Tin Can Survival

Survival Bag Inventory.

2011-05-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

The other day I inventoried my truck's survival bag (aka Get Home Bag, G.H.B). First off, to describe my bag I would have to say that I favor redundancy. A common phrase in this community seems to be along the lines of "one is none, two is one". This concept should ring true in any aspect of your equipment. This is not a Bug Out Bag (B.O.B), and should not take priority over it. Your B.O.B should be totally separate, but able to be supplemented by your G.H.B. The concept behind the bag is to allow you to reach your Home Base with minimal items. As I do not work, nor travel far from my home my bag is very simple, however you should tailor yours toward whatever situation you are in. I actually tried to live out of this on a recent camping/beer drinking "soirée". I'll detail my experience at the end. For now here's the contents:

50 Ft x Para-Cord
4x Grocery bag
2x Water Bottles
2x Fire Tins
2x Survival knives
2x Large plastic bags
2x Flash Lights (second is on the whistle tool)
1x MRE
1x Hand cloth
1x Multi-Tool
1x Small Swiss Army knife
1x Multi whistle tool
1x Magnesium starter
1x First Aid kit
1x Space Blanket
1x Knife-Fork-Spoon

The bag is an old Military Helmet Bag. It's a pretty standard run-of-the-mill bag, I generally have a backpack, but transferred all my gear to this to save space. Some of the items I forgot to add to the picture are an Old Military Poncho, and a Canteen w/ Canteen Cup, and plastic Grocery Bags.

The larger water bottle houses the Multi-function Whistle, Multi-Tool, Magnesium Starter, Small Swiss Army knife, Hand Cloth, and Space Blanket. I bought this as a kit on-the-cheap just to have the items. The smaller water bottle contains two large trash bags.

The Fire Tin contents include some Charcloth, Jute detwined for easy kindling, and a Credit Card Magnifier or a Folding Pocket Magnifier (my cover broke). These items fit snuggly into the Altoids tin which I tend to carry in a pocket for my Every Day Carry (EDC). I have several of these located through out my vehicles as I'm from a colder environment and feel that fire is an essential tool for survival, but I digress. Some of these tins also contain a Swedish Firesteel and a ziploc bag this is to keep variety and accommodate my needs for the situation.

The entire kit is actually very inexpensive, most of the items I acquired were either free, given as gifts, or on sale/clearance. I posted a similar inventory on a popular survival forum and was lashed with comments about the "quality" of the items. As I said above this is not meant to be a 100 day reliable pack, it should get you home to your B.O.B. I understand that these Internet survivalists have nothing better to do than theory-craft about the kits that they build, hence one of the reasons I took this kit with me on an excursion. I do suggest testing yourself/equipment. Should anything happen TEOTWAWKI/Natural Disaster you should know your, and the equipment you posses limits.

I will start off by saying that this was in no way a survival trip or test of my skills. We drove vehicles to a lake with a preexisting camping spot set up a tent, drank beer and fished. We ate store bought food (the fish were just not biting), and drank bottled water. That being said, the times that I did use the kit I was very appeased with it's practicability. I can offer a piece of first hand information about one of the items that I will probably replace, the space blanket was extremely loud. Had I not had a long day of fishing and beer drinking I feel this would have hindered my sleep. However all of the other items I used met their functions, or exceeded my expectations. I do have some building/repacking to do, but am mostly pleased.

As always feel free to comment/critique my post.

Enjoy,

Eric@TCS

How to make charcloth.

2011-04-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

Charcloth is a handy resource for catching sparks from your Swedish Firesteel, or being focus of the beam from a Fresnel lens or convex glass, and it's fairly simple to make. Most of the items you need are easily available, I use Cotton Patches because they are already pre-cut, and in bulk, however any 100% cotton will suffice. My first couple of batches were from an old cotton undershirt. Most of the tins you can get from a local thrift stores but I've also ordered some Cookie Tins because the stores I frequent sometimes don't have the size or shape I need. As you can see from the first image, my tin is used regularly, I would advise you to cook off any paint on the can prior to beginning your charcloth cook. This will help with keeping the tin at an even tempeture. Make a small hole in the top of your cooking tin. As you can see the stick in the top of the can is just to highlight the hole, it doesn't have to be a large opening, just enough for the smoke to escape. Once you have your tin ready you can start the cook.

List of needed items.

Cloth squares approx. 2x2"
Cooking Tin
Something to remove the tin from your fire
Tin/alunimum foil

The next image is what I call my cooker. It's basically an old tin that I fashioned into a burn box. I made this because I like to be able to control my heat and add/subtract fuel as necessary. I've used it to cook with a pan, and in the future I plan to add some slats to make a grill. For now this serves me well.

To start your Charcloth cook, make a small fire. Either by making one from wood or using an Alcohol Burner (see previous post). While the fire is heating up, grab your cloth cooking tin and start placing in your cloth squares. If you followed my earlier guidance about cooking the paint off your tin, make sure that the tin is properly cooled before touching it. Also ensure that the hole isn't plugged.

I've found that about 6 patches work well in the tin that I use, you might have different results so for the first few cooks change the batch size. Once you have placed the desired amount of cloth, seal up the tin and place it over your fire. You should see smoke start to rise out of the hole in the top of the tin. That's your signal that all the "magic" is working inside your cooker. Wait for about 10-15 mins and you should see the amount of smoke reduce until it finally stops completely. Once this happens remove the time from the fire and cover with a sheet of aluminum foil. Let the tin sit for a few minutes to allow it to cool.

As you can see in the picture I have some Charcloth stored in a tin that I keep in my truck's survival kit. As always feel free to comment/critique my post.

Enjoy,

Eric@TCS

Alcohol Burner.

2011-04-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

An Alcohol Burner is an effective tool to have around the house, or for minimalist backpackers/hikers. There plenty of more applications but the point I want to make is this is a simple but effective tool. I got the idea from a couple of YouTube videos so I can't take credit, but I'll share my experience here. The concept is pretty simple, you want to have a base/well where your alcohol will sit. The top should be a stove type surface with holes for releasing the alcohol as it evaporates. I like to use beer can because I generally have a lot of those laying around. Any can will do as long as it's not too thin. There are several types of stoves to make, I prefer the penny type, but will also demo open and closed face.

List of items:

(3) Cans - 2 Can empty, 1 can full and unopened
Sharp blade (preferably from a box-cutter/X-acto knife.)
Hard flat surface (I use a large tuna can)
Scissors
Can opener
Small device to create holes ie. nail

Step One - Score around the base of the can with your blade on top of the tuna can (your flat surface). Optionally you can score around the top for later use.

Step Two - Cut the can in half with your scissors. Then cut slits down the can to the point where you scored, evenly space them so you don't overlap on any of the previous cuts. Make sure you don't cut beyond the score or you can weaken the can.

Step Three - Bend the tabs down into the bottom of the can. Then run your thumb and forefinger around the score so that you will weaken it. Bend the tabs back out of the can. If you have trouble with them coming off, just wiggle the tab so that the area around the score is flexing, it should pop off with some effort.

Step Four - Make holes around the piece you designated as the top of your stove to allow gas to escape. They should be evenly spaced.

If you are making a penny burner, make sure that there are holes in the piece designated as the top to allow for easy pouring. See the middle picture in the last set at the bottom of the page.
If you are making an open face, after you have created the holes, run the can opener along the top of the can to cut away the piece.

Step Five - Prepare the bottom of the stove, by carefully placing it on the bottom of your full can. This should stretch it out slightly to help with piecing them together. Prepare the top by bending in two sides. You should be ready to place the top and bottom together. This part can be tough, I suggest you use one of the tabs you bent off the can to act as a sort of shim.

That's the end, I'll leave you with a few helpful tips. These stoves can get really warm, if you can't see the penny on my stove (the final picture at the bottom) it's actually lost all it's shape and formed to the curve of the can. With all the stoves you need to warm up the alcohol to an almost boil before it will fully turn into a stove. I suggest developing something that works for you. I created a stand to sit over my open face stove that will then heat my penny stove until it's ready to be lit. I've also resorted to "splashing" some alcohol on the outside of the stove to heat it up (THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED) I have burnt myself several times doing it and this is why I created the stand and open face stove.

Please comment, or email me with suggestions/tips.

Eric@TCS

FIRST?!?!?!?!?!?

2011-04-09T11:21:00.001-07:00

Hello and howdy! This being my first post and all, I feel an introduction is in order. My name is Eric and I'm a bit of a pyromaniac (evident in my future posts). I haven't been into the "survival" scene for long, but I'm starting to enjoy the experience. I'm a huge nerd and enjoy pretty much anything as long as I can find some interest in it. I was introduced to "survival-ism" a couple years back, and have tried to adapt it to my everyday life. Today's society is quick to label anyone who brings up the word "survivalist" as a nut job. I hope to help break that stereotype. That being said I am not a Armageddon fanatic. I do however believe that you can never be too prepared for what's to come. Hopefully this blog will document my experiences, as well as share my finding with the world!

I guess I should talk about the title a bit. First and foremost I want this blog to be about Survival, I know I am prone to going on a tangent frequently...I will try to keep that to a minimum. The reasoning behind the title "Tin Can Survival" is probably fairly clear, I want to focus on using tin cans for most of the projects, however I will be using metal/aluminum/anything solid that contain items for storage, be of any usefulness. This is however not my only focus, I want Tin Can Survival to be about simplicity. I'm going to dabble in other areas of the survival community including Bush-craft, and Prepping. There are so many resources available today, I plan to add my two cents to the pot. A great motto that I've heard is "being able to do more with less", and that's how I intend to live. Most of the projects will be fairly simple, and I hope to progress as I become more proficient in the craft. We, as Preppers, Survivalists, Purists, Holistic(s), and any other classification should gather together as a community and share ideas. As a reader please feel free to leave critiques, and suggestions. I am always open to change.