Destiny Survival

Archive for the ‘Survival Transportation’ Category

Click here for more than 250 plans to build your own boat.

* You can only stockpile so much gasoline, but you don’t have to fuel or feed a bike. You provide its power.

* No electronics required. Of course, you can use batteries for a headlight, but they’re not essential to a bike’s functions.

* A bike is easy on the body and good exercise, no matter what your age.

* Fixing and maintaining a bike is relatively easy, as opposed to a car.

* You can transport loads up to a hundred pounds as long as you balance the load.

* You can go just about anywhere on a bike, whether in town or in the country.

* With practice, you can travel several hours a day. Get away as much as 100-200 miles if you need to.

* Pull into the bushes and you’ve disappeared. It’s easier to camouflage a bike than a car or horse.

* You can attach various packs, saddle bags, racks, carts, trailers, etc. for transporting camping and survival gear.

* A bike is a good investment. A new one may cost a few hundred dollars but last 15 years. Of course, you can buy a used one for much less.

This week’s DestinySurvival Amazon Pick of the Week is Tom Brown’s Guide to City and Suburban Survival (Field Guide), by Tom Brown. Though written in the 1980’s, it’s relevant enough to be recommended in Aboman’s Guide and earn a 4 out of 5 star rating on Amazon.com.

            When I looked up this guide on Amazon.com, I found several other field guides by Tom Brown available there. As it happens, the first sentence of this one is reprinted, and it says that Brown started writing this book after the Mid Atlantic and Northeastern states had experienced a huge snow storm. Sound familiar?

If you live in that part of the U.S., were you one of the last minute shoppers stocking up on groceries this past Friday? How well were you prepared? What would you do differently next time?

            One Amazon reviewer contrasts this book with Cody London’s When All Hell Breaks Loose. Brown’s focus is on survival in the here and now and avoiding emergencies, not quite so much in the aftermath of a major disaster.

What resources are available to you in the city that you may have overlooked or are unaware of? Brown’s book helps you find what’s there for you. This guide will help you get prepared if you live in the city or suburb. It has chapters on shelter, water, heat and light, food, crime, weather, and disasters. Appendices are on edible plants and animals and survival supplies.

            Get your copy of Tom Brown’s Guide to City and Suburban Survival by clicking on the image of the book below. That takes you to the Amazon.com page featuring the book. Place your order there. Get ready for the next emergency, whether it’s another big weather event, rising crime in your neighborhood, or another crisis that puts your  urban survival skills to the test.

Get more info on personal security and survival in the city.

            I see a couple of indicators that prove to me there’s interest in geodesic domes and alternative survival shelter projects.  First, one of my earlier posts encouraging readers to consider a dome often shows up in my blog stats as one of the most popular posts.  Second, a Youtube video derived from Prell’s “Domes from Karl” occasionally receives comments, questions and subscribers.

            If you’re really into domes and want something unusual but workable, click here for a site on building geodesic domes from cardboard.  No kidding.

            With all these things in mind, there’s a book I think you’ll find useful.  It’s a paperback called Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter, by Lloyd Kahn.  Here’s the Amazon.com description:

“Building on the enormous success of the original Shelter, Lloyd Kahn continues his odyssey of finding and exploring the most magnificent and unusual hand-built houses in existence. Among the intriguing domiciles described in Home Work are a Japanese-style stilt house accessible only by a cable across a river; a stone house in a South African valley whose roof serves as a baboon trampoline; multi-level treehouses on the South China Sea; and a bottle house in the Nevada desert. Over 1,500 photos illustrate various innovative architectural styles and natural building materials that have gained popularity in the last two decades such as cob, papercrete, bamboo, adobe, strawbale, timber framing, and earthbags.”

            This book is very favorably reviewed at Amazon.com.  One reviewer says the book is more comprehensive than Kahn’s first book and is a coffee table book that won’t stay on the table.  The commentary reminded the reviewer of a scrapbook.  It’s not just a catalog of intriguing homes and shelters from all over the world, but portrays ways of life.

            Some of the shelters featured are rolling homes, such as buses and vans, and a donkey train pulling a homestead.  One chapter has descriptions and diagrams of tipis, yurts and tents.  Barns and other old buildings are also featured in the book.

            Another reviewer says this book is affirmation that others are building creative and weird stuff and living there happily.

            Because Home Work is a book of ideas and inspiration, I recommend getting a copy for yourself.  Who says we all have to live in cookie cutter look-alike homes?  One day building or finding alternative shelter may be a necessity.

            Here’s how to get your own copy of Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter.  Click on the image of the book below, which takes you to the Amazon.com page featuring the book and place your order there.  Why not daydream and scheme a little?  Explore the possibilities.  You never know.  It could improve your chances of survival in the future.

             Batteries are wonderful for making electronic devices portable or storing energy from the sun, but they can pose certain problems, too.  There never seem to be enough of them.  Or they don’t last as long as you think they should.

Throwing batteries away isn’t such a good idea because of the harsh chemicals which could end up in soil and water.  That’s especially true of rechargeable batteries.

            These problems could be further compounded in the event of a collapse or martial law clampdown that would cause shortages and power outages.  Batteries may be a hot barter item at that point.

            Now there’s a solution.  Why not recondition or restore batteries?  It’s possible to do that with batteries of various sizes, whether it’s for your car, a laptop or a solar energy array.  It’s something you can do at home.  Not only can you save money by restoring and recycling your own batteries, but why not start a business of reconditioning batteries and reselling them?

            In survival situations it’s crucial to make do with what’s available.  If you could restore batteries to full working order, you’d not only be helping yourself, but you’d have a skill useful to others.

            Of course, you don’t have to wait for calamity to put into practice the skill of reconditioning batteries.  Start right away.  Save money on your own batteries.  Resell restored batteries, or charge others for restoring their batteries.  There are very good instructions for reconditioning batteries, and you can get them when you click here.

            Restoring batteries doesn’t have to be difficult, and it won’t be if you follow the instructions in this guide.  It has diagrams and pictures designed to make the process as easy as possible for you and help you do it the right way.

            This do it yourself battery reconditioning guide discusses:

• Types Of Batteries, including lead acid car batteries, Li-Ion laptop batteries, Ni-Cd rechargeable batteries, and Ni-MH long life batteries.

• Testing Your Batteries

• Reconditioning Rechargeable Batteries

• And more, such as getting a business started for restoring batteries.

            This guide is available to download to your computer any time, so you don’t have to order anything through the mail.  Plus, if you’re not satisfied, you can get your money back.

            There are times when being environmentally friendly or “green” overlaps with preparedness for survival.  Restoring batteries is a prime example of that.

            ‘There may also be a time when we’ll simply have to do without much of what we take for granted.  For basic things like lights and radios, you’ll want to have plenty of batteries on hand.  Stock up now.  Get solar chargers for rechargeable batteries.  Then get an edge on everyone else by being able to restore those batteries when they need it.

            Click here now and get the DIY guide to reconditioning batteries.