35 Hints, Tips And Hacks That Will Help In A Tight Spot

You pick up a lot of information these days, TV, internet, books. there’s a constant flow of news, images and info bombarding us constantly from every side. Sifting through it and finding out if something is true, or false is becoming extremely time-consuming as more and more articles are published that seem intent on swaying us in one direction or the other. Here’s a few snippets of info, checked and sorted to save you doing the research.

1. Moisturizer can save your life. Dry chaffed skin is far more likely to crack and breakdown giving an infection a direct route into your body. A cheap moisturizer used daily will keep skin supple and in good condition meaning it will be less likely to split and crack. In a collapse situation we are all going to be doing much more manual work than we are used to and keeping your skin in good condition will be an important method of infection control when antibiotics are either unavailable or no longer work.
2. Putting toothpaste on a sting stops the pain.
3. Stay five pounds above your optimum weight. I know many will disagree with this but science backs up the theory. In times of stress and trouble the body’s basic metabolic rate increases meaning calories are burnt off quicker than would usually be the case. Couple this with the possibility of bugging out where you may be covering good distances on foot, or bugging in without the ability to cook food for a few days and rapid weight loss will occur. Losing weight fast can lead to weakness and lethargy at a time when you least need it. Carrying just a few pounds extra means your rapid burn of calories will not affect you as quickly and you will therefore be more able to cope with the situation at hand.
4. Bush fires travel faster uphill than down.
5. Carry plain, refined sugar with you at all times. Sugar when poured directly into an open wound aids healing and assists greatly in keeping the wound clean. Grab a few of those little sachets the next time you are in a fast food joint or coffee shop, they may well come in very handy at some point and they never go off.
6. Eggshells keep the slugs off your veggies…too rough for their soft bellies.
7. A slice from the inner tube of a bicycle tyre makes an excellent tourniquet. In addition,a very small piece cut from it will readily burn, lighting even if soaking wet making it an excellent emergency fire starter.
8. A strong magnet will draw metal to the surface of a wound
9. Never use a ‘space’ blanket on someone who is cold. The silver surface prevents heat from getting to them. Cuddle up and wrap the foil around both of you to retain body heat. An excellent use for these blankets is to put them behind a fire and allow them to reflect the heat back at you. All the heat that would have been lost from the back of the fire is now thrown out towards you. This will work with wood burners within the home and campfires if out of doors.
10. Wasp nest spray and a lighter make an effective flame thrower
11. Don’t wrap people with a high temperature in mylar/emergency blankets no matter how sick they are, they will overheat and this can lead to confusions and death.
12. Duct tape and sticks make a very decent splint
13. Learn a little about kitchen chemistry. For those of us who are lead deprived getting inventive is a defense strategy. For times when a gun is not a viable option having something ‘silent but deadly ‘ in your arsenal may well come in handy. Many kitchen cleaners cannot be mixed together as they produce gases or liquids that can explode. Read the ingredients you have stored away in your cleaning cupboard, the bottles will tell you what not to mix them with. Now you know wasp nest destroyer and a lighter makes a very effective flame thrower…
14. Eggshell is the best form of calcium supplement. Dry them, grind to a fine powder and add to food and/or drink.
15. Vitamin D is vital for healthy teeth and bone formation in children and to stave off osteoporosis and bone weakness in older people. Primarily our vitamin D is topped up by sunshine. Chemicals in the body get together and synthesize the majority of the vitamin D we need to stay healthy. Found in oily fish, fresh milk, egg yolks and fortified cereal dietary vitamin D may be in short supply. To avoid rickets and bone weakness exposure to sunshine is a must. Even weak sunshine helps and in winter natural light is way better than nothing at all. Ten minutes in front of an open window letting natural light/sunshine fall onto your face and arms will help prevent weakness. If you can get outside safely do so.
16. A solar still will turn urine or dirty water into drinking water due to evaporation.
17. Read up on the room within a room concept. We all know that heating one room may well be the most sensible thing to do if the grid goes down and plentiful fuel is not available. By building a room within a room, either by using a tent, cardboard boxes or anything else you have to hand you can huddle inside it at night, or even during the day if things get really bad. The temperature inside the ‘room’ can be 20 degrees C higher than outside of it. Using it at night means you save an awful lot of fuel, freeing it up for cooking etc.
18. White vinegar treats fungal nail infection. 1 part vinegar 2 parts water
19. Tune into your sense of smell. It can get you killed, or it can save your life depending on how you use it. After a few days of having no services people will start to smell, you need to avoid this, not because your family will object, they will smell as bad as you do and won’t notice. Keep yourself as un-smelly as possible so that you can smell others coming. Believe me, if you have a widow open slightly, upstairs preferably, you will smell a group of unwashed bodies approaching. I doubt the average marauder will have the common sense to stay downwind. If you have to leave your home wear clothes that have been worn for several days, use no body spray, perfume or deodorant, nothing that says you have supplies of such things. Outside you need to blend in, not smell nice. Don’t make yourself a target, even the smell of soap would make you a target among the unwashed.
20. Push elevator buttons with your knuckle so your fingers stay clean which makes it less likely you will ingest bacteria and viruses.
21. Wash your hands. With a family or even a survival group cooped up together in what may be close quarters preventing infection is paramount. Stomach upsets, colds, flu and a host of other things spread far easier when you are living in cramped conditions. Water and/or baby wipes should be available at all times and should be used after using the toilet/toilet substitute, handing soiled clothing of any kind, assisting the sick and before preparing food. Keep a sharp eye open for typhus lice that will hide in your clothing and give a nasty bite that can lead to fever.
22. Drain Cleaner and bleach mixed together produce chlorine gas.
23. However cold it gets have some ventilation. This is vital as burning any kind of fossil fuel will release carbon monoxide and the chances are some of your group will not be waking up again. Odourless and colourless there is no way to detect a build up of the gas without a monitor of some kind. Many of these are cheap and non-mechanical, they change colour in the presence of the gas. Keeping a window open just a little, or opening a window on and off throughout the time the fire is burning will reduce the chance of carbon monoxide poisoning.
24. Acetaminophen (paracetamol) kills snakes. One 1/4 of a tablet is enough.
25. Keep up to date with household chores. I appreciate this doesn’t sound important but if you intend to bug out being able to put your hand on what you need at exactly the time you need it is imperative. For those who are bugging in starting a disaster with a working knowledge of where everything is and a pile of clean clothes is preferable to running around like a manic tripping over stuff because you need to find some warm clothing.
26. Companion planting works! Planting herbs and lavender amongst vegetables such as carrots and onions will deter smell aroused pests.
27. Natural yogurt stops the irritation and clears vaginal thrush
28. Seal a sucking chest wound with an ATM card or ziplock bag. Dry the area around the wound and tape the card or bag on three sides only…you now have an improvised flutter valve. As the casualty inhales the card or bag in pulled down to seal the wound. As they exhale air in the chest cavity is forced out. Simple fix for a serious injury.
29. Putting a couple of layers of tinfoil behind a wood burner will increase the heat output.
30. Carrying a piece of bicycle inner tube is a great idea because you can use it as a makeshift tourniquet due to is elastic properties and the fact that it will take a flame even when soaking wet makes it an excellent fire starter.
31. Wasp nest spray causes temporary blindness if it hits the eyes
32. Cinnamon has antibiotic properties and is a good mouthwash. Put cinnamon sticks in a sterile jar, pour over hand hot, previously boiled water and put the lid on. Shake every half an hour for a couple of hours and then store in a cool dark place. Shake before use. Lasts about a week.
33. Putting oven-safe tinfoil behind a candle will more than double the heat and light output.
34. Lost a filling? Rinse your mouth out with salt water to clean the area up and dry the damaged tooth as best you can. A small lump of dry but freshest bread wrapped in kitchen towel, twisted to form a ‘handle’ works well to soak up moisture. The kitchen towel twist makes the bread simple to remove. Soften a small blob of candle wax and press firmly into the hole left by the lost filling. Seek dental assistance as soon as possible. If that’s not possible clean the area as throughly as you can at least once a day and replace with clean wax.
35. Eating activated charcoal will bind ingested chemicals and poisons.

There you go 35 hints, tips and hacks that can help out in a wide variety of situations.

Take care

Liz