Knowledge Weighs Nothing

5 Natural Ways To Lower Cholesterol

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71 Million adult Americans have high cholesterol, with around a third of them being treated with statins to lower their cholesterol. Having high cholesterol means LDL, or (the bad one!) cholesterol is too high, which leads to plaque forming on the inside of your arteries, which puts you at significantly higher risk for heart attack and heart failure.

Luckily there are some fairly simple and natural things you can do to lower your cholesterol. James Hubbard, MD, MPH (The Survival Doctor) has laid out five simple and natural things you can start doing today, to reduce your cholesterol. He also includes a secret natural supplement which contains the same ingredient as statins, which could be taken if statins were not available.

This is all useful information for everyone with high cholesterol, but it is particularly useful for preppers, so they can improve their health and reduce their dependence on prescription medications now, before the SHTF.

5 Natural Ways To Lower Cholesterol

(Photo from: The Survival Doctor)

Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

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Do you remember the avian/bird flu epidemic a few years back? If so you’ll probably remember that all the hand sanitizer and soap disappeared from stores overnight… One of the most common things people prep for is for some kind of global viral flu pandemic. If this is a concern of yours, now is a good time to stock up on the simple ingredients to make your own hand sanitizer.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a prepper, you might just want to make your own hand sanitizer (without the artificial colors, fragrances or preservatives) to get you through the winter flu season. Below is a post from ‘One Good Thing By Jillee’, which lists two hand sanitizer recipes, one alcohol free recipe and one alcohol based recipe. Personally I would go for the latter as I would imagine it is more effective.

Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

(Photo from: One Good Thing By Jillee)

Make Ahead Complete Freezer Meals On The Cheap

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Last year we did a post about complete dry/dehydrated meals stored, ready to use in jars. These complete freezer meals are a similar concept, but with more of a focus on saving money and creating convenience and saving time down the line, by taking an afternoon out and to create the meals in one go, to store in the freezer until they are needed.  When a meal is needed, just defrost and cook!

Natalie says it is possible to make 46 meals, in four hours, for just $95. This is not a substitute for emergency food storage, as if the SHTF, the power will likely go off and then your freezer isn’t going to work… That said, this is a good idea for people who work long hours, or those with kids.  Make ahead when you have the time and then you have your own healthy freezer meal when you need it.

Make Ahead Complete Freezer Meals On The Cheap

(Photo from: A Turtle’s Life For Me)

How Should Senior Citizens Prepare For SHTF?

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They say most people start prepping between the ages of 35 and 55. This would suggest that the majority of preppers are getting on  a bit… It seems to me that most, if not all, of the advice about preparedness, assumes you are young, fit and able. They say things like – you need to be able to hike all day (possibly several days) with a 50lb bug-out-bag, and you need to be able to run a minimum of 2 miles to escape and evade capture…

Sure, some people in their 60s can do this, but most can’t. To be honest, many 35 year olds can’t either! Anyway if you’ve moved into the senior citizen category, and you are fed up with all the young, fit and able prepping advice, you’ll be happy to hear that ‘Graywolf Survival’ have written a post just for you! Check it out below.

How Should Senior Citizens Prepare For SHTF?

(Photo from: Graywolf Survival)

How to Make Cheese From Powdered Milk

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With have done a few DIY cheese posts recently, and one thing that keeps getting asked is – can you make cheese from powdered milk? Our previous posts used fresh milk and cream…

Well the answer is yes! You can make a basic cheese, often referred to as cottage cheese, from milk powder, water, vinegar and lemon juice. In an economic collapse or SHTF incident, cheese would become a vital protein source, if you had the ability to make your own. Also, it means that together with your stored pasta and tinned tomatoes, you could also make lasagna!

This same cheese can also be made from fresh milk, just substitute the milk powder/water for the same quantity of fresh milk.

How to Make Cheese From Powdered Milk

(Photo from: Tactical Intelligence)

How To Grow Coffee Beans at Home

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Almost everyone loves coffee. In fact most of us NEED that morning cup of coffee to get us up and out the door… From a preparedness and homesteading point of view, I see two problems with coffee.  Firstly it is getting more and more expensive to buy, and secondly, if there every is a total collapse or a SHTF incident, we are all going to miss our coffee badly – whatever coffee which may still be available will likely be poor quality and astronomically expensive.

If you live in the right climate, or you have a large greenhouse, you can actually grow your own coffee plants at home.  Coffee plants are actually pretty easy to grow, their main pet-hate is frost. It’s processing the coffee beans which takes a bit more work, but even then, I think the rewards make it well worthwhile! Get planting now, as it can take between 2-4 years before the coffee plants start to develop any usable quantities of cherries.

Kona coffee bean trees are one of the best suited to home growing, you can purchase Kona seeds and plants from Amazon – you can purchase Kona coffee bean seeds (15 tree seeds) for less than $5, or you can purchase 2 Kona coffee 8 inch plants for just less than $15

How To Grow Coffee Beans at Home

(Photo from: CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture)

Do Food Expiration Dates Really Matter?

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So do expiration dates matter? Firstly there are so many different types of expiration dates… Sell By, Best Before, Born On, Use By, to name a few. If you are unsure what these dates mean, you’ve come to the right place… We’ve also got you covered if you’d like a list of common groceries, together with how long each is generally safe to eat. There is also some advice on how to stretch expiration dates through proper storage.

But we are not just talking food expiration dates, there is also information and advice on medicines (many people believe drug companies put short dates on medicines to make you bin them and buy more…)

Do Food Expiration Dates Really Matter?

(Photo from:  aesop)

One Of The Best Preparedness Gifts, Costs You Nothing…

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Here’s the thing – I have asked the question several times on the K.W.N Facebook page, is prepping a whole family activity, or are you prepping alone, but for the whole family? From the replies I received it would appear that there are an awful lot of individuals who take care of all the family’s emergency preparedness activities by themselves.  This is fine, but what happens if something happens to person in charge of the family’s preparedness?

Below is an excellent post about the importance of writing a letter, or some instructions, containing all the important information regarding all the preps, routes, plans, money, weapons and tactics etc. Obviously it would be better if the family as a whole were involved and up-to-date with the emergency preparedness tactics and plans but if that is not the case, leaving some clear instructions for your family to follow, in your absence, is the next best thing.  Check out the post and find out more below. Give the gift of preparedness!

One Of The Best Preparedness Gift, Costs You Nothing…

(Photo from:  tnarik)

Build A Small Hydropower Generator For Free

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Ok, when I say free, I am assuming you already have something laying around which I always seem to have – a broken printer… If you don’t have one, chances are you know someone who does! If you can get hold of an old printer, some CDs and a length of pipe or a broom handle, you have everything you need to build a small scale hydroelectric generator.

Now this hydropower generator isn’t going to generate much electricity, probably just enough to run an LED light from, but that’s not the point. This is an awesome little project to do one afternoon, for two reasons – it is a great project to do with the kids to demonstrate recycling and reusing old things, AND it is an excellent introduction to building a hydroelectric generator, showing you the basics of hydroelectricity, should you want to scale things up and build a generator which is capable of generating a usable amount of electricity.

If nothing else, it would make your kids’ day, if together you built a hydroelectric generator from an old broken printer, and make that LED light glow!

Build A Small Hydropower Generator For Free

(Photo from: masynmachien via Instructables)

Trucker’s Friend All-Purpose and Survival Tool Review

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The Trucker’s Friend is an all purpose tool, designed for truck drivers. Basically it does hacking, prying, wrecking, pulling and pounding! It weighs around 2.5 pounds and it is just under 20 inches in length. I think it should also be called the Prepper’s Friend!  Two HUGE additional bonuses are – it is made in the USA and it is backed by a ‘no hassle’ Lifetime Replacement Guarantee, very cool!

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Here are some of the specifications:

  • Curved Axe (fully resharpenable)
  • Hammer and Nail Puller
  • Spanner (for hose couplings)
  • Pry Bar and Lever
  • Tire Chain Hook
  • Wire Twist (for removing lightweight security seals)
  • Ice and Debris Remover
  • Cast Alloy Tool-Steel Blade and Shank (heat treated for extra strength)
  • Rust Resistant Matte Finish
  • Fiberglass Handle (non-conducting)
  • Shock Absorbing Powergrip
  • Backed by a ‘Hassle-Free’ Lifetime Replacement Guarantee
  • Made in USA

The Prepper’s Friend, sorry, Trucker’s Friend, currently sells at $59.95, which I think is an awesome price given its versatility, quality and the no hassle replacement guarantee.

I have had my Trucker’s Friend for around a month or so now, and overall my thoughts are very positive. It is a truly versatile wrecking machine. It does everything stated, BUT, and maybe this is an obvious point, it doesn’t do these things as well as the individual specialized tools would. For example, the hammer does its job, but it is not weighted or balanced in the same way a specific hammer is, so you have to use more force to hammer nails etc.

Don’t get me wrong – as a prepper/survival tool it is highly recommended. If you want one tool with multiple uses, this is the tool for you. However, for around the home, day to day use, I would reach for a specific hammer or axe first.

A few other things to note – the Trucker’s Friend is a very nice length/weight, at 20 inches with 2.5 pounds of weight, it has a nice heft and swing, specifically for chopping/wrecking. The biggest negative is the sheath, which is terrible.  It is made from very cheap thin plastic, and mine was ripped when it arrived. Personally I think this tool should come with a small kydex sheath which covered the axe blade and fastens around the head. This is not a deal breaker it is very easy to make a DIY kydex sheath (search YouTube for tutorials), and this is exactly what I will be doing!

Conclusion

The Trucker’s Friend is a solid and dependable, multi-use tool which can also double up as a weapon in an emergency self-defense situation. Its versatility makes it an obvious choice for preppers etc, who are looking for an all-in-one hammer, axe and pry-bar. It costs $59.59, which isn’t small change, but I think it represents excellent value for money, especially when you factor it that it is made in the USA and it comes with a lifetime no quibble replacement guarantee. Break it, they’ll send you a new one! My recommendation – buy a Trucker’s Friend and spend 30 minutes to make a simple kydex sheath.

Trucker’s Friend USA Made All-Purpose and Survival Tool: Purchase from Amazon