubbing alcohol or cooking oil:

preparednotscared.blogspot.com/2010/01/preparedness-project-paint-can-heaters.html

Paint Can Heater and Cook Stove

Of course, you could simply store a supply of Sterno cans or votive candles, though that is hardly as fun or inventive. And what when those run out? 

Once you have your burners, how can the energy be maximized to actually heat a room or fry an egg?  You need a heat exchanger, of course, such as a half-gallon paint can.  Poke holes in the side or set it on small stones to allow air to draw, placed bottom up over the burner.  A ceramic hot plate works as well or iron frying pan; try a flat-bottomed pot, iron or clay; even a thin slab of slate or flagstone from the yard. Again, you must prop up your plate on three supports -spare bricks work good- so that air flows to the flame. Then slide your burner (maybe two or three) underneath and toss on the wieners. 

For warming space the plate or pot draws currents of air to heat and dispense about the room. Set it up in a corner opposite doors and windows. A drop of scented essential oil will also change the mood.

Here follows a design using clay flower pots, again repurposing items found about the yard and garage. Ambient temperature from one small flame is shown to reach well over 150 degrees Fahrenheit, quite enough for a small bedroom:

tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-make-a-candle-heater.htm

Candle Heater

Then there are these commercialized designs:

www.heatstick.com/_KanHeet01.htm

www.indiegogo.com/projects/egloo-candle-powered-heater

Remember to print this page and fold up for reference in your zero-energy Disaster Prep shoe box database.  See the link at top right for browser-based printing instructions. 

Heat - Readiness series

Ureka! I’ve Discovered Warmth …

I kept it under glass on my desk for years… a newspaper comic featuring two cavemen, both dancing around a flaming log.

   The first was proclaiming: “I’ve discovered fire!”

   The other was shouting as loudly: “I’ve discovered insurance!”

  

Perhaps only insurance agents find that funny…

… which may explain why my search online was unsuccessful, seeking an approved publication to link. Found the actual clipping in an old paper file; so here is a partial image and thumbnail for reference. Appears to be dated 1992.  Maybe Dan Piraro has republished this one in a print book collection.
See http://www.bizarro.com/ for more information.

Anyway, I begin this category with the basic need for warmth, as that would be (after light and water) one essential of wilderness or urban survival, even before making a fire for cooking.  Of course, if one is using a flame for light, there is also potential for resolving several concerns—warmth, pasteurized water and meat, even some defense against wild intruders. But let me start with warmth, assuming you can ignite a candle or oil lamp at the least. (Fire starting is subject for later posting.)

First problem with a flame, large or small, is that the heat escapes upward right readily. Attempting to contain the heat inside a cozy enclosure creates a worse problem: toxic fumes. Never use a gas, wood or charcoal grill inside without generous ventilation (which also carries out the heat); else Mr. Sandman—wielding heavy doses of CO (carbon monoxide)—will be lulling your family to a permanent sleep. This is one reason I advocate burning olive oil… very little of smoke or fume. Even paraffin candles require an open window.

How your fireplace chimney works

Your living room fireplace is actually one giant heat sink (pulls warmth away) whether burning or not. Net result of firing a hearth for an hour is a colder, never a warmer house. Sure, it feels nice sitting round the crackling Yule log. But walk down the hall and actually measure temperature difference, or try sitting tight in a frigid back room from whence the chimney draws its ventilation. (This is probably why the pioneer family cabin was a single room, with beds made close to the cooking hearth.) Even inserts and reflectors never help much. And no, they don’t recommend hooking your fireplace into the forced air system to carry heat back to bedrooms… Why?

You guessed it: First it’s that tell-tale headache; then parents hardly care to watch as the insidious Mr. Carbon-O sneaks in upon safely sleeping babes. So how might a household benefit, heat-wise, from a flame… at least until the sun rises? In other words, how do you insure against a certain, though comfortable, death?

  

There is a way to use fireplace heat more efficiently.* Make a fast and very hot blaze of dry, relatively smokeless fuel. (Pieces of that cast-off end table outside would be perfect.) Soon as it all burns out, leaving few coals and less smoke—shut the flu tight. This flash fire enables firebox bricks (stone or metal) to absorb maximum heat. Closing the chimney stops it from sucking away precious warmth from the house where it is wanted; also cuts the draft through windows and door cracks. Then your family can sleep safe and warm, in the living room at least.

Lower heating bills…

Bedrooms? For that you need some method to carry the heat (and only heat) to the bed or bathroom space. Interestingly, many solutions found online are based upon the very same principle as your super-heated firebox. If only one could detach the fireplace from its chimney and wheel it elsewhere.  With a little advance planning, you can do something like that. Secret is the material composing said firebox.  Ceramic, stone and iron are especially good at storing and dispensing heat… Nature’s energy battery.

If your patio barbeque is already on wheels, you could super-charge bricks or rocks outside on the grill, shut off the gas and drag the whole thing into your bedroom. (Again, one should never use a grill fire to actively heat inside space.)

Another answer is the cast-iron Dutch oven; you know, that heavy thing stored unused with your camping equipment. Actually any covered iron pot will do. Grab some bricks, stones or ceramic tiles. Set some down on your bedroom floor as a base.  Cook the others thoroughly on all sides in a fast hot fire (outside or in your fireplace). Warm up the pot as well. Then use tongs or thick asbestos mittens to pack your pot with hot rocks.

Then it’s simply the same idea as that Swedish sauna you always dreamed about building. Except these rocks are carried to the bedroom in their pot to set down safely upon the base prepared. One small bucket of scalding stone will keep a small room from freezing overnight. 

Want more heat? Lift the pot’s lid. 

Need moister heat? Splash some water on the rocks.

Just make certain that Baby can’t crawl too close—but that goes for any heat source after all. You know… Insurance.

One more warning: Make sure your rocks or bricks were not soaked through before heating, as water trapped in hidden cracks turns to steam with great combustive potential. (That would be your inner insurance analyst speaking yet again.)

For warming bed sheets or chilly hands, drop a rock (not too hot) into a woolen sock for easy carrying:

Happy Rock

And next for your enrichment, further methods of harvesting heat from inert material: Stay tuned for more McGyver-styled space heaters constructed of stuff scrounged from about the house. 

 __________

*Of course, a wood stove can be an efficient though less romantic home heater. But it must be installed away from walls so that air is heated all around. Then the house forced-air system needs intake vents in the main room, in order to deliver heated air throughout.