Tools For Survival

Salvage and Recycling - A home based business, a way of life

2011-04-02T02:51:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to tell you a bit about myself. I bootstrapped my way into the salvage and recycling business in the early 1980s. I began with building deconstruction and scrap metals and then moved into electronics, computer and telecommunications scrap where I learned to recover gold and other precious metal, reuse items for alternative energy systems and more. After more than 20 years I finally got around to writing a book about my experience in the business. Home based salvage and recycling has been very good to me, but it is not only a business, it can be a way of life. A way to get the things you need to survive that you otherwise may not be able to obtain. So check out the ebook, How to Make Money in the Home Based Salvage and Recycling Business and see how salvage and recycling might help make your life a bit better.

Financial Crisis Inquiry Report Downloads Now Available

2011-01-28T00:33:00.001-08:00

This should be of interest:

We're all impacted by recent economic events and the recession that we're now in. January 27, 2011 the FCIC released the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report to the public. I have made it available in Acrobat PDF format for you to download. In the ensuing days and weeks I will be adding many more reports, hearings, testimonies, videos, maps, regional impacts and related materials.

Download the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report

How to Get Lumber for Free or Very Cheap

2010-12-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

Recently, I began listing plans for barns, garages, out-buildings, sheds, cabins, bee keeping, gardening...

If you want to find the material for these things free or at very low cost, there are some good articles at Recycling Secrets. There you will find several articles about building deconstruction and lumber and building material reuse.

Also, you find an ebook, Home Based Salvage and Recycling Business Manual.

This all may be of help to you getting started on your self-sufficent lifestyle and, who knows, may help launch you into a business that will keep you going.

Best of Luck,

Mike

Free Self-Sufficiency Building Plans for Farm, Ranch & Homestead

2010-12-22T20:46:00.000-08:00

Dozens of free plans added today and hundreds more to come. Categories include gardening and greenhouses, safety, out-buildings, tools, livestock-related, homes and cabins.

Download the Free Plans

Breakthrough: Chemistry of Personalized Energy Systems

2010-08-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

Wonderful Idea - Hope that it develops and is affordable!

Abstract

Personalized energy (PE) is a transformative idea that provides a new modality for the planet's energy future. By providing solar energy to the individual, an energy supply becomes secure and available to people of both legacy and nonlegacy worlds and minimally contributes to an increase in the anthropogenic level of carbon dioxide. Because PE will be possible only if solar energy is available 24 h a day, 7 days a week, the key enabler for solar PE is an inexpensive storage mechanism. HY (Y = halide or OH-) splitting is a fuel-forming reaction of sufficient energy density for large-scale solar storage, but the reaction relies on chemical transformations that are not understood at the most basic science level. Critical among these are multielectron transfers that are proton-coupled and involve the activation of bonds in energy-poor substrates. The chemistry of these three italicized areas is developed, and from this platform, discovery paths leading to new hydrohalic acid- and water-splitting catalysts are delineated. The latter water-splitting catalyst captures many of the functional elements of photosynthesis. In doing so, a highly manufacturable and inexpensive method for solar PE storage has been discovered.

More About Personalized Energy Systems

Still Rebuilding and Updating

2010-08-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks so for your patience. Since moving to our land we have been very busy with chores and planning towards becoming self sustaining on just a few acres. We finally have the place to try out all those things that we've been dreaming about - solar and wind energy, solar greenhouse, garaden, sustainable forest... on and on - very exciting. We'll be telling you all about it in the coming months and we'll be adding interesting and important resources for those of you wishing to become somewhat or fully independent and self-sustaining so keep checking ToolsforSurvival.com. Thanks!

To the Future

How to Use a Pressure Canner to Preserve Foods

2010-03-31T11:41:00.000-07:00

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
College of Family and Consumer Sciences
in cooperation with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Pressure canners for use in the home were extensively redesigned beginning in the 1970's. Models made before the 1970's were heavy-walled kettles with clamp-on or turn-on lids. They were fitted with a dial gauge, a vent port in the form of a petcock or covered with a counterweight, and a safety fuse. Modern pressure canners are lightweight, thin-walled kettles; most have turn-on lids fitted with gaskets. (At least one style has screw-down knobs around the canner and does not have a gasket, however.) They all have removable racks, an automatic vent/cover lock, a vent port (steam vent), and a safety fuse.

Today's pressure canner may have a dial gauge for indicating the pressure or a weighted gauge, for indicating and regulating the pressure. Weighted gauges are usually designed to "jiggle" several times a minute or to keep rocking gently when they are maintaining the correct pressure. Read your manufacturer's directions to know how a particular weighted gauge should rock or jiggle. Dial gauge canners will usually have a counterweight or pressure regulator for sealing off the open vent port to pressurize the canner. This weight should not be confused with a weighted gauge and will not jiggle or rock as described for a weighted gauge canner. Pressure readings on a dial-gauge-only canner are only registered on the dial and only the dial should be used as an indication of the pressure in the canner. One manufacturer now makes a dial-gauge system where either the dial or the weighted gauge may be used.

Pressure canners come deep enough for one layer of quart or smaller size jars, or deep enough for two layers of pint or smaller size jars. The USDA recommends that a canner be large enough to hold at least 4 quart jars to be considered a pressure canner for its published processes.

Serious errors in processes obtained in pressure canners can occur if any of the following conditions exist:

* The altitude at which the canner is operated is above sea level and adjustments in pressure are not made. Internal canner pressures (and therefore temperatures) are lower at higher altitudes. Canners must be operated at increased pressures as the altitude increases. Check reliable canning instructions for altitude adjustments.

* Air is trapped in the closed canner during the process. Air trapped in a pressure canner lowers the temperature obtained for a given pressure (for example, 10 or 15 pounds pressure) and results in underprocessing. To be safe, USDA recommends that all pressure canners must be vented 10 minutes before they are pressurized.

To vent a canner, leave the vent port (steam vent) uncovered (or manually open the petcock on some older models) after you fill the canner and lock the canner lid in place. Heat the canner on high until the water boils and generates steam that can be seen escaping through the open vent port or petcock. When a visible funnel-shape of steam is continuously escaping the canner, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of continuous steam, you can close the petcock or place the counterweight or weighted gauge over the vent port to begin pressurizing the canner. (See steps 3 and 4 below.)

* An inaccurate dial gauge is used. Dial gauges should be checked for accuracy each year before use. If the gauge reads high or low by more than two pounds at 5, 10 or 15 pounds pressure, replace it.

Entire Article

Alternative Green Energy Resources: Solar, Wind, Funding...

2010-03-30T00:16:00.000-07:00

National Alternative Green Energy Resources

Federal Government Alternative Green Energy Resources

State Alternative Green Energy Resources

Regional Alternative Green Energy Resources

International Alternative Green Energy Resources

Accuracy and Suitability

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