How to Make a Zeer Pot

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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Today’s project on how to make a zeer pot is something I wanted to do for some time, it is a cheap way of providing some level of refrigeration in very hot climates.

It is also an example of how preppers can learn from appropriate technology supporters as well as missionaries to third world countries.

Zeer Pot technology is used in some very poor countries to reduce food spoilage. It is also the technology behind Latin American ceramic water crocks called Olas which provide cool drinking water in hot arid conditions.

All a zeer pot is a simple fridge made of local materials. It is one earthenware pot set inside another, with a layer of wet sand in between. As the moisture evaporates it cools the inner pot, keeping up to 12kg of fruit and vegetables fresher for longer.

When I saw my local co-op had ceramic pots on sale, I grabbed a few and went to Lowes for some play sand.

My nephew and I stopped up the hole in the large pot with some tape, threw in a layer of sand, inserted the smaller pot, and had a good time filling the space between with sand.

We then put a thermometer in the small pot, poured some water in the sand, and covered the whole thing with a wet towel.

We did get a measurable decrease in temperature, but as it was very humid (and began to rain) we just could not get enough evaporation to make a huge difference. I have seen many people get temperature differences of up to 20 degrees using such a simple device.

During the Crusades, Saladin were able to use this technology (along with specially designed shade buildings) to get ice in the desert which greatly impressed King Richard.

How to Make a Charcoal Starter From a Can

 

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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I used to just dump copious amounts of lighter fluid on my charcoal and keep spraying it on until everything caught fire.  Unfortunately, that was both dangerous and wasteful.

Since it is getting into grilling season I was looking at buying a chimney charcoal starter.  However, a charcoal starter is just a metal cylinder with a charcoal grate mounted inside. I figured I could easily make one out of a #10 can.

All I did was get out my can opener to open the bottom of the can, and then used a church key bottle opener to punch out a few air holes around the bottom of the can.

To use, I simply wadded up some paper and placed unlit charcoal into the top of the cylinder. When the newspaper is lit, it burns and lights the charcoal above. The “chimney effect” causes the charcoal to light from the bottom all the way up to the top.

If you want the paper to burn longer you can coat it in vegetable oil before you light it.
I did this on a whim, and was surprised how well it worked. I may rivet a handle on it in the future, but probably not, as a pair of vice grips works well enough.

Use Your Fridge as a Whiteboard

 

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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I had to work this Fridge Inventory Tip video when the wife was asleep.  Not everyone can use this, and to be honest, I would only do this on my freezer (but since my freezer is covered with half completed projects, this was easier than cleaning up my workshop for a quick video.

Anyway, if you want an easy fridge inventory tip, a dry erase marker will work on many freezer finishes, and this may be a good way to keep track of what is in your freezer.

Just be sure you use a dry erase marker or your wife may cut you.

This fridge inventory tip can work for other refrigerator colors other than white, but be sure to test the finish in an area that you have a hard time seeing, as you don’t want to write a bunch of stuff on the fridge door and not be able to clean it off.

I have to be careful with this, you see I have a 4 year old that if he saw me writing on the fridge with dry erase markers he would think he could do it with sharpies.

FIY here is another tip, if your child writes on your fridge with permanent marker, you can write over his art with a dry erase and it will lift off the first marks…..

Improvised Knife Sharpening Tip

Improvised Knife Sharpening Tip
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Today I offer you an improvised knife sharpening tip. Improvised means it is not as good as a normal method of using a whetstone or other sharpener, but that it will work in a pinch.

If you take a ceramic coffee mug or bowl and flip it upside down you will notice a ring where there is no glaze.

It is possible to use this ring to sharpen your knife blade just as you would use a ceramic sharpening rod.

I have tried this, and it does leave residue on the ceramic ring, and it does sharpen the blade.

I would not use this for one of my high quality knives, but when out camping and I have to sharpen my knife “Right Now”, then this is a good idea to keep in the back of your mind.

The ability to break down a need into its component parts and see resources by potential function will allow you to always be able to improvise.  Since the unglazed bottom ring of the mug can slowly act as sandpaper to wear metal it works to sharpen a knife.

Again improvised solutions are rarely efficient, but they do work in a pinch.

Hopefully this can help you in the future.  If you have time, a purpose made knife sharpener does work much better.

Organization Tip: Mason Jar Salt Lid

Organization Tip: Mason Jar Salt Lid
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The Parmesan cheese lid article was so popular I figured I would show you a similar tip for wide mouth jars.  I present to you the mason jar salt lid tip.

The top of a 26 ounce salt container just happens to be the same size as a wide mouth mason jar.

The top and the bottom are formed, with the body being wound around them.

If you feel the container, you will feel a “lip”.  If you carefully cut the top along this lip – you can press it down over the top of a wide mouth mason jar and screw the ring over it.

This isn’t as easy as some of the other lid tips I have shared with you, but it is a good way to store opened salt.

As I said in the video, I only use this mason jar salt lid for containers I have already opened – but it does make it easier to store salt without it getting moist and hardening.

I used this the other day after a snow storm – I used some stored salt in these containers to try to remove some stubborn ice spots since I took all my shovels to the land.  I know that table salt is not the same as road salt, but the work similarly (just more expensively) – it worked though and I could get to work.