Self-Defense Tools Recommended by Elegant Survival
For self-defense and personal protection products, Elegant Survival highly recommends J-Ray Traders.This is the USA's most reliable dealer of survival and safety products for personal and home use.
Wound-Care Regular bandages in various sizes, rolled gauze (Kerlix brand is a good example), Medipore or another brand of breathable tape, wound-packing cotton tape, and an aerosol can of saline solution, with which you can clean the affected areas and wet the packing for deep wounds. Some wounds are too small and deep to be packed with regular gauze, in which case cotton tape, available in 1/2 and 1/4 inch widths, is used. This packing material, inserted after being moistened with saline solution, is intended to prevent infection.
Antiseptic Wipes
Alcohol pads come in foil packets, and are good for sterilising scalpels and other tools used in wound treatment. Also available in small foil packets are iodine wipes.
Hydrogen Peroxide, a small bottle, for drawing out infection from surface
Scalpel
Available at medical supply shops, already sterile and, though disposable, re-usable when cleaned with alcohol in non-rusted condition. Stock up on these--they are useful for opening wounds that need to drain, and for bullet-removal.
Long-stick Cotton Swabs
For packing and cleaning deep wounds
Antibiotic or silver ointment to prevent infection, Antiseptic Wipes
Surgical Gloves For those treating wounds, they come in bulk-packs at Sam's Club, also available in non-latex, lightweight material.
Instant Cold-Compresses
Iodine
For cleaning wounds and purifying water. Now available to the general public are iodine wipes folded into small squares and packed in foil. Bottled iodine with a dropper is good if you have room for it; compact wipes are more portable.
Some progressive doctors, namely Dr. David Dixon and Julian Whitaker, M.D. are using a solution of iodine and sugar to heal wounds.
Burn-Gel
Pain Medication
Aspirin for heart-attacks and too reduce fever; liquid-gel caps such as Advil for other painful conditions and injuries
Water to Wash Down Medications
Ammonia Inhalants
For keeping people conscious
Eye Wash
To remove foreign materials, chemicals, and to prevent infections that they may cause
Masks for Smoky and Septic Environs
Lightweight and easily stacked--there are many times when your instinct ought to say, "Wear a mask!"
Disaster preparation, medical emergency preparation, survival supplies, first aid kit, emergency kit, materials for bug-out bag, medical supplies, wound care, disposable scalpel, alcohol pads, eye wash, masks
An Effective, Barking Burglar Repellent
Home Security: Burglar Repellent that Barks to Prevent Home Intrusion
Toasty Feet Insoles are made of material developed by NASA. They are thin, lightweight and will keep your feet warm in the winter under the coldest conditions. Please visit Nolan and his son at
This is the Complete Collection of Bison Newsletters by James Dakin, and available on-line in a great PDF that you get instantly for $4.00 US via PayPal. Also available at the Lulu site linked here is The Frugal Survivalist by James Dakin, in a $3.00 PDF file, instead of for $11.00 or more on Amazon.com. I'm almost done reading The Frugal Survivalist. It's a store-room of ideas, amusing, philosophical, and above all practical. It could benefit from some professional editing, but you'll get used to that. Witty James Dakin has written bare-bones book with an arsenal of valuable information.
In the event of a power-outage, or complete disaster, you will need certain non-electric kitchen tools. Let's say that you've successfully put away a stock of wheat. You will need to grind it for flour, or crush it for salads and pilafs. The traditional heavy metal meat and vegetable grinder, which attaches by vise to a table or counter-top, is necessary. If you have stored-up a load of coffee beans (whole coffee beans, like wheat "berries", have a much longer shelf-life than their ground forms), you will need a high-quality, hand-operated coffee grinder. See my Survival Tools link-list on the blog of this website for sources. Hand-Operated Meat and Wheat Grinder
Here is a photo of my sprouted grains and seeds, showing my hand-operated coffee-grinder. Click on photo to enlarge Photo Copyright M-J de Mesterton, 2008
Emergency Foods
A great way to always have some form of cheese, without refrigeration, is to buy economy-sized containers of grated Parmesan cheese--the kind which comes in the plastic cylinders. Kraft has a nice product; check its packaging for shelf-life prospectus. As in my previous posts about dehydrated foods, et cetera, I'm not posting this information for food-snobs, but for people who wish to be prepared for disaster!
You would do well to lay in a supply of pasta and powdered eggs, as well as olive oil and nuts. It may not be the most nutritious food, but there's a lot you can do with pasta. A recipe I devised years ago is this: sauté some walnuts and chopped garlic in olive oil until they are brown. Add it to your cooked pasta, together with shredded or grated Parmesan cheese. Eggs, of course, are nature's perfect food, in my opinion. Adding Parmesan cheese to an omelette yields a delicious dish, especially when it also contains tomatoes, sun-dried or fresh. Both pasta and egg dishes are enhanced by dried parsley and chives--two other items to have on hand when it seems that the end is at hand!
Home Security: Click on the picture below, then look for the search-box and enter "Security Cameras".
Wilderness Survival
Here is an informative site, with a bulletin-board and regular contributors/participants, the theme of which involves basic survival skills: Wilderness Survival
I've joined....
Update: a member name erunkiswildernesssurvival links us to a great series of videos:
And there is this vitally important, pocket-sized survival tin that you pack carefully and put into a zip-locking bag to waterproof it. The suggestions in this thread are very useful for composing your personal kit.
Grow your own tiny, highly nutritious vegetables in a few days, anywhere.
Put into glass storage jars, or plastic tote-bins, a year's supply of alfalfa seeds, mustard seeds, wheat berries (whole wheat kernels) and the beans of your choice. The best ones for sprouting are pinto beans, adzuki beans, small red beans, mung beans, peas, lentils, and any small red or white kidney beans. The smaller the bean, the better crop of sprouts you will have. You are certainly able to sprout large kidney beans, but they may sour faster once sprouted. Use sterile glass jars with relatively wide mouths, and some nylon, cheesecloth, or plastic window screen material (it's soft and comes on a roll, available at big hardware stores) attached to their rims with rubber bands. Put a half-inch or so of little beans or alfalfa seeds at the bottom of a jar, and add clean water up to half-jar full. Soak the beans or seeds overnight. The next morning, drain the jar through the porous material attached to the rim. Rinse seeds or beans with water through the top of the jar, no need to remove straining material; drain well, and set in a place with little light. Rinse again in the evening. Repeat this process daily, and on the third or fourth day, you'll have sprouts.
If you would then like to enhance the sprouts with a little chlorophyll, or green leaves, set the jars on a windowsill for a day.
There's a variety of ways to prepare and eat sprouts. One is in salads, another is in sandwiches. I like to put them on whole-grain bread that has been spread with labneh, or strained, thickened yogurt.
Some people grind up sprouts and cook them into meatless spaghetti sauce. Sprouts can be baked into breads, as well.
Sprouts are the perfect survival food, if one has the little bit of water required to soak and rinse the seeds or beans. Seeds and beans are easy to store in glass jugs or plastic bulk-bins. They have longevity, just as you will if you treat yourself right.
