Gear Review: Survival Still Grill

Gear Review: Survival Still Grill
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One of the things I love about the survival still is how versatile it is. In today’s video we use it on a charcoal grill and tried to test how much we could get, unfortunately it began raining and messed up our semi-almost scientific test.

I know a lot of people complain about the Survival Still – some don’t like the inventor, others say that the design is too simple to justify the cost, and some just don’t want to spend close to $300 for a water still.

I have no opinion of the inventor’s personality as I only met him once and he seemed okay to me but I do agree that it is a lot of money, and that the design is simple.

I do not think that those two things make it a rip-off – first I look at the value – what the device provides – which is a virtually inexhaustible method of making pure drinking water from almost any type of contaminated water.

That can be priceless as no other system has the potential to clean up radiological, chemical and biologically polluted waters.  It costs less than a Glock which I also use to protect my family, so to me what it does is worth the money.

Second – a simple design is to be valued rather than diminished.  It takes time, effort, and understanding to design something so simple.  I am not saying I could not have designed the survival still, but I didn’t and I am not envious of the man that did.  To my mind, he deserves to charge what he wants to for the things he creates.

Kitchen Tip: Tea Brewing Tip

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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This is a quick Tea Brewing Tip for sweet tea – it works particularly well with hard water, but we are on city water, and it made a huge difference in the quality of my favorite drink.

I really like sweet tea, but due to the bitterness of the tannins it contains, I hate unsweet tea. I have to have a lot of sugar to counteract the bitterness. However, sugar is not very healthy, and I am trying to get a little healthier.

I found that a pinch (about 1/8 tablespoon) per gallon of tea counteracts the bitterness so that I can enjoy my tea with 1/3 less sugar.

As I mentioned in the video, the ability of baking soda to absorb and counteract contaminates lead to many moonshiners adding it to their mash as they ran their stills.

I read recently that some people have a gene that makes them taste bitter flavors more than others.  I think I have that gene as I cannot stand bitter.  I don’t drink coffee or unsweetened tea.  This tip reduces the bitter tannins enough that I can use much less sugar to counteract the bitterness in tea so I think it is a great thing to share.

How to Make Homemade Chicken Bacon

 

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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Yesterday we showed how easy it is to make bacon – we do it at our house every chance I get – but to be honest finding good quality pork belly can be difficult at times so I am always on the lookout for alternatives.

We tried rabbit bacon and found it to be – well blaaa, it was tough and not very meaty.

However, chicken bacon was pretty good – if you like turkey bacon.   Chicken Bacon tastes just like turkey bacon.

Personally I think bacon that is not pork based is a horrible lie, but my wife wants to limit my intake of the meaty goodness so that I wait until I am at least 50 before I stroke out, so she makes me eat more turkey bacon than I would choose to on my own.

Making it is the exact same process as pork bacon – but since it does not have as much fat, I wanted it to have more flavor so I coated it in maple syrup during salting, and then again as I put it in the smoker.

I have made many posts about ho to make bacon, but since bacon makes the world go around I am adding a link to an article on how to make bacon jerky.

My wife eats turkey bacon, she uses it in her 21 day fix diet.  Personally I’d rather eat less real bacon than more fake bacon.  But its personal preference.

Distilling Urine In a Survival Still

 

Camping: Distilling Urine
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I know that showing how the survival still works on distilling urine may seem like a kind of a gross post – but I think it really showcases the capability of the Survival Still and water distillation versus filtering.

Obviously, the volume of urine produced is going to yield less distilled water than a person needs per day, but I am not doing this demonstration to say that my plan involves distilling urine into drinking water, but rather to show how well the still works.

If it purifies the urine into water I am willing to drink, then it’s obvious that this is a process I trust.

Like I said in the beginning of this post, it seems really gross to drink urine, but that is not what is happening.  Once the urine is processed through the Survival Still, it is no longer urine, but pure water.

Distilling urine is not really a good part of a survival plan (unless you are in a desert or a life raft in the ocean), but having a device that works well enough to turn pee into drinking water IS a good part of a survival plan.

I am not willing to drink urine.  But distillation does not purify urine, it removes the pure water from it.  I am drinking distilled water.

Easiest Way to Make Corn on the Cob for a Crowd

 

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I like grilling out, but I have a problem timing everything to be ready at the same time, and I tend to run out of eyes on the stove and space on the grill when trying to entertain. This means I am always looking for better ways of doing things (plus I just love experimenting…)

I saw this tip the other day on pinterest for cooking corn on the cob in large amount easily and had to try it – it worked amazingly well so I felt I should share it.

If you dump raw corn (shucked and cleaned preferably) into a clean chest type freezer (not Styrofoam) you can cook large amounts of corn without doing a lot of work. Simply add boiling water to the corn filled cooler, close the lid and wait at least 30 minutes.
The corn will cook perfectly – will not overcook – and the cooler will keep the corn warm for hours.

Very simple, very easy, and when we tried it at our home it worked perfectly…

This way of cooking corn on the cob is crazy simple, and it turns out the water can be reused for making jelly.

I don’t think I will ever cook corn on the cob on the stove again, unless it is just for me.  It is just to easy to do it this way when cooking for groups.