Lucid Dreaming | 1 Year of Lucid Dreaming

So I’ve just reached a mile stone recently and completed my first full year of Lucid dreaming! I tried to delve into this subject multiple times when I was younger but never managed to stick with it. So I’m proud to have kept up to my dream journal every single day for 365 days and I’ve recorded some amazing dreams and lucid dreams, both DILD and WILD.

My DILDs are now a regular occurrence (average 1.5 a week) so I’m overall happy with where I’m at with them but I do feel my progress has come to a halt these past few months. When I first started I was seeing progress on a regular basis and my lucid count kept going up and up with each passing month. I’m wondering if I’ve become too comfortable and I’ve reached a point where I can no longer progress doing the things I’m doing. I appreciate this subject is going to take years to master and I may just need to be patient but I want to keep improving and fine tune my practice. So I was hoping for some feedback about my current routine which I’ve detailed below. I would appreciate any tips or advice you have and hope you can see if I’m making any mistakes or not doing as much as I could be. I feel I may need to just tweak a few things in order to get going again. I look forward to reading any feedback. Thanks in advance.

My routine -

Daytime:

I attempt to do quality reality checks each day and my prospective memory is in a good place where I can remember to do them usually every hour. If I don’t, my ability to notice dream signs is also pretty good and I often notice dreamlike things in my daily life. When checking, I stop what I’m doing and become present in the moment. I inspect the environment and look for dream signs and oddities. I then perform the checks. A text change RC and then a hand or nose plug RC. The Problem is, I’m very lazy with checking. On a good day I may do them 8-10 times but it’s more likely I do 2-3. Due to this inconsistency I often opt for a more casual RC practice that involves me becoming a little more aware and observant whenever I remember and look out for any oddities that might occur whilst I carry on with what I’m doing.

Night:

I try to increase my excitement in the evening by re-reading journal entries, reality checking and reading or writing on the forum. I go to bed at 10:30pm and set an intent to wake up and remember my dreams and remind myself of my dream goals (Beginning MILD). I sometimes do visualisation or meditation but usually find these wake me up too much and I struggle to fall asleep afterward. I find the less I do here the better.

Morning:

I usually sleep straight through till around 4-5am and then awake naturally (after 5-6 hours of sleep). I used to wake earlier but I found I was losing too much sleep. I then stay awake and recall my dreams for maybe 10 minutes or so. Dream recall is fine and I can usually remember at least 1-2 decent dreams. I tend to memorise them instead of writing them down. I then use the toilet, do a quick RC and return to bed. I now remind myself of my intention and If I’m lucky I fall asleep quickly and have a lucid but more often I just fall asleep and wake again an hour later and repeat the process. I then wake up finally at 7am every morning (8 hours of sleep total). I repeat my recall process and record in detail any dreams remembered in my journal.

(I do all this consistently 7 days a week. It only varies when I attempt WILDs which is a subject for another time).

via Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Attaining Lucidity https://ift.tt/2V0vFbb

15 Conservative Movies You Should Watch

Though there is no shortage of big-budget, Hollywood entertainment available through every outlet imaginable these days, it has long been difficult for conservatives to find films that really speak to their life ways and values, or at the very least, films from which conservatives can derive any message or meaning aside from “don’t act like the people you’ve seen.”

But as it turns out there are more than a few Hollywood movies that have made their way through the gauntlet of baked-in, bone-deep leftist ideology that has so infested Hollywood for decades.

By accident, design or through clever marketing and trickery there are more than a few movies with decidedly conservative messages, or movies with stories that at the very least will appeal to conservatives on principle.

Today we bring you a list of 15 conservative movies you should definitely watch, spanning all genres from action and drama to parody and thriller. No matter what sort of movies you like, as long as you can appreciate a good film you are sure to find a movie on this list that you will enjoy.

The Book of Eli

The Book of Eli, released in 2010, is a post-apocalyptic tale of a man travelling through the dystopian remains of the western United States. The man, Eli, as portrayed by the always entertaining Denzel Washington has in his possession a book that he is doggedly attempting to deliver to the West coast.

It is this book that the petty tyrant of a town he travels through, Carnegie, played in spectacularly fashion by the inimitable Gary Oldman, will stop at nothing to get.

Along the way Eli encounters ceaseless depravity, ruin and the crushing weight of existential futility in America that was, and though he is beset by bandits, brigands and a lack of resources he not only refuses to give up his quest but maintains his humanity, dignity and virtue in a wasted nation. Sort of like today…

The ending might be a twist you can see coming a mile away, but the Book of Eli can show us how important it is to stay the course, even when it is anything but certain, and that your principles should persist even when the whole world goes to hell.

No Country for Old Men

A 2007 adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s riveting novel of the same name, this film by the Cohen Brothers is a tale about a man who gets in over his head after stumbling across the site of a massive Mexican cartel drug deal gone bad in the middle of the desert during his hunting foray.

The man, Llewellyn Moss,soon finds himself a marked and hunted man as the cartels bring in a remorseless and seemingly unstoppable hitter, Anton Chigurh.

Though the cat and mouse chase is absolutely riveting and full of several unexpected twists and turns, the real protagonist of the movie is not Moss, but instead an aging sheriff on the trail of both men, Ed Tom Bell portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones.

Sheriff Bell is a man who is nearing the end of his career, and is increasingly incapable of dealing with the escalating violence, viciousness and remorselessness that is embroiling the region. The real story is his coming to grips with the events that we witness on screen.

A mesmerizing film by some of the best living filmmakers and adapted from a harrowing and darkly beautiful novel, No Country for Old Men is simultaneously a film about choice and consequences, elemental forces that cannot be contained and sticking to your guns even when it might mean your death.

The Grey

The Grey is a classic tale of disaster, adversity, survival and introspection, that sees us following a crew of Alaskan oilfield workers who find themselves marooned and injured, and the harsh Alaskan Wilderness after the plane they are riding in crashes.

Led by John Ottway as portrayed by Liam Neeson, the men are constantly harried by wolves and are forced to set their differences aside if they want to survive. Increasingly difficult decisions are made as the men claw their way through the harsh wilderness in an attempt to keep their lives.

Although the film sounds like any standard issue yarn of survival in an unforgiving wilderness, it is also a poignant tale about a man grappling with nihilism in the wake of his wife’s death. Ottway initially has a very dim appraisal of his coworkers, but after their everyday circumstances are set aside some better qualities emerge while others “better” qualities are shown to be just an act.

Thrilling and with a surprising philosophical bent The Grey sets itself apart with tight direction, an excellent leading man and gorgeous landscape shots. The movie is an ode to persistence in the face of seemingly unbeatable odds.

United 93

On September 11th, 2001, everything changed for America and the world. Put under attack by hijacked commercial airliners, a nation collectively held its breath as it stared into an uncertain future.

One of those airliners, United Airlines Flight 93, was diverted from its intended, terrible purpose after passengers rallied and tried to retake the aircraft from the hijackers.

This film is a real-time account in docu-drama style of the events that transpired on board the aircraft and elsewhere among air traffic control personnel. It is a chilling, riveting, grimm and ultimately inspiring reminder about civic duty and taking responsibility for your circumstances no matter what they might be.

Though we have a surprisingly clear picture of what transpired on the aircraft that day, some liberties are taken with gaps in the information in order to tell a coherent story. Nonetheless, United 93 is required viewing for any red-blooded American.

Starship Troopers

Though it deviates pretty radically from the beloved Robert A. Heinlein novel of the same name, Starship Troopers is nonetheless a pretty good sci-fi action yarn at face value, but the real sustenance of the movie is it’s biting and deeply satirical lampooning of ultra-nationalist sentiment.

The story follows a group of high school students (you read that right) who are joining up in federal military service in order to secure themselves citizenship rights, as compared to remaining merely civilians with less status and fewer civic privileges.

Naturally, a planet of bugs lurking elsewhere in the galaxy (somehow) launch a meteor that strikes and obliterates their hometown.

Melodrama ensues with dear John letters, massive failures in training, rising to the occasion, redemption, loss, heroism and woven throughout a deeply satirical piss-take aimed at the military industrial complex.

It is a fun, if corny, romp on its surface, but the movie also serves as a cautionary tale and a self-deprecating joke that the most fervently patriotic of us can enjoy, and would do well to heed.

Red Dawn

More than any other, this film codified the half fear half fantasy of many preppers, especially Cold War-era youngsters. Red Dawn tells a story that sounds almost laughable today: Russians along with their Cuban and Nicaraguan allies invade and occupy the continental United States.

The setting is a somewhat nebulous World War III scenario in an alternate timeline: NATO has been disbanded. The United States, already geographically isolated, is strategically isolated and further backed into a corner after Mexico decides to go socialist.

A group of teenagers and young adults have Russian paratroopers airdropping into their town in the middle of the day. Naturally, they band together, desperately try to stay alive and eventually metamorphize into a resistance movement using American and stolen Soviet equipment: the Wolverines.

Director John Milius knows how to shoot his films, and this one is no exception. The film is tense, frightening and exciting, but pulls no punches with its depictions of what life would be like in an occupied America, especially one where outmanned and outgunned civilians strive against all odds to overthrow or at least degrade their numerically and technologically superior occupiers.

Man on Fire (2004)

This adaptation, directed by Tony Scott and sourced from the novel of the same name Man on Fire tells the tale of John W. Creasy, a former Force Reconnaissance Marine and CIA special activities agent who’s trying to get back on the horse after nearly ruining his life with alcoholism, guilt and a botched suicide attempt. An American friend of Creasy who runs a security firm in Mexico City gets him a gig protecting a wealthy automaker’s young daughter, Pita.

Initially reluctant, Creasy begins to rediscover his better qualities and his purpose through the job, but things go pear-shaped when the young Pita is kidnapped.

Consumed with guilt and a cold fury, Creasy begins a roaring rampage of revenge to eliminate everyone involved in the kidnapping and to get answers in an increasingly murky and harrowing investigation regarding who put who up to taking his young charge.

Anchored by excellent cinematography and a stellar cast, Man on Fire is about loss, despair, and redeeming oneself even after you are hanging over the edge of oblivion. Sometimes sacrifice is the only penance that can be left to you.

Braveheart

Braveheart is a film that hardly needs any introduction for most of our readers, but for the younger set out there who somehow have managed to miss this epic film, you should correct that post haste.

Directed by and starring Mel Gibson, Braveheart tells an embellished and only reasonably accurate account of William Wallace, late 13th century Scottish warrior, as he struggles to free Scotland from the oppressive rule of king Edward I of England.

Throughout the rollicking events of the film William Wallace must deal with the loss of his love, the betrayal and seeming betrayal of countrymen who care more about treasure than nation, and the intrigue of royal politicking. Gathering and leading an army by his side that is composed of often quarrelsome rival clans proves to be an incredible challenge in its own right.

A blockbuster smash hit upon release that has only grown more and more fondly received as the years have gone on, Braveheart is a quintessential story about love for country, loss, the challenges of leadership, bravery in the face of overwhelming odds and the importance of tribe, of having people on your side; your people. If you are a history buff the account of Wallace’s life and actions in the film is liable to make you grind your teeth, but table your gripes for a few hours and enjoy this endlessly quotable movie! Freeeeeee-dommmmmm!

Unforgiven

Another film whose director is also the leading man, Unforgiven is an epic, gritty and poignant western that also serves as a no-holds-barred takedown of the entire genre.

This is especially poetic because this was the final true western genre film that Clint Eastwood starred in, a genre that he helped boost to global recognition and fanfare.

This is not the typical western of yesteryear, one where the good guys wear white hats and the bad guys wear black: all we have is gray, gray and grayer yet morality in a tale of redemption, revenge and learning too late about one’s limitations.

Eastwoods stars as William Munny, a retired outlaw and gunslinger who is recruited to take revenge on some cowboys who grievously maimed a prostitute.

Though Munny is a widower and a profoundly repentant man raising two children on a failing farm, he isn’t doing it for charity or to make amends: he is in it for the payout, and has been recruited by a young gunslinger to claim and split the bounty put on the hateful cowboys by the victimized prostitute’s coworkers.

Munny very literally picks up his guns again, recruits another retired accomplice and sets off to do the job.

The gunfights crackle, and all the typical western tropes are here, but they are almost always shockingly grim and realistic portrayals of how the events so often depicted would really go down.

Tired, old gunslingers are, well, tired, old and slow, surviving by luck if they survive at all. Young pretenders to the title find out that there is nothing glamorous whatsoever about gunfighting and living that lifestyle.

Unforgiven reminds us that living by the sword very often means you will die by the sword, and that the real stuff of survival on the sharp end is anything but fun, fantastic and exciting.

Dirty Harry

Another Clint Eastwood mega-hit, Dirty Harry is arguably his most iconic role and the one that shot him to superstardom. A gritty neo-noir thriller, Dirty Harry follows the eponymous “Dirty” Harry Callahan as a San Francisco Police Department inspector hot on the trail of a psychotic killer, a sniper who chooses his victim’s seemingly at random unless he is paid a hefty ransom.

Dirty Harry Callahan is such an iconic antihero because we are all sympathetic to his plight: A man of action, not introspection or nicety, who is ready, willing and able to get the job done for the right reasons, no matter the cost, but also a man who is mired in an increasingly functionary bureaucracy that hinders him at every turn.

Frustrated to the bitter end by a legal system that seems to serve criminal more than victim, Callahan begins following the killer on his own time after he gets off of charges on a technicality.

The final, climactic showdown against the irredeemably evil psychopath is immensely satisfying, and Dirty Harry literally and figuratively throws down his badge in the end. Anyone who has ever been fed up with the system and its rules that get in the way of doing the right thing will cheer through the entirety of Dirty Harry.

Black Hawk Down

Ridley Scott’s Blockbuster adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name written by journalist Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down is an account of the disastrous 1993 U.S. military raid in Mogadishu, Somalia.

In response to the local warlord’s seizure of Red Cross aid and food shipments, the U.S. military besides to put an end to his tyranny by launching a raid to capture two of his top lieutenants after U.N. peacekeeping forces prove to be completely neutered and not up to the task, as always.

The raid begins smoothly enough, but after a U.S. UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter is shot down by RPG fire things snowball and rapidly go from bad to worse.

Pilots are captured, roadblocks are set and what follows is the Battle of Mogadishu, a day-long bloodbath that saw nearly two dozen US servicemen killed and over 1,000 Somali irregular and militiamen casualties.

The film is brutal, and a bracing look at warfare. Heroism and valor are on full display, but the film pulls no punches with the gory reality of what happens when a top-tier military force is pitted against a seemingly numberless swarm of poorly trained and ill-equipped fighters.

It is easy for viewers to truly feel the chaos and confusion attendant with full-scale modern warfare in a built up area.

300

The bombastic, gory and thrilling big screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic of the same name, 300 was a phenomenon when it was first released in theaters way back in 2007. The story tells a fictional, highly stylized, even fantastical, version of the entirely real historical Battle of Thermopylae during the Persian Wars.

Noble and ferocious Spartan King Leonidas leads a tiny force of 300 spartans, his personal “bodyguard”, into battle against the absolutely immense Persian army led by the “God-King” Xerxes.

Myth and prognostication prevent the deployment of the full might of the Spartan army, a roadblock further cemented by meddling, ambitious and traitorous Spartan senators.

A classic last stand in every sense of the word, 300 chronicles the unbelievable initial victories of the tiny band of Spartans in the face of a numerically superior foe, only to see them slowly whittled down and inevitably enveloped before being killed to a man.

Their heroic, unflinching sacrifice in the face of their foe, according to Spartan law, is the spark that galvanizes the rest of Sparta and eventually all of Greece against the invading horde.

The Thin Red Line

Another war epic, both written and directed by virtuoso filmmaker Terence Malick, The Thin Red Line shows us a slightly fictionalized version of the battle of Mount Austen, one battle among many in the grueling Guadalcanal campaign during World War II.

Comprised of a surprising amount of introspection, it portrays the point of view of various soldiers in C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.

Compared to many other war films, The Thin Red Line is particularly philosophical, and explores in detail the internal motivations, and innermost thoughts, of the men it portrays.

From lowly privates who just want to escape the meaninglessness, drudgery and horror of war all the way up through power hungry senior officers who are enamored of the glory they think is inherent to the whole affair.

The film is notable for presenting such a nuanced, human and multifaceted view of war and its effects on the people who fight it, and not for nothing the entire film is set against a backdrop of jaw-droppingly gorgeous cinematography and landscape shots that are punctuated by the bloody exclamation point of war itself.

No Safe Spaces

The only legitimate documentary on this list, No Safe Spaces, released in 2019, chronicles the increasingly hostile and censorious climate that has infested seemingly every American University and place of learning throughout our country.

Directed by Justin Folk, the film features Adam Carolla and Dennis Prager interviewing various faculty and college students at different universities about such topics as freedom of speech, the right or lack of right to be exposed to dissenting opinions, political censorship and the increasingly prevalent attitude of “canceling” anyone who does not tow the line with the prevailing corporate and government sponsored attitudes of the era.

Chronicled in the film are the challenges experienced by Dr. Jordan Peterson in Canada, the Brett Weinstein incident at Evergreen State College’s day of absence and the Lindsay Shepard controversy with more besides.

Notable is that the filmmakers purposely included left-leaning opinions on the matter in the film with many of them arguing that modern day ultra-leftists getting their way on these topics today will result in the pendulum swinging back to smash in their faces sometime in the future.

Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood racks up another double entry on this list with his film Gran Torino, the story of a bitter and increasingly hostile (to the outside world) veteran of the Korean war who has recently become a widower. The tale is one that is likely to be very close to most of us, as Eastwood could be any one of a number of people that we all know or used to know.

Walt Kowalski, portrayed by Eastwood, is losing touch with the world: his family is disinterested, his sons don’t get along with him and his grandchildren think he might as well not exist at all. His racist tendencies are flaring hard as the world continues to move on and leave him behind, and even his once whiter than porcelain neighborhood is now rapidly diversifying with a massive influx of Southeast Asian immigrants.

But, sometimes people surprise you, and as Kowalski learns that he indeed has more in common with the principles and lifeways of his Asian neighbors that he thinks he hates than he does with his own family, he takes their young son under his wing after saving him from his gangbanger cousins.

Kowalski endeavors to teach the young man a few things he knows about life and in the end gifts him his most prized possession, his mint condition Gran Torino, after ridding the town of a dangerous scourge through an act of selfless bravery.

Conclusion

There you have it. A list of 15 movies that no film-loving conservative should go without seeing. There is something for everyone on this list, and within each film are observations, messages and themes that are likely to resonate with the values that conservatives hold so dearly. Get your list out and clear your weekend and make sure you check out each of these films.

P.S. We’ve made a list of 20 survival movies you should watch here.

via Modern Survival Online https://ift.tt/3xeYI7Q

Lucid Dreaming | Fed up with semi-lucidity

Hi, I am getting fed up with semi-lucidity. As I said before, I get a lot of semi-lucid dreams and I would love some advice (I would love to hear from Sivason or Sageous but every opinion is very welcome). This is going to be long, I’ll add a tldr.

As a sort of definition, semi-lucidity is some level of awareness (that I am dreaming). True lucidity is awareness of this awareness. I know and I know that I know.
To give some examples (almost all of them are very recent):

Implicit
- Lack of fear
- Lack of consequences
- Knowing this isn’t real
- Considering the dream something else - a story, daydream, game, VR
- Reflection: “I would be scared in a location like this IRL.”
- Reflection: “Really?” (towards the dreaming mind/subconscious)
- Reflection: “I like this setting.”
- Reflection: “This looks almost like exploring in my lucid dreams.”
- Indirect dream control: (in a tram) “I don’t have a ticket… Nah, it will be fine, just don’t think about a ticket inspector.”
- Direct dream control (setting-dependant)

Explicit
- Reflection: “Cool, I’ve always wanted a dream like this.”
- Reflection: “These things happen in dreams.”
- Reflection: “That’s interesting that I can feel so sad in a dream.”
- “Of course this is a dream. But how do you know that?” (to a DC)
- Storyline setting - Inception plot, machine taking me to a dream (can be false lucid)

I am ok with implicit semi-lucidity. A large percentage of my dreams is like that and I think it is just how I dream. But the explicit semi-lucidity (or almost explicit) semi-lucidity bothers me.
Usually, these dreams are seen as fitting into one of these groups: 1) Newbies who are getting closer to a real lucid, 2) Very experienced life-long lucid dreamers who get LDs often and the rest of their dreams is like this, as a side effect.
The problem is, I am neither. I have experience with dreaming but as a kid, I was perfectly happy with these semis (I actually considered them lucid before knowing better and I hadn’t realized how much more real lucids can offer, even though I’d had real lucids too). So basically, I am worried that by loving and encouraging these dreams as a kid, I created a habit for myself or a way how I dream. And that they actually prevent me from going fully lucid.
I tried to focus more on dreamsigns recently and that made it apparent - encounters with dreamsigns lead to explicit semis for me. I think “this is weird, why is this happening” and I find the answer “because it is a dream” and then I continue non-lucidly. The fact that I am dreaming is so obvious to my brain that there is no need to wake up the relevant parts of the brain. No aha moment, no need to do anything.
Imagine the strongest possible dream sign - a DC saying “this is a dream”. Out of 100 times this happens, I just can’t imagine myself saying “nah, this has to be real”, not even once. 100 times out of 100 it would be something like “of course it is”. But how many times would I be able to detach myself from the dream and go fully lucid? I don’t know but last time it happened, I went explicitly semi-lucid. I can imagine answering “yeah, so what?”.
Don’t get me wrong, I love these dreams. They have one of the best storylines and they are usually vivid and remembered well. But I have some goals and to work on these goals, I need to be lucid more often than I am. If I could turn a large portion of the explicitly semi-lucid dreams into real lucids, my frequency of LDs would increase significantly.

So, how to do that? I’ve been thinking that there has to be some MILD-ish way (intention setting, auto-suggestion and similar) how to work with it. Setting an intention to do a specific task in my dreams (RC, looking at my hands or some personal ritual like clapping my hands?) rather than just recognizing that I am dreaming?
Or am I looking at it in a completely wrong way and I am missing something fundamental? Maybe more memory - I need to remember the significance of figuring out that I am dreaming? Or simply more awareness, to think more clearly when it happens? All of the above? How would you design a daytime practice to achieve this?

As a step aside, maybe I should simply focus on DEILD? If I could have one DEILD per week and one WILD per week, I can imagine living without DILDs. But I still like something about them and would love to have some.

Tl;dr: I am getting a lot of semi-lucid dreams and want to turn at least some of them into fully lucid. What type of practice should I use?

via Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Attaining Lucidity https://ift.tt/3rjmWMS

Washington D.C. Knife Laws

The capitol of the United States is not quite as hard on knives as it is on guns. Citizens are still allowed to openly carry or concealed carry the majority of knives so long as they do so with some discretion and are willing to contend with a list of restricted places that is as long as your arm.

The only kinds of knives that are outright banned in Washington D.C. are knuckle knives and switchblades.

One may legally carry openly any knife with a utilitarian purpose that is not a switchblade or knuckle knife, or carry concealed any knife that is not a switchblade, knuckle knife or some other deadly or dangerous weapon.

It is far from green grass and clear skies for knife owners in Washington D.C., but it is not the most restrictive place in the land. We will provide you with a summary of D.C.’s knife laws below and also include the exact text of the relevant statutes at the end for you to review yourself.

What You Need to Know

• What Kind of Knives Can I Own?: Any kind of knife except a switchblade or knuckle knife.
• Can I Carry a Knife Concealed Without a Permit?: Yes, except an illegal knife or “deadly or dangerous weapon”.
• Can I Carry a Knife Concealed With a Permit?: N/A
• Can I Carry a Knife Openly?: Yes, so long as it is a knife with a “utilitarian purpose” and not an illegal category of knife.

General Ownership

Washington D.C. band outright the possession any switchblade knife or any knuckle weapon, which would presumably apply to any knife that has an integrated knuckleduster or oversized D-type handguard which can be used as a secondary striking implement.

The statues also say that no person may possess with unlawful intent to use against another any dagger, dirk, razor, stiletto or any knife with a blade longer than 3 inches or any other dangerous weapon.

This is getting into tricky territory. Any kind of switchblade with any other characteristics is expressly illegal in Washington D.C., but nominally any of the other listed types of knives are legal so long as they are not possessed with unlawful intent.

Now, a strict “literalist” interpretation is that you may possess any other kind of knife you please because you do not have any intentions of doing anything illegal with it.

But Washington D.C. is a very liberal area and one that is definitelynot pro-Second Amendment. You might be skirting the line if you choose to carry any knife that could be definitively slotted into one of those categories.

If you are wise, you will hedge your bets by carrying as plain and ordinary a folding pocket knife as possible, and keeping the blade length below 3 inches.

Concealed Carry, No Permit

You may not carry on or about your person any knife that is classified as a deadly or dangerous weapon, nor may you carry any switchblade knife or knife with integrated knuckleduster handguard.

What is a deadly or dangerous weapon? The statutes do not define the term in the singular or plural.

Since Washington D.C. has a proud and checkered history of Prosecuting weapons violations, and the penalties for those violations are quite strict in the district, you would be well advised to carry as ordinary a folding pocket knife as possible while also taking care to keep the blade length below 3 in.

Using this methodology you can at least be assured that your chosen knife does not fit obviously into any of the prohibited categories.

Concealed Carry, With Permit

Washington D.C. makes no distinction between carrying a knife with a permit as opposed to without. A concealed weapons permit will only grant additional permissions to people who are carrying a firearm, not a knife.

Open Carry

You may openly carry any knife in the district that has a strict utilitarian purpose and is not an otherwise illegal category of knife. Do so only with the greatest possible discretion, as aggressive policing and harsh penalties for violations of knife-related statutes means you might be punished unduly if a scene results from your carrying of any knife.

Prohibited Places

You may not carry any knife into any property that is under the control of or run by the District of Columbia. You may also not carry any knife onto the grounds of a school or into any school structure or into any recreation zone.

The reader is also advised not to carry any knife into or onto private property that has banned the entrance of firearms.

Assessment

Washington D.C. is not as restrictive as some people imagine, but it is still plenty restrictive enough, and has correspondingly harsh penalties for violators of its knife statutes.

You still have access to a variety of knives in D.C., but due to loose wording of the statutes you will be advised to keep your selection on the more mundane or pedestrian side of the scale.

One must also be cautious where you take your knife while in the district since many places forbid the carrying of knives completely.

Important Washington D.C. State Statutes

22–4501. Definitions

…

(3) “Knuckles” means an object, whether made of metal, wood, plastic, or other similarly durable material that is constructed of one piece, the outside part of which is designed to fit over and cover the fingers on a hand and the inside part of which is designed to be gripped by the fist.

…

(6A) “Place of business” shall have the same meaning as provided in § 7-2501.01(12A).

(7) “Playground” means any facility intended for recreation, open to the public, and with any portion of the facility that contains one or more separate apparatus intended for the recreation of children, including, but not limited to, sliding boards, swingsets, and teeterboards.

…

(9) “Sell” and “purchase” and the various derivatives of such words shall be construed to include letting on hire, giving, lending, borrowing, and otherwise transferring.

…

22–4504. Carrying concealed weapons; possession of weapons during commission of crime of violence; penalty.

(a) No person shall carry within the District of Columbia either openly or concealed on or about their person, a pistol, without a license issued pursuant to District of Columbia law, or any deadly or dangerous weapon. Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in § 22-4515, except that:

(1) A person who violates this section by carrying a pistol, without a license issued pursuant to District of Columbia law, or any deadly or dangerous weapon, in a place other than the person’s dwelling place, place of business, or on other land possessed by the person, shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both; or

(2) If the violation of this section occurs after a person has been convicted in the District of Columbia of a violation of this section or of a felony, either in the District of Columbia or another jurisdiction, the person shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

(a-1) Except as otherwise permitted by law, no person shall carry within the District of Columbia a rifle or shotgun. A person who violates this subsection shall be subject to the criminal penalties set forth in subsection (a)(1) and (2) of this section.

(b) No person shall within the District of Columbia possess a pistol, machine gun, shotgun, rifle, or any other firearm or imitation firearm while committing a crime of violence or dangerous crime as defined in § 22-4501. Upon conviction of a violation of this subsection, the person may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 15 years and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a mandatory-minimum term of not less than 5 years and shall not be released on parole, or granted probation or suspension of sentence, prior to serving the mandatory-minimum sentence.

(c) In addition to any other penalty provided under this section, a person may be fined an amount not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01.

…

22–4514. Possession of certain dangerous weapons prohibited; exceptions.

(a) No person shall within the District of Columbia possess any machine gun, sawed-off shotgun, knuckles, or any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slungshot, sand club, sandbag, switchblade knife, nor any instrument, attachment, or appliance for causing the firing of any firearm to be silent or intended to lessen or muffle the noise of the firing of any firearms; provided, however, that machine guns, or sawed-off shotgun, knuckles, and blackjacks may be possessed by the members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps of the United States, the National Guard, or Organized Reserves when on duty, the Post Office Department or its employees when on duty, marshals, sheriffs, prison or jail wardens, or their deputies, policemen, or other duly-appointed law enforcement officers, including any designated civilian employee of the Metropolitan Police Department, or officers or employees of the United States duly authorized to carry such weapons, banking institutions, public carriers who are engaged in the business of transporting mail, money, securities, or other valuables, wholesale dealers and retail dealers licensed under § 22-4510.

(b) No person shall within the District of Columbia possess, with intent to use unlawfully against another, an imitation pistol, or a dagger, dirk, razor, stiletto, or knife with a blade longer than 3 inches, or other dangerous weapon.

(c) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in § 22-4515 unless the violation occurs after such person has been convicted in the District of Columbia of a violation of this section, or of a felony, either in the District of Columbia or in another jurisdiction, in which case such person shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years.

(d) In addition to any other penalty provided under this section, a person may be fined an amount not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01.

§ 22–4505. Exceptions to § 22-4504.

(a) The provisions of §§ 22-4504(a) and 22-4504(a-1) shall not apply to:

(1) Marshals, sheriffs, prison or jail wardens, or their deputies, policemen or other duly appointed law enforcement officers, including special agents of the Office of Tax and Revenue, authorized in writing by the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the Office of Tax and Revenue to carry a firearm while engaged in the performance of their official duties, and criminal investigators of the Office of the Inspector General, designated in writing by the Inspector General, while engaged in the performance of their official duties;

(2) Special police officers and campus police officers who carry a firearm in accordance with D.C. Official Code § 5-129.02, and rules promulgated pursuant to that section;

(3) Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps of the United States or of the National Guard or Organized Reserves when on duty, or to the regularly enrolled members of any organization duly authorized to purchase or receive such weapons from the United States; provided, that such members are at or are going to or from their places of assembly or target practice;

(4) Officers or employees of the United States duly authorized to carry a concealed pistol;

(5) Any person engaged in the business of manufacturing, repairing, or dealing in firearms, or the agent or representative of any such person having in his or her possession, using, or carrying a pistol in the usual or ordinary course of such business; and

(6) Any person while carrying a pistol, transported in accordance with § 22-4504.02, from the place of purchase to his or her home or place of business or to a place of repair or back to his or her home or place of business or in moving goods from one place of abode or business to another, or to or from any lawful recreational firearm-related activity.

(b) The provisions of § 22-4504(a) with respect to pistols shall not apply to a police officer who has retired from the Metropolitan Police Department, if the police officer has registered a pistol and it is concealed on or about the police officer.

(c) For the purposes of subsection (a)(6) of this section, the term “recreational firearm-related activity” includes a firearms training and safety class.

22–4503.02. Prohibition of firearms from public or private property.

(a) The District of Columbia may prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on its property and any property under its control.

(b) Private persons or entities owning property in the District of Columbia may prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on their property; provided, that this subsection shall not apply to law enforcement personnel when lawfully authorized to enter onto private property.

…

22–4502.01. Gun free zones; enhanced penalty.

(a) All areas within, 1000 feet of an appropriately identified public or private day care center, elementary school, vocational school, secondary school, college, junior college, or university, or any public swimming pool, playground, video arcade, youth center, or public library, or in and around public housing as defined in section 3(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, approved August 22, 1974 (88 Stat. 654; 42 U.S.C. § 1437a(b)), the development or administration of which is assisted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or in or around housing that is owned, operated, or financially assisted by the District of Columbia Housing Authority, or an event sponsored by any of the above entities shall be declared a gun free zone. For the purposes of this subsection, the term “appropriately identified” means that there is a sign that identifies the building or area as a gun free zone.

(b) Any person illegally carrying a gun within a gun free zone shall be punished by a fine up to twice that otherwise authorized to be imposed, by a term of imprisonment up to twice that otherwise authorized to be imposed, or both.

(c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a person legally licensed to carry a firearm in the District of Columbia who lives or works within 1000 feet of a gun free zone or to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps of the United States; the National Guard or Organized Reserves when on duty; the Post Office Department or its employees when on duty; marshals, sheriffs, prison, or jail wardens, or their deputies; policemen or other duly-appointed law enforcement officers; officers or employees of the United States duly authorized to carry such weapons; banking institutions; public carriers who are engaged in the business of transporting mail, money, securities, or other valuables; and licensed wholesale or retail dealers.

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7 Clever Survival Uses of Potassium Permanganate

Savvy prepping means being prepared for anything, and since time, resources and materials are always limited clever preppers will rely on choice gear and provision selections that can be used for a variety of purposes, or adaptable to different situations.

Flexibility is key when you never know just what you’ll be facing day to day. Some foundational knowledge of simple chemistry can allow a person to make use of common, affordable chemical compounds for a variety of purposes in the field, at home and in the workshop.

One standout compound that all preppers should familiarize them themselves with is potassium permanganate, a compound that sees wide use in all sorts of industrial and scientific settings for a variety of purposes.

Its antiseptic properties are renowned, as are its high reactivity and strong oxidizing qualities. Despite these characteristics, it rarely produces toxic byproducts when it does react with anything, allowing us to employ it safely for our own purposes.

Potassium permanganate is one compound you will definitely want in your survival stash, and to help get you prepared for making the most of this shockingly purple chemical we will be sharing with you a list of seven clever survival uses for it. Grab your goggles and your lab gloves and let’s get going.

What is Potassium Permanganate and Where does it Come From?

Potassium permanganate is an inorganic chemical compound, widely used in laboratory and chemical industry settings. It is useful because it is a strong oxidizer and also has potent antiseptic qualities.

It appears as a crystal, similar in size and shape to coarse salt, but has a startling, deep purple color. When dissolved in water, the resulting solution will appear anywhere from almost black, to royal purple to light pink depending on concentration.

Despite its strong oxidizing characteristics, it does not generate any toxic byproducts, and this lends it to medicinal use as well as specialty uses in the production or refinement of other chemicals.

In fact, it is so useful in medicinal settings it is on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines, medicines which are rated as among the most effective and the safest, needed in any health setting.

Potassium permanganate is typically produced at the industrial level from manganese dioxide, naturally occurring as pyrolucite. It is also capable of being oxidized from chlorine under certain conditions, although this method has no commercial relevance compared to more typical methods of production.

Although easy enough to create the production of potassium permanganate worldwide ranges anywhere from 25,000 to 33,000 tons.

Although it is generally safe as far as strong oxidizers go contact with skin will leave a brown stain that is both persistent and extremely dark, so don’t get any on you.

Again, it is this quality as a strong oxidizer that makes potassium permanganate useful, and that includes useful at an individual level so long as you use a little caution in handling and preparation. That’s enough for the safety lesson, let’s get to our list.

Safe Handling Guidelines for Potassium Permanganate

Before we get to the fun part of learning what potassium permanganate can do for you, we need to have a short safety brief. Though overwhelmingly safe compared to many chemicals out in the world you might encounter, this stuff can still definitely hurt you if you aren’t paying attention or are ignorant to the dangerous conditions it can create.

In short, potassium permanganate poses a hazard if it is inhaled, ingested (in high concentrations), makes contact with your eyes or remains on your skin. It is an oxidizer, and corrosive, and though it is not as corrosive as many acids it is more than capable of harming you. 

Exposure Symptoms and Effects:

• Inhalation; sore throat, irritation of respiratory tract, irritation of mucous membranes. High concentrations can make breathing difficult. Long term health risk of lung edema.
• Skin Contact; Irritation, tingling sensation, brown staining. Prolonged contact causes burns and corrosion of tissue.
• Eye Contact; Inflammation of eye tissue, corrosion of eye tissue. Prolonged contact causes permanent eye damage.
• Ingestion; Nausea, vomiting diarrhea likely. Irritation of stomach and intestinal mucosa. Ingestion of large quantities may cause esophageal perforation, shock, slow heartbeat, lowered blood pressure, respiratory difficulties and laryngeal spasms.

Treatment and First-Aid Measures: Treatment of the above symptoms is fairly simple, though you should always seek immediate medical care and contact poison control specialists if in doubt. For skin and eye contact, remove all clothing and eyewear/contact lenses before flushing with water continuously for at least 15 minutes.

If clothing or contacts cannot be removed due not remove by force. Inhalation should see the victim moved to fresh air away from the exposure site. Monitor for breathing difficulties. If ingested, give victim large quantities of fresh water to drink. Do not induce vomiting.

At no time should any neutralizing agents be administered topically or orally in case of potassium permanganate exposure! Water is all that is required!

Protective Measures: Gloves and face shield for handling of typical, crystalline form. If dust hazard exists respiratory protection must be used. Atmospheric reactivity hazards mandate use of gas-tight suit. See SDS for more info.

7 Clever Uses of Potassium Permanganate

General Disinfectant Solution

Potassium permanganate solution made with water forms an excellent general purpose disinfectant, and is also particularly hostile to cholera. It can be used for cleaning surfaces, rinsing out wounds and any other task where cleansing germs is a goal.

Considering the potassium permanganate crystals may be of varying sizes and varying quality calculating exactly how much you should or should not add to a given quantity of water to produce a disinfectant solution of a particular strength is challenging.

Luckily, we have a “prepper friendly” method that is easy enough to do even in austere environments without measuring tools. All you need to do is add potassium permanganate crystals, one by one, carefully, to a given quantity of water before stirring and agitating the water.

You should notice the water darkening, starting out a pale pink or rose color before progressing through proper pink and into purple. When your solution turns properly purple, it is ready to be used as a disinfectant.

Take care, because as you might have guessed anything you use potassium permanganate on that is stainable will be stained the same, purple color!

Fungicide

Potassium permanganate solution is highly hostile towards a wide variety of fungi, and works well as a soak or topical application for curing fungal infections of the hands and feet, or ridding soft gear of fungal infestation.

To accomplish this, you’ll follow the same procedure that you did for creating a general disinfectant solution, adding potassium permanganate crystals one by one to your quantity of water and stirring until the water turns purple.

Then all you need to do is immerse your hands or feet in the solution for up to 10 minutes, or even longer if no discomfort is felt. Repeated treatments should eventually eradicate all but the most persistent of fungal infestations.

I do have some bad news though, as your hands and feet will definitely be stained purple or turn a brownish color from the process. That’s a small price to pay for ridding yourself of a nasty infection, though, eh?

Against Persistent Skin Infections

The same qualities that make potassium permanganate so effective as a disinfectant and fungicide make it helpful for treating persistent skin infections like dermatitis, pemphigus and impetigo along with a variety of ulcers.

It can help treat these conditions by attacking the underlying bacteriological and virological agitators responsible.

Once again, a solution of potassium permanganate is what is called for, though one not quite as strong as the purple variation we used for general disinfection and fungal eradication.

Add the crystals to your water one by one while stirring, same as before, only you should stop when the solution reaches a dark pink/magenta or light purple color. Then mop the solution onto the affected area before applying a compress wetted with the solution and holding it in place.

Once again a 10 to 20 minute application should be done for starters, no more than a couple of times a day. Stop and assess the situation if any significant discomfort or worsening of the condition results.

Water Purification

Potassium permanganate has many applications when it comes to the treatment of water supplies in various settings and also water purification for drinking.

However, this must be done with particular attention paid to utilizing the correct ratios because too high a concentration of potassium permanganate in drinking water can become toxic very quickly.

Potassium permanganate is effective at killing many bacteria even in low concentrations but higher concentrations must be used to reliably kill viruses. This can make it a dodgy proposition, as total microbiological control can start encroaching on the “danger zone”, but nonetheless one that is viable and sees use all around the world today.

According to our methodology above, potassium permanganate crystals should be added to the sourced water after it has been filtered as best you can manage.

Once again add the crystals one at a time until the water barely turns pink, no more, and then give it 30 minutes to work before drinking. If viruses are a particular concern add one more crystal and then stir before giving it another 30 minutes.

For larger quantities of water or better efficacy in use careful measuring and metering of application should be employed. See the provided link for more information.

Potassium permanganate is also useful for removing iron and hydrogen sulfide from natural water sources, particularly well water. This improves taste, and also most notably gets rid of that nasty, sulfurous smell that is sometimes present.

Fruit and Veggie Wash

Potassium permanganate solution is an excellent disinfectant, as we have learned, but it is surprisingly effective at eliminating cholera, a nasty bug that is often contracted when eating contaminated food.

For this reason potassium permanganate is especially well suited to use as a fruit and vegetable wash to increase food safety. A follow-up rinse with fresh water will eliminate any residue from the solution and then the food will be ready to eat or prepare.

You’ll prepare the solution just like you always do, one crystal at a time, and this time you are gunning for a light to medium purple color.

Take a clean cloth, dip it in the solution and then wipe the fruit or veggies in question down fastidiously or alternately you can immerse them in the solution before shaking them off, and leaving them to sit for a few minutes prior to rinsing with fresh water.

It’s just that easy, and you won’t have to worry about any nasty germs on your fruit and veggies. Also, fun fact, potassium permanganate effectively neutralizes the production of ethylene by bananas, a compound that is released by the bananas as they ripen. Eliminating or otherwise neutralizing this chemical will greatly increase the shelf life of your bananas.

Fire Starter

As mentioned in the companion article on glycerin, if you combine equal parts glycerin and potassium permanganate the two together will produce a reaction that results in tremendous heat and momentarily thereafter intense purple flames, more than capable of getting a roaring fire going or starting one even on damp kindling.

Potassium permanganate is as said a vital part of this chemical reaction, though in a pinch you may use antifreeze as a replacement for glycerin (though the reaction will be more violent and hazardous).

When you combine the potassium permanganate and glycerin (or antifreeze) step back and be ready for it as it will only take a few moments for them to ignite. Have your primary fuel ready to take advantage of this.

Just a reminder, never, ever use the same spoon or measuring device to move or administer the potassium permanganate that you do the glycerin, or vice versa, as you can start an extremely violent chain reaction in a large quantity of either.

Marking Snow

If you have never seen it in person before, it is difficult to overstate just how shockingly pretty potassium permanganate can be, including its solutions. The crystals themselves are a mysterious, purple black color that wouldn’t look out of place in a fantasy setting.

Any solutions made from these crystals have a remarkably bright purple color until it starts trending towards a dark purple-black again with higher concentrations.

When kept at a bright, vivid medium purple, this solution makes a fantastic dye for snow, as its color and contrast are both capable of being seen from great distance.

Considering how easy it is to make large quantities of potassium permanganate solution this can allow you to scale an SOS or warning message in the snow as large as you need to ensure it will be seen, especially by aerial rescuers.

Considering how useful potassium permanganate is as a disinfectant, for water purification and now for marking and snowy environments it is no wonder that a packet of the stuff is typically included in old school survival kits.

Storing Potassium Permanganate

Potassium permanganate is highly reactive, and a potent oxidizer, and therefore you must take some care in storing it properly to ensure it maintains its efficacy and that you don’t suffer any accidents or unwanted effects.

It should be kept in an opaque container made from steel, aluminum, glass or porcelain with a sealing lid. Keep the container out of direct sunlight and in a dry area.

You should not store it near any metal powders, cellulosic powders, alcohols, peroxides or organic materials. Also make sure to keep it away from any sources of heat!

So long as you follow these simple requirements you can reliably and safely use potassium permanganate.

Conclusion

Potassium permanganate is a strongly reactive oxidizer and has excellent disinfectant qualities, allowing it to serve equally well as a surface or wound disinfectant, a fruit and vegetable wash, a fungicidal dip and as a water purification additive.

Combined with glycerin it creates a chemical reaction producing extreme heat and a blazing flame, so superior for getting a fire started in damp or otherwise inadequate kindling.

This is another chemical that all preppers should get acquainted with, as it can do a lot for you with very little investment so long as you use a little common sense and care in its employment.

Review the uses on this list and add a quantity of potassium permanganate crystals to your survival stash today.

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Are Bandages Good Past the Expiration Date?

Nothing made by man will last indefinitely even when it isn’t being used. This is certainly true for medical supplies. There is no drug that will not start to degrade over time and no piece of equipment that will not eventually wear out or rust away. That is easy to understand for those two categories but what about soft goods like bandages?

Will bandages expire or wear out from lack of use? No, most common bandages don’t have expiration dates, however all bandages break down over time, and lose their sterility. Time will eventually claim all things, and even the simplest of bandages is vulnerable to dry rot, loss of adhesion, and other factors.

These bandages were kept in the bathroom for several years and it shows. They can still help in a pinch if need be, though getting new ones is probably best.

You should not take it for granted that the fundamentals require no care, no rotation and no maintenance. Trying to rely on bad or out of date bandages might result in your medical intervention failing when you can least afford it. Keep reading to learn the ins and outs of maintaining and rotating bandages of all kinds.

Bandage Components and Vulnerability

Generally speaking, the more advanced the bandage the more likely it is that it has a legitimate shelf life. As mentioned above, any bandage that has incorporated a sort of medicine or other chemical agent for various purposes is more than likely going to have a genuine expiration date that should be printed on the package. These are the bandages you’ll have to watch the closest.

The next bandages you should keep an eye on are any incorporating an adhesive component, like the humble Band-Aid, or any bandage that has a coating or outer layer that is designed to stick to itself. These adhesives and coatings will quite simply break down over time, eventually losing their adhesive quality entirely or performing erratically.

Lastly, traditional gauze bandages or bandages made from other materials woven together can still be made ineffective overtime by exposure to varying atmospheric conditions, friction and other forces. Even if your bandages remain in their original packaging they could still fail after a long period of time.

Keep reading to learn about the various factors you’ll have to keep an eye on.

Temperature, Weather, Humidity

One of the biggest impacts on your bandages lifespan and survivability will come from atmospheric conditions. Things like the overall temperature, temperature swings, humidity and more all play a part.

Bandages kept in a cool, dark, dry place will last far longer than ones that have to deal with major temperature swings, high humidity and constant bombardment from UV rays.

Unfortunately, our first-aid kits have to go where we go in order to be there when we need them and that means they are typically exposed to the same atmospherics that we are.

The only way to counter this inescapable fact is to do what you can to keep your bandages safe from humidity and rough weather, and keep a vigilant check on them for any signs of degradation.

If your first-aid kit goes with you as part of an EDC kit or a go bag that means it’s probably going to be spending some time in your car, at least some of the time.

The interior of vehicles can become screaming hot or bitterly cold in no time depending on the climate and that means your bandages will have to put up with some punishment.

The same thing is worth considering if you take your kit with you into a particularly wet or even highly humid environment. Moisture is the enemy of all kinds of things and particularly harmful to soft goods where it will lead to mold, rot and other degradation.

If you live near the coast or take your first-aid kit with you out on the water (to say nothing of getting it completely soaked by rain or immersion) you can depend on your bandages going bad more quickly than they would otherwise.

Even some things you might not expect like heavy perspiration from your body, and the case of an on body carried first-aid kit and dirt, dust and grit accumulation from wind or just adventures out in the world can slowly and surely start to gnaw its way through the packaging of your bandages, compromising them.

Inspect Your Bandages to Avoid Surprises

You might be surprised to learn that the vast majority of bandages (and especially conventional bandages without any adhesives or other added components) typically lack an expiration date entirely.

This is not without reason, as most conventional bandages don’t really have any ingredients to expire even if they can degrade to the point of uselessness over time.

Obviously any bandage that has medicines or other chemical components built into it can and will expire and you should judiciously follow the manufacturer’s expiry date but aside from that, and including adhesive advantages, figuring out when the bandages in your personal first-aid kit are passed their “sell-by” date takes a little inspection.

Some of the signs and indicators are obvious but others are more subtle. Whenever you are doing periodic inspections and maintenance on your first-aid kit, keep an eye out for any of these indicators below.

“I’ve had these how long?” – This isn’t a symptom so much as an indicator that you need to toss the bandages and get new ones if you honestly cannot remember when or where you acquired the bandages in your first-aid kit they are probably too old and you shouldn’t risk using them. Time to order new ones or relegate these to training duty.

Mold, Discoloration – Discoloration is often an indicator that bandages have been exposed to UV light over a long period of time or are simply very old.

Same thing counts for the package. Also an obvious sign of bad bandages is any mold, fungus or other weird growth on the packaging or the bandages themselves. Don’t chance it, get rid of them.

Loss of or poor Adhesion – For any of your bandages that feature adhesive or other self-cling characteristics it is worth taking a sample out of a given group in order to check the adhesive for proper performance. Lowered, erratic or total loss of stickiness is a prime indicator that the bandages are too old and need to be tossed.

Stiff, crumbly or brittle Feel – Any bandage of any kind should be more or less flexible and feel like cloth that is in good shape. If at any time your bandages feel too rigid, strangely elastic or even brittle they have probably become a victim of dry rot, or some other malady. At any rate, you should not trust them and they should be replaced post-haste.

Helpful Hints for Rotating Your Bandages

As mentioned above, the very worst thing you can do is go to attempt a medical intervention only to find out that your bandages are unusable or greatly deteriorated. Rely on the following procedures in order to prolong the usable life of your bandages, and rotate them out when appropriate.

Date Them – You should date your bandages just like you date any other supply that might need to be rotated.

You can mark on the package with indelible marker as long as you are confident that it will not leach through and potentially compromise the sterility of the bandage. If in doubt, keep a notebook or some other log with the date that you purchased your current batch of bandages.

Keep them Sealed – If your bandages come in a sterile wrapper, you generally want to keep them that way unless you have a good reason to remove them. Not only will this help keep them sterile and safe to use, it will also extend their lifespan considerably over repacking them in a pouch, holder or some other compartment.

Maintain your Pouch / Bag – Whatever you store the contents of your first-aid kit inside, be it a case, pouch, bag or whatever take pains to keep it clean inside and out.

Dust, dirt and various other kinds of grit will only accelerate wear on both your first-aid kit itself and the bandages it contains. Don’t treat it like a doormat! Keep in mind that this kit contains lifesaving supplies and it should be treated accordingly.

Conclusion

The bandages in your first-aid kit will not necessarily expire unless they have a medicinal or blood-clotting component, but even common bandages can wear out over time due to exposure and bandages with adhesive properties we’ll begin to degrade similarly. Prevent a failure by rotating and inspecting your bandages as you would any other part of your supplies or kit.

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Bivy vs Tent: Which is Best for You?

You have to admit, folks who use outdoor gear regularly are definitely passionate about their choices, and one of the most spirited arguments in this category is on the subject of shelter. Bivies and tents are the two most popular outdoor shelter options available, and each has a legion of zealous fans that argue the merits of their choice over the other seemingly without end. This can make it easy for a beginner in the sector to wind up with a case of analysis paralysis.

Which is best between a tent and a bivy? Both are viable. The answer is whichever one better serves your purposes. Tents have the advantage in spaciousness but, they are somewhat bulkier and heavier than bivies. Bivies are just the opposite, lighter and more compact, but they are definitely cramped quarters on the inside. Either can keep the weather off of you, and help you keep warm and do it well.

Now, lest you think that is a cop-out answer given in an effort to get everyone to settle down and get along, we are prepared to go into more detail and a thorough analysis in the remainder of this article. Does one have an edge over the other? Is there one that is clearly superior for certain people? Find out below!

Bivies and Tents Compared

Category	Tent	Bivy
Cost	Can be spendy, several hundred to over $1,000.	Significantly less expensive than tents of comparable quality, usually $200 or less
Setup	Multipart frames, ground covers and other requirements take time to assemble correctly.	Quick and easy to set up, usually 5 minutes or less.
Weight/Bulk	Can weigh several pounds. Frame adds weight and bulk. “Flyweight” tents can be expensive and fragile.	The choice for weight savings. Rarely weighs more than a couple pounds complete. Packs down small.
Space	Even small tents are spacious, allowing room to sit up, change and shelter your gear in addition.	Cramped, by design. Can feel claustrophobic. Very little room to spare if any.
Other	Tents are easy to seal against pests, especially insects, and have better ventilation than bivies most times.	Bivies suffer horribly from condensation, enough to soak you and your sleeping bag in the wrong conditions. Also highly permeable to pests compared to tents.

Cost

Before you even get underway, one of the factors you should compare between tents and bivies is the cost. The old saying is that there is a shoe for every foot, and to us this means that there is a bivy or a tent for any budget, no matter how cheap.

While most of our readers don’t need me to warn them against purchasing any dedicated survival gear that is too cheap lest it fails to do the job they bought it to do, if you compare apples to apples a bivy will always be less expensive than a tent.

First, there is significantly less fabric needed to construct a bivy. They are much smaller and this means less material requirements. Much of the time this materials cost savings gets passed on to the purchaser.

Tents are larger, and also have multi-part and sometimes complicated frames as part of their construction in the bargain. As the features and options of a tent increase so too does the cost.

It is an easy thing to spend $400 or more on a decent, compact tent. A bivy of equivalent quality will usually cost less than $200. If you’re trying to survive on a strict financial budget, a bivy might well be the best option.

Setup

It is worth considering the setup time of your chosen shelter. Whether you are out on a pleasure hike or desperately trying to make tracks during a bug out you will have plenty to do and only a limited amount of daylight to get it done.

Anytime spent setting up or tearing down your camp is time that is not spent doing something else, such as resting, preparing food, reviewing your route or maintaining gear.

Typically there is no comparison between tents and bivies when it comes to setup and tear down time. Bivies, in accordance with their minimalist nature, can usually be set up and torn down then stowed in just a few minutes, with the majority taking less than 5 minutes to set up by a practiced person and many taking less than 2 minutes.

Tents on the other hand are a mixed bag. Modern tents designed with an eye towards user-friendliness often have just a few frame components that have to be snapped together before being inserted or otherwise attached to the tent shell itself.

Depending on terrain, practice and other factors this can take anywhere from 8 minutes to upwards of 15. Old fashioned or primitive tents can take significantly longer.

Weight / Bulk

So long as you are considering modern tents and bivies, the weight savings between the two might not be so substantial. Pretty much every bivy weighs less than a couple of pounds, and the best modern examples weigh just a scant few ounces.

For folks in the ultralight backpacking community or preppers who are counting every gram that they add to their bug out bags, a bivy is probably going to be the winner based on weight savings and lack of bulk alone.

Modern tents can be quite lightweight also, weighing as little as a few pounds, but it is the frame that so often dramatically increases weight and bulk. This might not make one lick of difference to you if you are traveling by vehicle, but when you have to carry it you’ll be paying a lot more attention, I promise.

Nonetheless, modern, synthetic tents are feathery light, and combined with alloy or synthetic frame members your whole tent might weigh only five to ten pounds. Old fashioned canvas tents, however, can weigh a ton and weigh even more if they get wet.

man in bivvy bag on mountain

Space

There is no contest here; even the smallest tent affords far more room to maneuver than any bivy. A compact tent will still allow you plenty of room to sit up, bring your pack inside with you and even wriggle out of wet or dirty clothing before changing with privacy, assuming you are camping among other people and not in the middle of nowhere.

It is also just plain nice to have a little extra room to breathe without the walls closing in on you! Larger tents can sleep multiple people, even a whole family, with no problem.

Bivies, on the other hand, are by design as compact as possible, barely containing enough room to hold a sleeping bag with a slightly larger, flared end that gives you a little bit of headroom and not much else.

This is a double-edged sword, as we will discuss, but considering creature comfort some folks suffer from a feeling of claustrophobia inside of bivy, and those people who suffer from genuine claustrophobia often have a hard time getting comfortable and nodding off to sleep.

If you need additional room for any purpose, and especially for bringing your gear inside with you to keep it out of the elements, a tent is pretty much your de facto choice. The bivy has many other advantages, but they might count for nothing if they don’t afford you enough space to get meaningful rest or do the other things you need to do.

Other

A couple other things to think about. Bivies have a major weak spot in that they are notorious for accumulating condensation which will then drip, drip, drip down onto your face, onto your sleeping bag and elsewhere generally driving you crazy and soaking your gear.

Aside from being a Grade Five pain in the ass, you then have to deal with the problem of wet, soggy gear and either drying it out or packing it up and risking mildew. Tents are much better in this regard owing to their larger internal volume and better ventilation.

Speaking of ventilation, tents are easier to seal up against intruders of the insect and mammal variety.

Anybody who has ever gone out properly camping deep in nature knows that the profusion of insects and other inquisitive creatures is far, far greater than you could expect from your local KOA or any residential setting.

The zippered door or flap of a tent allows you to easily close off the interior against intruders. Bivies, on the other hand, are very difficult to seal in a meaningful way, and that means you’ll always have to contend with insects getting in and the occasional reptilian or mammal visitor looking to get warm.

Conclusion

Is a bivy or tent better for you? That is up for you to decide, reader, but we have laid out all the factors you need to consider.

Generally speaking, the bivy is best for someone who is on a budget but still needs an outdoor shelter or someone who wants the lightest and smallest possible package at the expense of creature comfort.

A traditional tent is better for those who need more room and don’t want to struggle so much with the aggravation of a bivy at the expense of carrying around a bulkier, heavier package that is slower to set up and take down.

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29 Items from Your Kitchen That Don’t Need Electricity

There is a lot to gather if you want to be ready for a major SHTF event, and one of the foremost provisions that preppers will seek to acquire in great quantity is food.

You can’t fault that logic, as without food you’ll eventually run out of energy, be unable to put in meaningful work, and after a long and agonizing time, pass away. Food is fuel, and human beings need plenty of it.

As preppers, a considerable amount of our effort and energy is spent planning how we are going to duck out of danger, or otherwise evade it.

Bugging out, evacuating, relocating, whatever you want to call it the idea is you need to grab your most critical supplies, gather your loved ones and go.

But what if you don’t have to bug out when disaster strikes? What if you are already a homesteader living way out past the fringes of society? What if your bug-out location is a fully functional house?

There are an awful lot of folks who will still be making use of their kitchen in the aftermath of a major disaster, only now that kitchen is not likely to have any electricity.

You can still keep a working kitchen as the functional nucleus of your home if you have the right selection of non-electrical gadgets and tools to make use of. This list will show you 30 that should be a part of any post-SHTF kitchen.

Focus on the Basics

If there’s one trap that’s easy to fall into when it comes to kitchen tools and implements it is that of having too many specialized, novelty or otherwise borderline-useless gadgets.

There is a hyper-specialized tool for every conceivable operation or prep step in the kitchen, and I shudder to think how much money is wasted on drawers and cabinets full of this novelty garbage when people, including preppers, would be better served by a much smaller but more versatile arsenal of trusty standbys.

Especially for preppers, who typically appreciate multi-purpose, versatile tools, equipping your post-SHTF kitchen with the right non-electrical tools, implements and appliances will let you do more with less, stretching your budget and covering all of your culinary “bases” while taking up minimal room in your pantry, cabinets and drawers.

Don’t get suckered into buying an avocado pit extractor when you can do the same thing with any decent paring knife. You don’t need a battery operated saucepan stirrer when a spoon and a little bit of attention will do the same thing.

Get back to basics and you’ll be happier in the kitchen, but more importantly you’ll be better prepared for working in the kitchen after the lights go out!

30 Items from Your Kitchen That Don’t Need Electricity

1) Kitchen Timer

Good cooking means you need to keep one eye on the time so you don’t under- or overcook the dish in question. By this point, I would reckon that pretty much everybody uses the built-in timer on their stove or microwave, or a convenient timer app on their phone or other smart device.

For obvious reasons, in the event of a mass power outage of indeterminate length that idea will be a non-starter. But you don’t need to worry and you won’t need to guesstimate if you fall back on the trusty reliability of a mechanical kitchen timer.

2) Can Opener

I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of preppers have a sizable stash of canned goods as part of their survival food supply.

This is a great thing, but you might be shocked to learn how many well-intentioned and otherwise switched-on preppers forget to include a sturdy mechanical can opener in their survival tool kit.

Sure, a P38 or a multi-tool can opener will get you into your dinner, but it is slow, laborious and generally inefficient for anything except occasional field use. A proper crank-operated manual can opener will let you sail through the process of opening multiple cans with ease.

3) Knife

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No kitchen can be considered ready for action without a proper kitchen knife, or chef’s knife. You probably already know that this is your meal prep mainstay, and with good reason, as it can take care of heavy duty and delicate tasks alike if you have the skill.

If you are planning on keeping your kitchen operational in the aftermath of a crisis, make sure you invest in a high-quality knife that will require infrequent sharpening at worst. The time savings on maintenance will add up over time, and you’ll have plenty more to do besides work in the kitchen at a time like that.

4) Rolling Pin

For making fruit pies, hand pies, pot pies or any other dish with dough you’ll need a rolling pin to quickly and easily thin, shape and smooth it.

You can do it by hand, but you can save time and improve cleanliness by utilizing a rolling pin. Chances are you already have one of these, but if you don’t, now is the time to pick one up. You can get any style you like; you shouldn’t feel obligated to spring for the trendy stone rolling pins that are becoming popular.

Wood works fine and is the traditional option though you’ll need to work a little harder to keep it clean and sanitary. Modern synthetic rolling pins are extremely easy to take care of.

5) Tea Kettle

I don’t know about you guys, but it is very hard for me to get through my day without my morning and evening cup of tea, and I have stockpiled accordingly.

If you are making a proper cup of loose leaf tea or using trusty tea bags, you’ll still need screaming hot water to get that cup of the good stuff, and one of the best ways to heat and safely handle that hot, hot water is a classic tea kettle.

You could just use an open pot or saucepan, but these are far more prone to accident than the closed construction and ergonomic design of a proper tea kettle.

6) Percolator

Maybe tea isn’t your thing, and you pine for that pre-dawn cup of bean water instead. Nothing wrong with that, and millions upon millions of people feel the same way you do.

Unfortunately, your reliable electric drip coffee maker will be one of the first casualties of a downed power grid, and if you don’t have any way to generate your own electricity you’ll be in a bind when it comes to getting your fix of joe.

Take a page from your grandparent’s playbook and get yourself a percolator. All you’ll need to do is add water, add coffee and then heat the whole contraption up. If that isn’t your thing consider getting a French press coffee maker which can do much the same.

7) Cast Iron Skillet

A good, old fashioned cast iron skillet is your do-it-all, supreme piece of cookware in the post-apocalyptic kitchen.

This is one pan that is equally at home on a stove, over a campfire, or even on your grill. This makes them a tremendously versatile addition to your kitchen, but you should be aware of a couple of drawbacks.

First, cast iron cookware requires a little bit more in the way of upkeep and maintenance compared to competitors. Also, prospective buyers should be aware of its great weight. Despite this, using nothing more than a good recipe and a cast iron skillet you can be turning out delicious food no matter the circumstances.

8) Combo Cooker / Dutch Oven

A combo cooker, or Dutch oven, is the cast iron skillet’s tag team partner, and one that is greatly admired by hardcore campers and overlanders for its supreme versatility.

A combo cooker is basically a Dutch oven, only one where the lid can be inverted and used as a separate skillet. It’s like a Transformer in your kitchen!

This is just the ticket for making stews, casseroles, bread and other large, messy or bulky dishes that would be too difficult to contain or control using a skillet alone. A combo cooker or Dutch oven is so useful that many homesteaders and adventurers alike can, and do, prepare entire meals using these alone.

9) Griddle, Extra Large

The last piece of cast iron cookware you will need to round out your selection for use in your operational SHTF kitchen, an extra large griddle will once again allow you to fry up large portions for multiple people on a cook top or over a roaring fire.

For baking, whipping up a complete breakfast or just preparing multiple small or large portions together, this mammoth piece of cast iron will go the distance. Take care, as their tremendous weight means they are more than capable of flattening a child or breaking all of your toes if you drop it!

10) Water Pump

Depending on your living arrangements and where you live specifically public water supplies may continue to work in the aftermath of an SHTF event or they might not, or they could continue to work but be compromised in any number of ways.

If there is one room in your house that needs running water on demand besides the bathroom it is the kitchen, and you’ll go through a lot of it for food preparation as well as washing.

So long as you have a good store of water nearby, or a reservoir for gathered rainwater that you can draw from, you can install a traditional water pump at your sink.

Sometimes called pitcher pumps, these devices will allow you to use just a little bit of extra effort to get water flowing into your kitchen once more.

11) Chopper

Old school hand choppers are one implement that can save you a lot of prep work when you have to dice, chop or mince multiple veggies as part of meal prep. Though not too common or popular today, they nonetheless work well enough to be a worthy inclusion into your SHTF kitchen compliment.

Keep an eye out for these tools whenever you are perusing antique stores or local garage sales and you’ll probably find some. They most often resemble a miniature medieval mace with multiple flanges or blades on the head, and are designed to be pressed down and rocked on the food being prepared on the cutting board or in a bowl.

12) Crank Mixer

Those of us who do a lot of baking probably get more mileage out of our stand mixer than any other appliance in our kitchen.

Sadly, we won’t be able to depend on it in the aftermath of a major event since electricity will probably be out of commission. We don’t have to give up on baking, though, since we can use a hand-cranked stand mixer or even a handheld crank mixer for the same purpose.

Compared to many minutes and revolutions of laborious mixing by hand, these things are a Godsend. There are a few modern versions on the market you could procure, but vintage ones work just as well once they are cleaned up.

13) Drain Board

I have got to tell you, I hate doing the dishes and don’t think twice about throwing even a few plates, cups and forks in my dishwasher before turning it on with a load of dish soap.

As nice as a dishwasher is, it is another appliance that will become a casualty of a societal collapse owing to a lack of power.

That means you’ll be washing plenty of dishes the old fashioned way, and you’ll need somewhere to put them to allow them to drain and dry. Get a drain board that you can hang on the side of your sink and you’ll make an aggravating chore a little bit easier.

14) Meat Grinder

Preppers who are truly prepared to go the distance in a long term survival scenario are likely to process their own wild caught or domestically raised meat.

There is a lot you can do with a knife, but if you want to make ground beef or other meat patties or sausages of various kinds you’ll need a meat grinder for the task.

These used to be a fixture and virtually every kitchen, but now they are the province of the meat-crazy hobbyist and professional butcher alone. You won’t have to look far to find a modern version, but you can snag an older one that is ready to be restored as well.

15) Butter Churn

Pretty much everybody likes butter, and it is a critical ingredient and many dishes along with being a delicious topping, but more than that butter is essentially the end product in a process by which milk is preserved.

Butter that is made with care and properly stored will last a long time and is an extremely compact source of calories. If you have access to milk, you can make butter pretty easily so long as you have a butter churn and can supply plenty of elbow grease.

Remember: preventing the loss of your prepping “investment”- time, energy and resources- is essential to long-term survival!

16) Peeler

Old school crank-operated vegetable peelers can help you rapidly process fruits and vegetables with speed that no dinky handheld peeler can match.

This might sound like a “luxury” option, but it is actually a smart investment for a clever prepper because it will save you a ton of time and labor when peeling fruits or vegetables in preparation for canning or other forms of preservation.

Note that most old appliance peelers clamp onto the end of a counter, so make sure your kitchen can accommodate it or have a sturdy work or prep table nearby for the purpose.

17) Grain Mill

Store-bought sliced bread, and pretty much every other form of bread, will be a thing of the past in the aftermath of a major event unless you bake it yourself.

To bake bread you’ll need flour, but where does the flour come from? That’s right, the grocery store, which likely won’t be around either.

That means you’ll need to make your own flour and to do that you’ll start from scratch with your own grain, be it grain that you harvest or procure from someone else. By running that grain through a hand-cranked grain mill you can produce flour ready for use in baking.

18) Dough Mixer

Speaking of making bread, kneading and working dough before resting it and doing it all over again is a time consuming, tiring affair that requires your full and complete attention to complete successfully.

If you want to save your wrists and hands the trouble you can dump your homemade dough into a dough mixer that is, you guessed it, crank-operated.

Modern versions of this machine do the same thing but rely on an electric motor. These old school versions work just as well for half the effort of doing it truly by hand.

19) Slicer

Good knife skills are the mark of an accomplished chef, but even a skilled chef can save a little more time and improve consistency when slicing fruits or veggies by using a dedicated slicer.

A good slicer will fly through the job in seconds and also feature removable or detachable blades to make cleaning, servicing and sharpening easier.

20) Mortar and Pestle

There is hardly anything better than fresh picked herbs and spices that you have grown yourself. Be they grown for medicinal purposes, nutritional value or just enhancing otherwise bland dishes there is no substitute.

But dried or fresh the only way to reliably measure and precisely add herbs and spices to dishes is when they are crushed or powdered finely.

To do this, an old fashioned mortar and pestle is used to reliably process them under control. A little bit of grinding and twisting is all it takes to render them to the desired consistency.

21) Colander / Strainer

Anyone who has ever made pasta, boiled vegetables or tried to pre-cook dumplings knows that it is a fool’s errand trying to fish them out of a screaming hot pot of water using some utensil.

It is much easier and far faster to dump the water while catching the food. To do this, you will need a colander or strainer. Either will work, with one being the slotted or perforated bowl that you set in or over your sink with the other being a device that clamps onto the pot itself.

This is one of those things that you won’t miss going without until you don’t have it so make sure you have a good one that can stand up to the heat.

22) Zeer Pot

The refrigerator is arguably the most important appliance in any home, as it is responsible for preserving our food that would otherwise spoil in hours or days. Unfortunately, if you don’t live in one of the coldest climates you won’t have any other reliable source of refrigeration that does not rely on electricity completely for function.

If the power goes out, it is only a matter of time until the food must be tossed out. However, it is possible to employ primitive technology to provide meaningful refrigeration in the form of a zeer pot.

This is nothing more than a pair of nesting earthenware pots that have a wet layer of sand packed between them. This creates a surprisingly efficient evaporative cooler that can chill anything placed inside.

Having one of these on standby might mean the difference between saving precious cuts of meat and cheese in your fridge or being forced to throw it out or eat it all at once.

23) Mixing Bowls

The humble mixing bowl is the backbone of any working kitchen and serves countless purposes. You should have at least half a dozen in various sizes, and strive to get more use out of your mixing bowls by choosing ones made of metal or glass that can be used as cooking vessels on their own.

I particularly like large, wide woks with small handles on either side as they afford me the greatest possible flexibility. Before you choose ones on the smaller end of the scale, consider that it is far more common to need more room, not less, so I recommend you pick up bigger ones that you can grow into.

24) Fermenting Crock

A fermenting crock is a little more than a large ceramic or earthenware container with a sealing lid that is designed to promote conditions suitable for the spawning of anaerobic bacteria, bacteria that will ferment or pickle various foods when placed inside.

These things are just the ticket for creating such dishes as sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, vinegar and even kombucha.

A fermented crock can help you create main or side dishes and also preserve other foods, making them invaluable for preppers. Don’t be intimidated if you have never worked with fermenting processes before as the operation is quite simple.

25) Tongs

No kitchen is complete without a set of sturdy, adaptable tongs. You’ll use these for positioning large cuts of meat or bulky veggies on your cookware, or even potentially retrieving your cookware from a hot fire.

Take care when choosing tongs so that you end up with a set that affords you excellent control while also being highly ergonomic so you can generate a little more leverage when trying to pick up or shift something heavy with them.

26) Heat-Resistant Gloves

A working kitchen means hot surfaces and hot spaces, and since you’ll be handling everything going in or coming off of those hot spaces and surfaces you’ll need something to protect your hands.

Pot holders are okay, but only okay, and I like having seriously heat-resistant gloves that provide wrist protection for extra assurance.

These are especially vital when working over open flames or seriously hot cooking surfaces such as a campfire or a grill, two methods for preparing food that will become everyday occurrences around the post-SHTF household.

27) Scraper

Water may very well be at a premium in the post-SHTF kitchen, and you won’t be able to spare very much for scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing away at stubbornly stuck, burned-on food on your various pots, pans and skillets.

Scraping the worst of it off before giving it a conservative wash and rinse is a better idea, and for that purpose you should obtain durable but surface-safe scrapers in both plastic and the increasingly popular “chainmail” variety. You’ll save time, save your pans and save water.

28) Kitchen Shears

Kitchen shears are little more than heavy duty scissors, but they just so happen to be scissors capable of snipping through bones when required!

Aside from all their many mundane utility purposes, kitchen shears can help you quickly and easily butcher and process freshly harvested meat from your own working homestead or that procured from someone else.

It is a mark of pride to be able to do the whole thing with a knife and cleaver, but don’t neglect this ideal tool for the job.

29) Meat Thermometer

Without an operational stove or microwave, precise heat control and regulation of cooking time will be more challenging, and this means the risks of undercooking food, or overcooking it, will increase.

Eliminate doubt and avoid this unhappy occurrence along with the increased chance of contracting food borne illness by investing in a precise, easy to use meat thermometer.

These devices are designed to stand up to extremely high temperature environments without failing, and that makes them invaluable for the new style of cooking that you’ll be engaged in. This one doesn’t need batteries in order to function.

Conclusion

By investing in the right tools, gadgets and other kitchen implements it is possible to future-proof your working household kitchen against the prolonged loss of power that is nearly certain to occur in the aftermath of any major disaster or societal crisis.

By insulating yourself against such an unhappy outcome you won’t need to resign yourself to eating nothing but dehydrated foods, canned goods or meals ready to eat.

Make sure you equip your kitchen with these 29 items now so you won’t have to scrounge, scavenge, or barter for them later.

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