DIY Homemade Mouthwash

DIY Homemade Mouthwash Recipe

 

DIY Homemade Mouthwash
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Hygiene is very important in a disaster situation, in a long term catastrophe or in a world without good insurance (Thanks Obamacare) taking care of your teeth will be much harder and much more important.

Products like mouthwash are also pretty expensive so being able to roll your own makes economic sense also.

I like this recipe for homemade mouthwash because few ingredients are needed and the flavor is not horrible.

Also since it uses baking soda, it deodorizes your mouth (just like it does your fridge),instead of masking it with mint.

You should try this DIY homemade mouthwash at least once, or take the time to look at the book “where there is no dentist“.

Oral hygiene is doubly important during a long term disaster where medical resources are not readily available.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tb baking soda
  • 5-8 drops peppermint/mint essential oil
  • Some kind of sealable container to keep it in

Procedure

Mix it, gargle it, and tell me what you think

Notes on Homemade Gargle

as you can see the homemade mouthwash ingredients are few, and it is a simple mix.  you can even take it one step further and look at my mint extract video and make your own flavorings if you want to get truly DIY on your homemade mouthwash.  This gargle is not essential for oral health today, but in a large scale collapse or economic downturn it would be handy.

How to Make a Vacuum Former Box

 

DIY Vacuum Former
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Vacuum forming is something I have wanted to play with for some time.

The storm trooper uniforms from star wars are vacuum formed. Many molds – especially for candy- are vacuum formed. What I want to be able to do is form holsters and project boxes to custom specifications. Because of this I had to make a DIY Vacuum Former.

The way vacuum forming works, is that you have a box (called a platen) that has a top full of holes – this box is built to draw a vacuum (hobby platens normally use a shop vac). The second piece is a frame to hold a sheet of thermoplastic.

Whatever you want to mold is set in the center of the platen, the plastic and its frame is heated until the plastic is pliable, and then the hot plastic is set over the platen. A vacuum then pulls the plastic down and over your part, very cleanly and clearly reproducing it in the plastic.

Once cooled, the plastic part is trimmed from the sheet and is ready to be used.

Constructing the Vacuum Forming Box

I used a piece of pegboard to form the top of my platen, and just built a frame out of scrap 2×4. Next, I used a piece of plywood for the base, and used calk to seal everything.

I drilled a hole in the center of the front of the 2×4 frame so I could insert the hose from a large shop vacuum.

For the frame, I bought two sheets of 1/8 board, and drew increasingly small square about 2 inches wide. I cut out each square out of each of the two boards, making several sets of frames.

To use, I put the plastic over one frame, and then bolt the second over the first board.

My idea is that when molding something small, I can set the biggest frame along the outside, and then use each smaller frame inside the larger one until I get to the size I need. The intent is to reduce the amount of exposed holes to maximize vacuum. In practice, I just cover the unused space with duct tape.

I think that in vacuum forming, making the platen a size you will use is more efficient, than making a monster frame for small projects.

As we get time I want to use this to make several other projects, most notably a bedside holster.

PRN Episode #38 Cheap Food Storage Plan

PRN Episode #38 Cheap Food Storage Plan

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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Ask 10 Preppers their food storage plans (how rude….) and you will get 11 answers.

I know that besides what is the best prepper firearm, what is the best way to store food is probably the hottest topic.

Well, today I am going to talk about my Cheap Food Storage Plan and why it is best for my family’s situation.

I needed something that was shelf stable long term as I am not panic buying because I believe a disaster will come next week – but rather I am hedging my bets just in case.

Additionally, I needed something easy to store so it did not get overly confusing to my wife

Also, I needed something cheap – because in a fight between might need later and need diapers now – diapers win…

I did not need to worry about:

  • Food that was particularly easy to cook
  • Compact size
  • Food allergies
  • Low water/pre-cooked

This narrowed down my search, and once I determined my food storage strategy, I was able to spend some time finding cheaper sources of supply.

Here is the basal metabolic calculator as mentioned in the podcast:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-metabolism-calculator

You can find several articles on my www.tngun.com website discussing how to prepare the foods mentioned for long-term storage – just use the search function, or click the food and water link under “Categories”.

The show is scheduled for Monday at 10pm central time at this link.

If you cannot listen on Monday, you can always download the podcast for listening at your own leisure.

 

First Time Shooting a Mosin Nagant M91/30

 

Shooting: First Shots With a Mosin Nagant M91/30
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The Mosin–Nagant M91/30 is a bolt-action, internal magazine military rifle, developed by the Imperial Russian Army in the late 1800s, and used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and various other nations.

I bought it because it is on the ATF’s Curio and Relic list, so I can buy them direct from the wholesaler. When I bought mine, it was $110 including shipping. (due to the current politics it has increased some). The Mosin is one, if not the, least expensive military caliber rifle available.

This is a Great Budget Gun

Not only is the gun inexpensive, military surplus ammunition is also commonly available. You can normally purchase it in either 440 round cases on stripper clips, or 880 round cases without stripper clips. I find both costs nearly the same. My strategy is to buy the first case with clips, and then reuse the clips.

Sometimes the rifle comes with a bayonet, but then nearly always come with a small tool kit and magazine pouch. The tools are essential, as the triangular screwdriver is used to measure the protrusion of the bolt (that is the subject of a whole separate post).

This Rifle Holds the Sniper Kill Record

Some may think themselves poorly armed if you hand them a WWII bolt action designed back in 1892, but during WWII a Finnish soldier named Simo Häyhä earned more confirmed sniper kills than any other combatant in any major war (he killed 505 enemies with his Mosin and 200 more with his 9mm submachine gun = all in under 100 days). I think any gun will do if you have the will and the skill, but I digress.

There are several different variants of the rifle, but the most common is the 91/30. It is possible to buy the 91/30 in case quantities of 20 in a large wooden shipping crate for less than a single AR-15.
You can also buy a spam can of 880 rounds of military surplus ball ammunition for less than the cost of a couple bricks of .22long at a gun show (around 80 dollars).

Due to the fact that you can buy a rifle and close to a thousand rounds in a battle proven combination for around $200, it is my intent to buy one every couple months so that if the poo ever is flung I can outfit all those latecomers that “come to my house” – at least the ones that bring food and have sense enough not to complain…

First Time Shooting a Mosin Nagant M91/30

This is my first experience shooting this rifle, I had heard horror stories about how much it kicked, and how loud it was, and it WAS louder than other 30 caliber guns I have shot, but it did not recoil that much – especially since it is a heavy rifle.

I did get the impression that it is capable of much more accurate fire than my offhanded quick test demonstrated. I hope to have some time to really test this gun out.

The only thing I have to say as a warning to others thinking about this gun as part of a disaster armory, or just looking to get a cheap plinking gun – ALL surplus ammunition for this is corrosive. That is not a big deal as long as you clean the gun well after each range session. If you take it home and forget about it after shooting corrosive ammo, you can (and probably will) ruin the gun.

Bundt Chicken

Bundt Chicken
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Bundt Chicken makes a juicy chicken that’s crispy all the way around.  Like the names says just use a bundt pan as a vertical roaster.

This is extremely simple to do, simply upend the bird on the center of the pan, season and add vegetables per your normal recipe, and then roast.

Bunt chicken is a nice way to roast chicken, as it is easy and looks pretty cool.
I like to start the oven hot at 450, let the chicken cook for 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 350 for about an hour, and then back to 450 for another 15 minutes.  If you put in a lot of vegetables, the chicken is large, or the internal temp is not 160, you may need to increase the time at 350.

The great thing about this process is that it is scalable – the pan can hold anything from a game hen to a small turkey. – and if you use a pot instead of a cookie sheet to collect the juices, you can fill it with your favorite beverage for the bundt pan version of drunk chicken…

Tell me that the chicken in the video above did not look awesome.  I will tell you that not only did it look great, it tasted out of this world.