To stitch up an open wound you’ll need a suture set. The Survival Rip Kit is for such emergency suturing (i.e. stitching up) of open wounds when you are far from an emergency center or in case of civil emergency when normal medical services break down.

You’ll need a suture needle. They come with thread attached. I prefer the absorbable suture thread. You do not have to remove it afterwards. It just dissolves.

They are carried by trampers. Often ideal for trampers and wilderness campers who encounter dangerous terrain and need self-reliance in medical care.

I don’t use surgical gloves. I simply scrub up and make sure my hands are very hygienic. However, I’ve only stitched up myself and my farm livestock. I use vetadine, from RD1, to keep the operation area sterile.

Here is a photo of my Rip Kit. I make these up so if you want one, and live in New Zealand, contact me. I will make one up for you.

Bush-bound pig hunters carry these to save their dogs after they are torn by a wild boar.

There are only two in the kits I create. This means, if your operation is not worth $32, then do not use one. You can only get 2 ops out of each kit,and the kit costs $62.50 + between $3 to $5 shipping in New Zealand. Consider getting the person to a doctor first. If it is an animal casualty, consider the cost of your livestock and the cost of getting the vet. Pig dogs can be worth around $900, sheep $120 and cattle over $1000. In these cases it can be worthwhile.

No remedy is promised. No solution is promised or implied.

Products are sterile and designed for use on humans, but the needle is strong enough for many parts of pets and farm animals. For tough skinned animals you may need to use needle nosed pliers rather than tweezers. For use by highly skilled and qualified farmers, vets, doctors, trampers and pig hunters.

I keep at least six of these in my family first aid kit. But I live on a farm where I will probably use them on animals, eventually.

If you think you are brave enough to use one, then you’ll also need 500 ml of vetadine or iodine and a pair of needle nose pliers. You’d be surprised how hard it can be to pull a slippery needle through flesh.

This post will not cover how to use the suture set. Learn about cleaning the wound and suturing elsewhere. I recommend using steri-strips to hold small wounds together until you can find a doctor. Applying steri-strips is a medical micro-skill of high value. Jenny, my lovely wife is so skilled and talented at applying steri-strips. I think she always does a better job than most medical professionals I have seen do this.

This month, check on your first aid kit and make a decision about having a suture set. Hopefully you’ll never use it. You could think of it as basic medical insurance.

Every 2 months I count up how many milk powder bags I need to replenish our family food storage. As we have plastic bins in fixed areas dedicated for milk powder, it’s easy to see how many 1kg bags I need to buy to refill the plastic storage bins. By dedicating containers to milk powder storage I never have to count what is in stock or work out anything. I just need to fill the empty space left behind from milk powder we have used in the past 2 months. This makes it easiest for me.

2.

Find a dark, cool place. Dry milk products are most sensitive to environmental conditions. Milk powders are particularly sensitive to light, temperature and moisture content. Their vitamins A and will break down rapidly if exposed to light. Photos below : Our family’s stored milk powder.

The area where your dry milk is stored should be kept as cool as possible. If it is possible to do so, air-conditioning or even refrigeration can greatly extend the nutrient shelf life.

If your storage container is transparent or translucent then it should be put into a second container opaque to light or stored in a dark room.

Dry milk will absorb moisture and odors from the air. Ensure your storage containers are impervious to both air and moisture. The drier it can be kept, the better it will keep. 1.

In New Zealand, I recommend buying milk powder in opaque sealed plastic bags where the oxygen has already been removed. I have found this to be economical.

Oxygen also speeds decomposition. Powdered milk canned with nitrogen or carbon dioxide to replace air (which contains oxygen) will keep longer than powdered milk exposed to air. Vacuum canning or oxygen absorbers will also decrease the available oxygen. You will not need to do this if you buy milk powder in sealed plastic bags.

If the dry milk you bought was not packaged for long term storage then it is best used within a few weeks. Buy milk powder already in sealed plastic bags if you plan to store it, not bulk bin loose milk powder.

In New Zealand, we can buy milk powder in plastic bags, already to store away. Store the bags of milk powder as soon as you get home. Put the full, unopened bags in rodent resistant containers. Label the containers. Then store them in a cool, dark, dry place.

Skim, trim or non-fat milk powder will last much longer than whole milk powder.

We have used skim milk powder after storing for 18 months; whole milk powder after 4 months. Both kept their flavour and stored well.

I buy milk powder at my local supermarket and repack it into rodent-resistant space saver containers when I get it home.

Above; Our plastic bags of milk powder in used space-saver containers I bought, used, for $2 each from a bakery. You can start small. Start with just three months of food storage. If that is stretching your budget, then you can do what many have done – pray to God for some miracle way to be able to do this. He will help you find a way to keep his commandments.

Your first step:

1. Weigh It Up
Find out how much rice you have. I weighed our rice and added up the total kgs of rice we had at home.

2. Rice per week
Work out how much rice your family will use for one meal. Our family uses 300 gms per meal. How many meals each week you will use rice? We eat rice 4 days per week. So 300 gms x 4 days = 1200 gms per week. That is the same as 1.2 kgs per week.

3. Types of rice

Choose your type of rice. There are many types of rice. They are used for different things. We use basmati rice. You may choose a different type of rice. White rice stores longer than brown rice. Learn more about rice storage from the Utah State University here. You can also look at this brown rice fact sheet.

4. Rice per year

Multiply your weekly amount of rice (ours is 1.2 kg) x the weeks in a year (52). This tells is that we need 1.2 x 52 weeks = 74.8 kgs per year. So I bought 75 kg of rice for one year. It can in 20 kg bags so I bought 4 bags. That gave me a little more rice to store than I need.

5. Storage Containers

If you store rice in plastic bags the mice will bite through the bags. They will leave their mess on your rice. I store rice in rodent resistant space-saver containers. I buy the containers from fruit pie bakers after the fruit filling has been taken out.

6. The Four factors

7. Replace Oxygen

Replace the oxygen in the container with another gas. CO2 is an easy option. You can do this by using the dry ice food storage procedure. (BELOW: Brown rice & fish steaks).

8. Plan to use it

Make sure that rice is on your weekly food plan so you use your food storage. Learn more about making a weekly food plan here.

Thoughts on Beeing Wise

Storing up food is a most wise endeavor and is a commandment of God through His modern living prophets. [See Ezra Taft Benson, Gordon B Hinckley]
Wise women and men seek to follow counsel of the Lord. Be like the ants. Like the bees. Store up food against the day of need. Be wise, look to the Lord, follow in His counsel and be not afraid. The ants and the bees have not done so badly. Let them be your mentors.

I recommend all to view this brief, wise video on this topic.
Hank Ensing

Need 20 Orders
There must be 20 orders to make a run of these. They will be of macrocarpa furniture timber grade 1, presawn to size so all you need to do is assemble them. They will be in kitset, not assembled. The assembly directions will be included.

Why Kitset?
Easier for people who have no wood workshop or saw bench.
Easier for people in flats.

For people who do not own a mitre saw (drop saw). For people who feel comfortable assembling a kit-set sawn to length.

The Model
The model is the Book-Shelf can dispenser. It can also be set to gravity feed by orienting the dispenser 90 degrees in rotation.

Are you interested?

Cost
The kit-set will cost $98 (incl gst) + $20 for the Humanitarian Relief Fund.
This includes all hardware i.e. screws, joiners, tacks, nails required for a total assembly.

Pre-order
RSVP your interest by 20 June 2013.
Payment Due by 1 July 2013.

Collect
Collect from Dinsdale, Hamilton.
No deliveries.

Learn more
Learn more about what they look like here.

The design is as this model but the timber is furniture grade macrocapa that can be sanded to a fine furniture finish. Great for a gift for your family food storage.

Quantities
You may order more than 1.

Looking after laying hens can be fun as well as provide you with fresh eggs all the time. We keep 6 hens.
Automating water supply is always a good idea for hen care.

How much do hens drink?

Here is another one where you can see the lever mechanism clearly.

References & photo credits

1. Photo of hen’s head by Chris Sgaraglino; http://www.flickr.com/photos/outdoorstudios/4420981741/ 24/11/2011.

She scoops out enough to sow her seeds.

I wheel-barrow it to the garden for her.

Zipporah puts a layer of seed-raiser compost on top in the raised garden.

Using a spade is a bit difficult for little children. I help out.

She makes a furrow for the seeds to bed. Then she sows radish seed. You’ll see she is using saved radish seed. You should buy radish seed as it needs special fertilization and home-saved radish seed gives unpredictable results. I save it anyway.

These are carrot seeds. They can be saved from the last crop and season. My, what a cute little hand!

Zipporah sprinkles seeds on the seed-bed. She has already sown radishes in this same bed so they will grow together. Usually we mix both radish seed and carrot seed with sand and sprinkle this sandy-seed mix along the row. Today is an exception. Note: You don’t need sparkly nail-polish as on her nails.

We make our own seed labels. Use old milk bottles cut into strips with a pair of scissors. Write on the plastic with a garden marker. The letters will not fade in the sun.

Her label is ready.

Water the row. In a few days the radishes will germinate. This is exciting for Zipporah. After the radishes have been eaten the carrots which are much slower growing will grow up where the radishes have been harvested.

Above: Carrots growing slowly behind radish seedlings. This is a rough garden, but it yields just as much vegetable food as an expensive garden. We spend almost nothing on it but a little regular time and effort.

If your water is metered and you pay for what you use, then it’s economical to catch your rainwater. No meter. No water bill. Some city councils charge water and waste-water as part of the rates; For these folk there will be no financial advantage. In Auckland, you are charged for waste-water by the kilo-litre even if you use it all to water your lawn and garden. You’ll still be charged for every litre of used laundry water you recycle as if it went down the drain.

Even if you are renting, your landlord may allow you to install a couple of rainwater tanks. Intercept the rain-water flowing down the downpipe. Without chlorine added, it may even taste sweeter than the town supply.

Buy a large plastic barrel. In NZ we call them drums. Drum recyclers in NZ sell these second-hand. Make sure they have only been used to hold sweeteners or food products. They may cost about NZD $18 each drum. It is easy to drill holes in them to install plumbing fittings like a tap or pipe.

Water for the Garden

Your garden needs a lot of water in summer. Catching rain water in drums will make this water free.

Hamilton residential water and waste-water is charged as part of the rates so there will be no saving.

Rainwater drums can be made to look attractive by surrounding them with timber.

You can grow plants on and around the water tanks. This may keep them cooler and darker thus reducing algae growth.

If they are high on a stand you’ll have greater water pressure. Paint them white to reflect sunlight and keep cooler. They will be unstable in an earthquake when you’ll need water desperately.

Water tanks can be cubic too. They can sit on a stand.

Other containers can also be used to catch rain-water.

Watch this in full-screen. Select the Full-screen option above.
Designed for widescreen.

2. Calculate the amount you need of each ingredient.

3. Calculate how much you need of each ingredient for 3 months (or longer, perhaps 1 year). You might like to use this food calculator to do this.

4. Buy the food.

5. Date the food. Write the month and year on all food. Our children have always helped with this. We use a garden marker.

6. Store each ingredient all in the same place. Avoid having the same ingredient in two places. This makes it difficult to rotate. Assign a fixed area for each ingredient. e.g. A shelf or cupboard. Make sure it is the size that will hold all the food for say 3 months. This is Dedicated Area Home Storage.

7. Store newest food at the back.
8. Use oldest food first.
9. Cook meals as you planned to ensure that you use your food storage. If you do not use ingredients as planned, you may waste your investment as food gets older and older until it cannot be used. Rotating food means eating the oldest and adding new food at the back.

10. Make your shopping list by briefly inspecting each ingredient shelf. You’ll see how empty the shelf is. Buy just enough to refill it. No need to ever do a food storage audit. Simply keep the shelf dedicated to that particular ingredient. Don’t fill the empty space with anything else. There’s a bit of unused shelf space in this method, but it sure beats having to do a food storage audit. Agree to always check each shelf before you go shopping and always shop from this list. Get your whole family to buy into this system.

Why you need Dedicated Area Food Storage

Sister Jessica Adlard explains how she has managed to store away food for her family which will keep them for 12 months through unemployment, sickness, disaster or any economic downturn. Sister Adlard explains:

You can also use the Six Easy Steps system to store up some food for three months for your family.

I have dried my wheat on the trampoline in the sun. The summer breeze dried the grain in just a few hours. I’ve also poured wheat onto a tarp on the lounge floor in the sun. In a single day it dried out.

This is our oats drying. The trampoline is a great way to dry out grain. In the heat of this summer I emptied our grain onto the trampoline at home near Hamilton, New Zealand.

I needed to keep a watchful eye on it in case birds discovered it. That’s Mount Pirongia in the background.

The oats lost any excess moisture in half an hour. I could have left it there for longer. It was very hot on the trampoline.

Jacqui Vowles used another way to dry her wheat. This is her story.

“We recently checked our 33 tins of wheat and found 22 put down in 1974 are excellent – they smelled a bit like a freshly opened hive – yum.

10 smelled of mould – they weren’t obviously mouldy but you’d taste it if you ate this wheat – presumably the moisture content was too high when we sealed it – CO2 was used – the chooks are enjoying it!

1 had rusted through and was suitable only for compost.

As a result – when we purchased more wheat the other day we decided to check the moisture content – see photo 1 – we put a pail of it in the sun, out of the wind, and under glass.

Within 20 min there were big drops of water on the underside of the glass. I turned the glass over and wiped the moisture off. 5 minutes later there was a sheen of moisture over 3/4 of the glass. At this stage we decided to stir the grain by digging a hand to the bottom of the pail, cupping it and pulling it to the top – we did this all the way around the edge of the pail – 6-7 scoops.

We also decided to prop the glass on an angle towards the sun so that the moist air could escape and we didn’t have to keep an eye on it. see photo 2

We have almost finished our insulated storage room and are planning to leave the pails open with the dehumidifier on

We have an Excaliber drier and wondered if we should use that – we understand that dry enough is when you put a grain on the concrete, hit it with a hammer and if it shatters like glass it is dry – if it squashes it is not. See ‘the Resilient Gardener’ by Carol Deppe available in the Auckland library system.

We bought the organic grain from Chantal organics – excellent service – so I’m not concerned re the quality of the grain – just thought you may like to encourage people to check their grain for moisture before storing it.”

Jacqui Vowles, New Zealand.

Make a solar grain drier

Use a bucket and a sheet of glass to dry your grain in the sun.

It’s not fun to take a bucket bath when the air is cold. Bathe when it is warm.

In summer, capture your used bathwater for watering your garden.

If your bath plumbing is still working, you can enjoy your bucket bath in the bath tub or showerbox.

If the plumbing fails as is common after an earthquake, then bathe outside in a discrete place. You might bathe in a tent or behind a tarp.

Steps to bathe

1. Fill a bucket with water. Warm is nicer.

2. Sit on a child’s plastic step next to your bucket of water.

3. Using a small bowl, pour a little water over you.

4. Add soap or shampoo and clean yourself without extra water for a minute or two.

5. Use the remaining water to wash away all traces of soap and shampoo from your hair and body.

Take a bucket bath once a year

Children and teens may learn best by having a bucket bath each year. One 10 litre bucket is usually enough water, however, people with long hair may need more water to wash their hair.

Bucket bathing is a most efficient way to bathe when water is scarce. In our house, our water comes from a well and rainwater tanks. We have a large electric pump to provide water pressure. Recently our pump broke down and we relied on bucket baths for five days.