It has been used since ancient times by civilized people to build buildings and walls and more.  If ancient people can make mortar, why can’t you?

Clay Mortar

In ancient times, the Babylonians used a mortar based of mud and clay.  Just get some clay mud that is wet enough to be a thick paste.  If it isn’t that malleable, add water.  If it’s too thin, add more clay or dirt to thicken it up.  This isn’t a very sturdy mortar and you can expect it not to last all that long, but it will do in a pinch and last long enough.  The key benefit of clay mortar is that clay and dirt are more abundant than any other resource for making mortar.

Gypsum Mortar

The Ancient Egyptians made mortar from gypsum and sand.  If you’ve ever worked with plaster of Paris (gypsum plaster), you’ll know that gypsum is makes a soft material, but when added with sand becomes a little more sturdy.  To make gypsum mortar, mix gypsum powder with water to make a slurry and add sand until it forms a thick paste.

Lime Mortar

Limestone is a clear rock mineral that can also be found in hardware/home improvement stores, but it can also be found in rock quarries as well.  To make the mortar, you will need to bake the limestone.  It will expand and turn white.  Even though you can make lime mortar without this step, it is very important to include it.  The reason being that untreated lime mortar is susceptible to water and can collapse.  Whereas, when treated in a kiln the lime becomes “hydraulic” and is much more resistant to the weather. 

After you let it cool off, add water to it.  The solid stones will collapse and hiss, this is normal.  Stir it to make an opaque slurry.  Add sand until it makes a thick paste.

Cement Mortar

This is the most abundant mortar in modern times.  You can find quick set cement in any hardware or home improvement store near you.  If you can’t find any (it’s likely someone else had this idea and looted it all after TEOTWAWKI.  If you’re lucky enough to have cement on hand, mix according to the instructions on the bag.

The basic premise of cooking in a conventional oven is cooking by convection.  When you bake a loaf of bread in a modern conventional oven, the heating elements in the oven heat the air closest to the flames, causing it to rise, moving the colder air near the flames and repeating the process until the air inside the oven is a relatively uniform temperature.  You then place the bread dough in the heated air of the oven.  The heated air transfers its heat into the dough, causing the temperature of the dough to rise to roughly the same temperature as the air around it.  At this temperature, the ingredients in the dough cook and eventually you have bread.

Earth Oven

The easiest and quickest oven you can build is an earth oven.  You don’t need anything too special or permanent to build it – just some mud and a fire.  The basic concept of an earth oven is that you are creating an enclosed space that holds the heated air required to oven cook anything.

Because dirt/mud is exceptional at holding, we’ll use mud to build the shell of our oven.  We use mud because it is malleable until it drys, at which time it will hold its shape.  The first thing we need to do though, is find a way to make our oven space hollow.  The easiest way to do this is to use wet sand.  We can shape the wet sand into whatever form we want and the mud won’t destroy that shape, and dry sand is just as easy to remove from our oven as wet sand would be.  So we first make a mold for our hollow space, then we coat the mold with several inches of mud.  The thicker the mud walls, the more heat it will retain for longer.  Let the mud dry into a hardened mound, then cut an opening into one side of the mound all the way to the sand/molding material.  Dig out all of the sand/molding material and you now have an oven!  Build a fire inside the oven to heat the walls of the oven.  Once your oven is to temperature and the outside of the oven is hot to the touch, put out your fire and remove all of the fire material from the inside of the oven.  Place your food inside the oven and cover the hole up to avoid letting any heat escape.  Eventually, your food will be cooked.

Pompeii Oven

The Pompeii oven is a precursor to the modern brick oven, commonly used in pizzerias.  The Pompeii oven works on the same principles as an earth oven, and is actually the evolutionary successor to the earth oven, but it is more permanent and used with the fire still inside the oven while cooking.

For convenience, a Pompeii oven is built at around waist height or higher (because who really wants to crouch all the time while they are cooking?).  This is best acheived by building a dais out of brick or stone or some other material that is fire proof and resistant to age and the elements.

Then you want to build a slab that the oven will be built onto.  You might be fancy/lucky enough to have concrete and rebar to make this slab from, otherwise go for a material that is fire proof and resistant to age and the elements.

When considering bricks or brick material for building your oven, there are two factors to consider:

1. Can the material withstand high temperatures? (refraction)
2. How well can it reflect heat? (conductivity)

Ideally, you want a high refraction, low conductivity material because it won’t be destroyed by the heat of the oven and it will reflect heat given off by the fire efficiently.  Firebricks (bricks made of a type of clay composed of high levels of alumina and silica) are the ideal material, but ceramic and clay will work just as well.

Lay out a pattern of bricks on your slab for the floor of your oven.  Most people use an offset pattern for the floor because it prevents a seam in the floor which can cause your food to snag when putting it in or taking it out of your oven.  Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how you lay them out as long as they are tightly lined up with each other to prevent heat leakage.

To form the dome of the oven, you can either build it free standing, or over a wet sand mold as with the earth oven.  Building the dome free standing, you will lay the bricks one layer at a time and let the mortar dry before moving on, occassionally adding a wedge between rows of bricks to account for curvature.  Don’t forget to leave space for an opening!

If you don’t have access to modern mortar, you can use clay, mud, pitch (tar), or you can make your own.  Essentially, you just need something that will bind to your bricks to make a solid structure.

When building the door and door frame for the oven, you want to ensure that your door is at least slightly bigger than the opening in the oven.  This will ensure that the door doesn’t swing into the oven and, when closed, forms a seal to heat and moisture leakage from inside the oven.  Don’t make it an airtight seal.  An airtight seal will cause what is known as backdraft: The flame will go down as it burns through the existing oxygen, then when you open the door the onslaught of fresh oxygen causes the fire to roar back up, potentially exploding out the opening of the oven and burning you.  The door itself can be made from whatever you can manage: a hunk of scrap metal, dried mud, a rock, an old oven door, etc.

It is also a good idea to build a chimney into the door frame so that smoke and hot air have an escape path that isn’t your face.  _Don’t put a chimney into the oven itself!_  This fundamentally defeats the functionality of the oven.

After your oven is built, you need to purge it of any excess moisture.  This curing process ensures that your oven doesn’t crack when in regular use.  To do this, build a small fire for 6 hours each day for 5 days.  Start at 300F and increase by 50F each day.  If you can’t accurately guage temperature, just build a small fire and increase the size each day for 5 days.

Once you’re ready to actually start cooking with your oven, start you’re fire near the front of the oven and once it gets going, push it off to one side or the back and let the oven heat until the outside is hot to the touch.  Then cook to your hearts content!

via Reddit

In the realm of Survival TV, Bear Grylls reigns supreme with a full 6 seasons of his wildly popular show ‘Man vs Wild.’  That is, until this week.  Due to an ongoing “contractual dispute,” Discovery is cancelling all current production efforts for the show.  Not much is known at present as to what these disputes actually are. 

Regardless, “Man vs Wild” was one of those show I just loved to watch.  If you pay attention, you can learn a TON of survival techniques from it and it was also entertaining to watch.  I know that Bear didn’t always portray the show honestly (like staying in a hotel some nights), but it still made for good television.  I’ll miss “Man vs Wild,” but I look forward to seeing what new projects Bear Grylls works on in the future.

P.S. – Discovery, if you’re through with Bear Grylls, BRING BACK LES STROUD AND SURVIVORMAN!

See larger image Man vs. Wild: Season 1 (DVD) Director: Dominic Stobart, Mark Westcott, Mike Warner, Scott Tankard Starring: Bear Grylls List Price: $39.95 USD New From: $39.95 In Stock Used from: $31.96 In Stock Release date December 20, 2007.

Most of what I write about here is skills, knowledge, and devices you will need for once Armageddon has occurred, but what about prior to that.  You need to do some prep work to be ready and preparing your body is probably the most important aspect.  The developer Six to Start brings you an iOS game that makes running/jogging/walking fun and puts you in that Zombie Apocalypse state of mind.  Basically, you are a survivor in a world overrun with zombies.  You have to avoid the zombies while collecting vital supplies to support your base.  After you’ve gone out collecting (aka running), you return to base with your supplies and distribute them among the survivors at base in order to help your base prosper.  The more thrivant your base, the more missions you have access to.

One of the things I really like about this game is that it allows you to play your own music while you’re out doing these things.  Also, according to their website, they plan on integrating their data with Runkeeper which is handy for all you Runkeeper users out there.

The app costs $8 from the iTunes store, which is a bit pricey for an iOS app, but what’s $8 when Armageddon strikes?

Zombies, Run! [via Lifehacker]

See larger image Camelbak All Clear Purifier Bottle (1-Liter/32-Ounce, Pure Blue ) (Sports) List Price: $99.00 USD New From: $88.99 In Stock Release date March 15, 2012.

If you know me, you know that I’m not much of a gadget guy.  I’ve also professed on this blog on many occasions about my aversion to anything that requires batteries or some other element in a survival situation.  But every once in a while, technology amazes me.  Camelbak, a company I wholeheartedly support, has released a new water bottle which has a UV light built into the cap.  With a 60 second burst, the light claims to kill 99.99% of the nasties in your water and it’s rated to last for 10,000 cycles.  Meaning if you were to use it to purify all your drinking water every day (3 containers = 96 fluid ounces of water) you wouldn’t need to replace the bulb for ~9 years.

The only downside I see to this thing is that the batteries that power the are built-in rechargables, meaning they assume you’ll have a power source to plug the USB cable in to charge.  But I’m sure with some field-expedient ingenuity, somebody would be able to make the cap charge from kinetic or solar energy, making it a sustainable device, which I’m all for.

Fundamentally, welding is a simple process - heat two pieces of metal until they’re nearly liquid and force them together meshing one piece to the other.  Most of the time, a filler material (commonly a more maleable, and thus easier to liquify metal than the one being welded) is used to aid in creating a cohesive bond, or joint, in the metal pieces.  Over the years, industrial welding has evolved into a futuristic world of laser welders and using ultra sonic waves to fuse molecules together, but these types of welders are crippling expensive and rare, and thus you are unlikely to have access to them after The Event.  For our purposes, there are three types of welding: forge, torch, and arc.

Forge welding is the most primitive form of welding.  To forge weld, you heat the two pieces of metal until they are red hot, but not liquified. Place them on an anvil with one piece slightly overlapping the other and hammer them back down to the thickness of either piece of metal and thus forcing a mesh of the two pieces.  Don’t expect this technique to work on steel, it will only work on more maleable metals that approach or cross the liquification point in forge temperatures (think bronze, copper, iron, etc).

The next step up is torch welding.  To torch weld, you will need a torch - the most common torch used in welding is an acetylene torch, which is essentially a nozzle that mixes pure acetylene with pure oxygen, which you light as it comes out the end.  An acetylene/oxygen flame burns at over 3000 degrees celsius which is the hottest flame you will get from readily available combustible gases.  If you are making a makeshift torch, you can use any pure combustible gas and you can use compressed are instead of oxygen for your oxidizer, but you won’t achieve the same temperatures as your would with an acetylene/oxygen mix.  Also, you need to make sure you are using some sort of non-return valve in order to ensure that you and your fuel cylinder don’t go up in flames while welding.

To perform a torch weld, place the two pieces of metal firmly together, turn on your acetylene just enough so that you hear gas escaping.  Light the torch and adjust the acetylene until the flame is barely coming out of the nozzle.  Turn on the oxidizer slowly until the flame turns blue.  Point the flame at the joint and move the torch in a circular motion until the metal begins to melt.  If you are using a filler rod, you can insert it slowly into the pool of molten metal to add more to the pool.  Once you have a large enough pool, begin moving the torch slowly down the seam.  If you go too fast, you will run out of molten metal.  If you go too slow you will have too much.  If you are using a filler rod, you will want to keep it in the hot zone of the torch (not close enough to melt it but not far enough that it cools off) to prevent a weaker “cold” weld.  Turn the torch off in the reverse order you turned it on.

The final type of welding you should be familiar with is arc welding.  Arc welding uses electricity to heat metal instead of flame and in this case, you NEED a filler rod.  An arc welder is essentially a placeholder for your filler rod that is attached to a power source.  As electricity passes in an arc from the end of the filler rod to the seam in the metal, it generates a great deal of heat, melting the rod and the metal equally.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different types of filler rods available.  Each one has a special purpose it was designed for, and sometimes you’ll need a certain type of rod to do any kind of welding on a certain kind of metal.  We won’t get into that here, just be aware that this is a consideration if you have access to an arc welder post apocalypse.

To perform an arc weld, the first thing you need to do is attach a grounding clamp from your power source to your metal.  This is important because if you don’t do this, the all-important arc will not be generated in order to heat the metal.  To initiate the weld, or “strike the arc,” tap the end of the filler rod against the metal and then hold it at approximately 1/8 inch above the metal.  You will see copious sparks shoot up from the metal – this means you got an arc.  Angle the welder into the direction of movement at approximately 45 degrees and equidistant from each piece of metal (this is important if you aren’t welding two flat pieces of metal together), as if you were dragging the tip of the filler rod along the surface of the metal.  Slowly move the rod across the seam until the joint is complete.

That covers the bare necessities of welding.  These procedures and techniques will get you by in a situation where you need to weld.  There are dozens of advanced techniques on how to weld in different situations, for different types of metal that I haven’t covered here.  Just remember that practice makes perfect, and if you need to weld something intricate “measure twice, weld once.”

See larger image Miller 251292 Classic Series 8-12 Variable Shade Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet (Misc.) List Price: $99.00 USD New From: $82.00 In Stock Used from: $79.53 In Stock

How to Field Dress a Squirrel [via The Art of Manliness Blog]

See larger image SK-5 Blackbird Knife w/ Sheat (Misc.) List Price: $175.00 USD New From: $126.39 In Stock

Aloe Vera

The leaves of the aloe vera plant are used to heal burns and wounds as well as some other skin ailments.  This jagged green plant grows in arid climates and can be found all over the world.  Aloe vera has been marketed as a “cure all” and is included in products ranging from gels and lotions to yogurt.  However, it hasn’t been shown that aloe helps with anything else.

Bilberry

These tiny fruits grow in temperate and sub-arctic climates (such as North America and the U.K.).  They are very similar to the North American blueberry, however they are not the same.  The pulp of a blueberry is a greenish/white color and the pulp of a bilberry is a dark purple color.  On top of being a great food source, it can be used to treat diarrhea and scurvy.

Clove

Clove is a very common ingredient found in many households, but it isn’t an indigenous plant to North America.  It is native to Indonesia and can be found naturally in the surrounding area.  Regardless, if you happen upon some dried cloves they can be used for an upset stomach and as an expectorant.  If you have some clove essential oil, it is an effective topical anesthetic especially for toothaches.

Ginger

The root of the ginger plant is used to relieve nausea.  Ginger can be found throughout Southeast Asia, West Africa, and the Caribbean.

Indian Head Ginger

Indian Head Ginger, or costus spicatus, is a plant native to the Caribbean and South America.  If you brew the leaves of this plant into a tea it has been known to help cleanse parasites from the drinkers system.

Kava

Kava may not have a vital first-aid use, but some of the effects make this plant a good one to have around in the PAW.  When the leaves are chewed they have an anesthetic effect on the mouth and throat (similar to that of chloroseptic spray), and if enough are ingested, it can be used as a sedative.  In small doses, the kava leaf can impart a mild euphoria and increased mental acuity.  Kava is native to Polynesian islands from Hawaii to Micronesia, so unless you are lucky enough to be stranded there when at the end of the world as we know it, you probably won’t come across this plant.

Sangre de Grado

This is a tree that is native to northeastern South America.  The sap from the “Dragon’s Blood” tree is a very unique first-aid tool.  Rub this blood red sap in a wound until it turns into a white paste and it will form into a latex bandage.  On top of covering the wound it is also a verd strong antiseptic and hemostatic.

Sphagnum

Sphagnum moss is common around the world.  There are around 300 known species that mostly look different (the only characteristic that ties them together is the way the branches cluster).  The thing about all the species of sphagnum moss is that they have an antiseptic quality.  So when you wrap a wound, put some sphagnum moss in between the wound and the wrap.

Yarrow

Yarrow is used to stop bleeding (topically), help wounds heal, and as an anti-inflammatory.  It is commonly found all over the Northern Hemisphere.  It should be noted that yarrow can promote AND staunch blood flow depending on how it’s prepared.  Placing the plant on the wound will cause it to staunch blood flow.

See larger image Medicinal Plants of North America: A Field Guide (Falcon Guides) (Paperback) By (author) Jim Meuninck List Price: $16.95 USD New From: $8.89 In Stock Used from: $8.88 In Stock

In the PAW, a working stove of any kind will be hard to come by, and sometimes that’s all you need.  Sometimes you just need a small, simple fire to cook food over for a few minutes and be done with it.  Enter these instructions for a simple handmade stove.  Granted, with these instructions left the way they are, you’re devoting more resources to this “quick” solution than you get out of it.  But if you modify them a little bit, this could be a worthwhile technique when you’re on the move and hungry.

[Simple Handmade Stove via EnglishRussia.com]

See larger image Wildlife Hatchet (Misc.) List Price: $88.00 USD New From: $111.00 In Stock

1. It must be in contact with oxygen, which is a very necessary part of the reaction.
2. The acidity of the honey must be neutralized (which it is when it comes into contact with body fluids).

It is also more effective when the honey is diluted in the fluids in the wound.  Because the hydrogen peroxide is released slowly, honey becomes a very effective antiseptic.

In the P.A.W., honey may not be a readily available resource.  In fact, it could be very scarce.  A prepared mind, might learn how to keep bees so that they can have honey available for food and for first aid in that scenario.