Pre-Black Friday Sales for Preppers

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Hi all! I'm filling in for David today because he's having computer trouble (he upgraded to Windows 10 before the first Service Pack -- silly man), and because I'll be busy on Friday putting up Christmas decorations, he agreed to swap places with me this week.

So just like I did last year, I'm going to point out some sales that are either happening now, are are scheduled for Black Friday, for gear that will be of interest to preppers.











I've mentioned before that Klymit makes excellent gear (their Static V has more than earned its place within my Bug-out Bag), and from now until Dec 21 everything on their site is 20% off and comes with free shipping. Be sure to check out their Kickstarter for the Splash 25, an air frame (inflatable) backpack that is also a dry bag.

Another perennial favorite of mine, the Solo Stove, has paired with the makers of the Power Pot (reviewed here) to bring some nifty combination deals:

• If you buy $50+ worth of merchandise at SoloStove.com, use the code POWERPOT at checkout to save $20 on your order and get free shipping within the U.S.
• And if you to PowerPractical.com, you can use the code SOLOSTOVE at checkout and save 40% on the PowerPot 5 and get free shipping within the U.S.; alternately, use the code SOLO25 at checkout and save 25% on any order with free shipping on orders over $50.

As a reminder, I made a video about how these two items go really well together:


However, these two deals only last until midnight tonight, so if you want them, don't dally!

If you're looking for a way to carry and boil water quickly, the Kelly Kettle (reviewed here) will serve you well. KellyKettleUSA.com is offering 20-25% off their Ultimate Kits, so check them out!

For those preppers interested in personal protection, AR500 armor has deals lasting until 11/27. Use the promo code "Black15" to receive the following discounts:

• 20% off level III body armor
• 20% off Operator II® plate carrier w/ armor
• 15% off site wide

I have a set of AR500 armor that I acquired last year, and while I cannot testify to its protection (having never been shot and sincerely hoping I never will be), it's certainly the most comfortable armor I've ever worn -- and I've worn more than a few sets of armor in my time.

And of course Amazon.com always has Black Friday sales. The current amazing special right now is the already low-price Kindle Fire -- normally just $50 -- has been reduced to the ridiculous price of only $35 through 11/29 (Sunday).

I bought a 2nd Generation Kindle back in 2012 and I still use it daily, mostly as an inexpensive iPad for checking email. surfing the web, chatting on Facebook, listening to music and of course reading books. This new version has all the same great features but is faster and now has expandable memory via SD cards! Back in Episode 56 of the Gunblog Varietycast I talked about making a survival e-reader, and at this price thi is the perfect tablet for that purpose -- especially if you pair it with a protective case and extra memory.

If you use my link, I get a small percentage back on everything you buy -- so please, help a prepper out and use my link when you go shopping this holiday season! Thank you!

Happy Shopping!

Prudent Prepping: Gear Test

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Now we concentrate  on what to do in, and how to plan for, the long term via Prudent Prepping.

Testing the Power Pot

I am always looking for gear to add to my collection (like that tent which is so close but still so far away). Other items that are always needed are cooking pots and pans, and finding a dual-purpose item is a bonus. Which brings me to the Power Pot (mentioned by Erin here), found on sale in several places for $99, such as Amazon or at REI.

From the company website:

The PowerPot combines the benefits of a lightweight cooking pot and a portable USB charger. Power any of your mobile devices all while heating up a meal on your trusty backpacking stove or campfire. It even comes in handy as a backup charger for a power outage or another emergency.

• 1A on-demand USB power for mobile devices 
• Real-time power meter for optimal charging 
• Works over any stove or heat sources 
• 1.2 Liter hard-anodized aluminum pot for cooking

Setting Up

This is the 5W version (10W is also available), showing everything as it came out of the box: mesh bag, 2 pots (power generator and lid/saucepan), power cord and USB adapters.




There is a power output meter built into the cord, which shows how much power is being produced depending on your heat source. One bar means the unit is producing 1W at this time. When attached to a device, the red light turns blue to indicate charging.







Here is a picture of my buddy's Samsung phone being charged with the Power Pot.




Using It

I wanted to test the Power Pot with the Whisperlite stove I mentioned last week, but this stove of mine has not been used since Clinton was in office, and there is corrosion on the valve and needle that is preventing it from working correctly. (I need one of those maintenance kits for Whsperlite stoves,) Looks can be deceiving, so check out your items thoroughly before needing them!

Rigged on a BBQ grill with briquettes in my Vargo folding stove, the power light came on in about 5 minutes. I was able to get 12 oz. of water to boil in approximately 20 minutes. I think boil times could have been shorter if it was less windy, or a barrier was put up to block some of the gusts. 

Something mentioned quite prominently in the directions is not letting the pot run dry. The built-in thermocouple can be damaged if the pot overheats, so leaving a small amount of water in the pot and allowing it to cool down before emptying and storage is a Very Good Thing. I have a new friend that might be interested in hiking and camping this summer, so having everything sorted and working sooner than later is best

Other Items
Still looking for a good, used 3 season tent. I have found one locally but times and dates have not worked out for everyone to allow me to see it in person.

No other purchases were made this past week.

Recap
Power Pot charging set. Not the lightest pot I have, but worth the benefit of charging and cooking at the same time. $99 and up. I have to give this 5 stars.

As always, if you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Thermo-Electric Generators

One of the regulars on our Facebook page posted a short video from the BBC showing a way to charge your cell phone or other small electronic device from a home-made device added to a clay firebox or stove. There was some interest in how this device worked, so I took a closer look at the video to try to figure out which method they were using.

For those who can't or haven't seen the video:

• The generator is two metal plates, about 4 inches square, bolted together, with three pieces of rebar welded to one of the plates (the fire side) and a square metal box (about 2x2x6 inches) filled with water welded to the other plate.
• The generator is inserted into a hole in the side of a fired clay cook stove that is burning wood.
• The captions on the video mention that the fire creates a heat differential in the metal rods sticking into the fire to “create” electricity. This is incorrect. The metal rods are there to provide more surface area in the flames.
• There is a pair of twisted wires coming from the middle of the metal plates, indicating that some part of it came from a factory.
• There is a white substance between the two plates, probably conductive paste as is used on computer heat-sinks.
• The wires are run directly to a cell phone and an LED flashlight, which means it is putting out around 5 volts of DC power.
• Since there are commercial versions of this on sale in America (Powerpot and similar), this was something designed for use by people with little to no money.

All of these points lead me to believe that they are using a Seebeck junction (sometimes called a Peltier junction) placed between two locally-fabricated pieces of steel.

Thermo-Electric Junctions
A Seebeck junction is a sandwich of dissimilar materials that will generate electricity when placed between a hot surface and a relatively cold surface. As the heat moves from the hot area to the cold area, electrons are knocked off of the material, creating an electrical flow. If you reverse the conditions and push electricity into the junction, one side will get hot and the other side will get cold.

Solid-state coolers are normally called Peltier junctions, while the thermoelectric generators are called Seebeck junctions even through they are the same thing.

Seebeck thermoelectric generators are not terribly effective -- about 5% efficiency -- but they are perfect for use in waste heat reclamation when placed in the exhaust or combustion chamber of wood-fired heaters.

Seebeck generators are fairly easy and cheap to buy. Since the main uses involve the Peltier (cooling) function, it can be hard to get (and understand) good data on the amount of energy you'd be able to get out of a given module, but I'll give it a try.

In Practice

Amazon has a cheap one if you want to try making electricity from fire. A bit over 1.5 inches square, it weighs less than an ounce and costs less than $10.00,  making it perfect for experimenting.

• Power output will vary with the difference in temperature between the two sides. The higher the difference in temperature (not the higher of actual temperatures), the higher the voltage and amperage that will be produced. This one has a maximum temperature of 150° C (302° F), so it would work with small wood fires or placed on the surface of a metal wood stove. 
• The cold side on the generator shown in the BBC video used a container of water to keep the temperature at 100° C (212° F). The hot side was the metal rods inserted into the flames, which in a wood fire is about 150° C (302° F). The difference is 150-100= 50° C. This is a small difference when looking at Seebeck generators. 
• Unfortunately, the seller doesn't give enough information to be able to estimate the power output. One of the buyers, however, mentioned getting around 7 volts DC by placing the hot side on a stove and the cold side on a ice pack.

A more expensive version can be found here.

• These modules can handle up to 350° C (662° F). 
• Wiring a few of these modules together to get the voltage you desire (around 5V for cell phones) would be the best route.
• Looking at the charts for a module the same size as the one from Amazon, a 50 degree differential would put out about 2.5V at a little more than 0.5A. Not bad for something the size of a pack of matches. 
• Wire two of them in series (connect positive of one to the negative of the other and draw power from the unused connections) and you'd have 5.0V at 0.5A. 
• To put those numbers in perspective, most older cell phone chargers (and USB 2.0 ports) are rated at 5V and 0.5A while the newer chargers are still 5V but 2.0A.

If you don't want to buy a module, you can find them in the common 12V coolers sold at Walmart, and most truck stops, and in high-end desktop computers (active cooling for the CPU-mounted between the chip and the cooling fins). Salvaging one and using it to make a generator would require a bit of knowledge of electricity and a way to determine which wire is positive and which is negative. Voltage output will vary according to the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides, so a cheap voltmeter would come in handy.

Thermo-electric junctions are interesting ways to generate small amounts of power from fire, something you'll probably already need in an emergency. Since there are no moving parts, maintenance is minimal and they're pretty fool-proof once assembled. I hope I was able to answer a few questions, but if you have more I will do my best to answer them. Feel free to leave comments here or on the Facebook page.