Heating your home with a wood stove. It sounds so warm. And cozy. And romantic. You know, sitting by the fireplace in your pajamas with your hot cocoa and a good book kind of romantic. But those of you who heat your homes with a wood stove know that it is, well, not as easy […]
Eight Great Ways to Cook When the Power is Out!
So you are storing extra food for times of emergency, right? Unless you have all canned goods or MRE’s, that food will need to be cooked. Even canned meals and MRE’s taste better warmed up. However, in many emergency situations you are without power which means no microwave! Making a plan for powerless cooking as […]
Don’t Toss that Wax! Make an Instant Fire Starter from Your Scented Wax Melter
Okay, I know most of you have some sort of melter for scented wax in your house, right? Yes? I held out for a lot of years, but finally got convinced to get one by a friend of mine. So now I have a stinky wax melter in my house and it smells divine. Especially […]
72 Hour Kit Series Week 3: Fire and Heat
Welcome back to our 72 hour emergency kit series! This week we’re covering fire and heat. Hypothermia, (not keeping your core body temperature high enough) is the most common outdoor killer. You can die from hypothermia even when it’s not winter. If you are planning to use your emergency kit to evacuate to the woods, […]
Food Storage and Survival Radio Episode 76: Fire Starting 101
Episode 76: Fire Starting 101 Listen here! Ready to get a fire lit? In an emergency, being able to light a fire could save your life. In this episode we discuss why and how to get a survival fire lit plus some of my favorite fire starting cheats to make the job a little easier! […]
Make Your Own Super Simple Wallet-Sized Fire Starters
I love the dryer lint fire starters, but they’re kind of bulky to carry around with you every day. So today I’m going to show you how to make a fire starter that is lightweight, flat, and easy to carry with you every day based on one I was given by Leon Pantenburg of Survival […]
Practically Free Egg Carton Dryer Lint Firestarters
Here’s a fire starter that’s easy to make from materials you probably already have floating around your house. These little balls of fire will burn for approximately 15 minutes after being lit, giving you plenty of time to get a fire going even if you have to dry out some of the wood. I keep […]
Fire Starting 101: The Why and How of Lighting a Fire for Survival
This post is Day 25 of the 30 Days of Preparedness! See the end of the post for the other 29 days. In a survival situation, fire is your friend and should be one of your first priorities. Being able to build and maintain a fire can literally save your life. If you stink at […]
Powerless Cooking With the Kelly Kettle Base Camp
Using old Irish technology, the Kelly Kettle boils water faster than any non-gas stove I own. The hollow, double walled, chimney design makes fast fire and uses all the rising heat to heat your water. Kelly Kettles can also be used to cook on top of, although pot size couldn’t get too large due to […]
Powerless Cooking on the EcoZoom Versa Rocket Stove
One of the most primitive powerless cooking methods, cooking over fire, is improved by using a rocket stove. Rocket stoves use minimal fuel fed through a feed port near the bottom of the stove. With an airflow port under the fuel feed port, the fire easily burns hot and all that heat flows up through […]