A man, a Can, a Plan: Canned Corn as Survival Food

(Note: this article is an homage to a rather excellent book that I recommend as a gift for young adults leaving home for the first time. It even comes in board book format, so as to be durable enough to handle dorm life.)
Being a prepper, I am always trying to figure out my best options for emergency supplies. Having a background in accounting, I am inclined to literally make spreadsheets and compare the various options, sometimes exhaustively and late into the night. (We all need hobbies).

There are a lot of survival foods out there. Many of them are basically compressed pucks of shortbread that will keep you alive but not happy (through personal experience , I recommend drinking lots of water with it), although some survival foods can be fairly high-end freeze dried meals that are easy to prepare and taste about as good as a public school lunch: edible and surprisingly tasty at times, but not recommended as a primary diet.

With that in mind, I think I have found a good compromise between "tasty" and "cost effective" for survival food: canned corn.

No, really.

Pros

• Canned corn is inexpensive. Like, really cheap: my local grocery store had a sale on it for less than fifty cents a can last week. Even at full price for a name brand, bought from a family dollar store it's less than two dollars a can. 
• The corn itself can be eaten straight, which is nice in a canned good. Yes, you can eat canned soup without heating it, but it gets old real quick. 
• If you happen to have rice on hand (another cheap survival food) the added nutrition from the water in the can is actually not a terrible addition. Use the drained water to cook the rice and then put the corn on top. Voila, instant side dish, allowing you to ignore the burned out remains of the city you are in and pretend you still live in civilized times. 
• Soup or stew isn't that hard to make from scratch, and having canned corn on hand makes it that much easier. 
• The corn can be used as bait for other food. Carp are by no means my favorite fish to eat, but they sure do love corn used as bait, and are a darned site better than nothing if you need protein. Heck, squirrels tend to love canned foods, so with a simple snare you can turn a can of corn into several meals. 
• The can itself can be used to make simple tools, a stove being my personal favorite. Emergency cooking pots can be done, but try to make sure of what the can is lined with first; some of those liners are toxic. I have a tendency to save my cans and use them as small parts containers. And if you must, you can make a cutting edge out of the metal from the can; it's difficult, but possible. (I'm not counting the lid as you take it off.) 
• Heck, it even makes a decent thrown weapon in a pinch: metal, compact, and heavy enough to do some damage... 

Cons
...which leads to the biggest con: it's heavy. There is no question, it will cost you in weight. so you may not want to do this if your plan is to bug out with a backpack. That said, if you plan to bug in, or if you plan to bug out in a vehicle, a few cans of this are probably not a bad idea.


In short, canned corn is cheap, easy to get hold of, and has a variety of uses. Not recommended for backpackers.

Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

Why Do I Prep?

Last week I had a friend and his significant other over. We talked, and they both commented on how my home was well-equipped for just about any emergency that they could imagine. My friend mentioned that when the zombies come he plans to come to my home and set up camp.

After several comments in this vein I pointed out to him that the reason I keep water and food on hand is not for the end of the world, but for the next time someone is working on the water pipes that go to my house and I suddenly lose water for a day or two. I am not expecting a massive ground invasion from aliens, Soviets, or anything like that, but I am expecting that a natural disaster will happen sometime within the next few years and being able to feed myself and my family is important.

He seemed genuinely confused by this and asked questions about what kind of emergencies I expected and why did I expect them? After all, there's very little of modern industrial civilization that's likely to fail  on in the next couple of years, and given the infrastructure involved these things are unlikely to fail permanently. The conversation went off  into bushes after that, but the point remains that most people expect me to prep because they expect that I am predicting the end of the world.

I’m not really expecting the end the world, at least not anytime soon. Even if you consider events like the Bronze Age collapse or the fall of the Roman Empire to be an effective end of the world, it doesn’t happen all that often. What I am worried about is the next snowstorm when the roads haven't been plowed because there is too much snow to handle; the next time my house doesn't have power in the middle of the summer and it’s a record heatwave; or the next time a city worker accidentally cuts a gas line and I have a fireman knocking on my door and telling me that I need to evacuate.

Forget an invasion by aliens, what happens the next time that I don’t want to go to the store and I am entertaining guests? Keeping ingredients on hand that I purchased while they were on sale has saved me so much money over the years that it's almost ridiculous. Having a supply of food on hand is very simple, but is often overlooked as a core part of emergency preparedness.

Even more esoteric skills come in handy on rare occasion, like knowing how to light a fire with nothing more than a pocketknife and a rock. Even if you intend never to go camping and live in a major city, note that the skill set I practice includes things like bicycle repair – practical, regular-use skills that come in handy well before the zombie apocalypse.

The point of all this is that instead of viewing prepping as some oddball hobby, I try to take a practical view of "How much of this can I apply in my everyday life and actually have it be useful?",  even if that use only comes every month or two.

Remember, the world is a crazy place. Go be ready to win in it.

Water Storage and Filtration

You can live three weeks without food, but only three days without water.

Water is life.

This past week I've had around five people ask me about storing water, and why I store water if I have a water filter. This post addresses those questions, since there is a thirst for knowledge.

I have a bunch of potable water on hand. In the corner of my living room are nine boxes of bottled water, stacked and out of the way. In addition, I keep five gallon camping jugs of filtered tap water on hand and rotate through them. I also have a LifeStraw water bottle that I use on a regular basis, and I have a reverse osmosis filter for my kitchen sink.

"Why do you have so much stored water?"

I live in a desert and have had at least two experiences in the last seven years where I had to dip into emergency water. Having a two week supply for two adults for drinking and household use is on my short list for emergency supplies.

"But then why have a filter?" 

First, in a long-term disaster scenario, there's a very real chance of something like an economic collapse, and there's an equally very real chance that I'll need tap water filtration. If tap water isn't available, then being able to filter whatever is on hand (such as a rain barrel) becomes essential.

Second, because if I use these things in my every day life, it becomes much easier to transition in an emergency. In an emergency, I want as little to be distracting me from the matter of survival (and prospering) as I can manage.

Finally, I dislike the taste of the tap water where I live. It just tastes weird, and that's probably more my body's strangeness rather than a comment on water quality, but it was good motivation to prep.

"What do we do now?"

If you have the space, start with some stored water; 72 hours of drinking water can save your life. If you have a source of water that you can filter to drink (stream, river, lake, pond; even scum-covered man-made canals are filterable  drinking water) I recommend you get a man-portable filter next.

And after that it is up to you.

"Wait! How do I store water?
This one is pretty easy. It doesn't take much to store water for long term storage. 

1. Get a clean container for your water;
2. Fill almost to the top;
3. Put in roughly ½ teaspoon of the cheapest bleach you can find;
4. Cap it off.

(Note: Some bleach is scented. You want regular, unscented bleach. Dollar stores will often have half gallon jugs of it, and those work just fine).

For short term storage (Less than six months)? I prefer to use filtered tap water, a good quality plastic container, and consuming and replacing it regularly. I use filtered water for my humidifier (because the directions say to), my electric kettle (because it's easier to clean), and to drink, all of which help to rotate the water just fine. The only hassle is refilling my 5 gallon jugs.

To Sum Up
Store and filter. Both storage and filtration have a place and a specific use.
Which one you put into your bug out bag is up to you, but if you are bugging in, you really do want both.

Have fun, and don't forget to practice.

Prepping for Hypoglycemia

Most preppers assume that when the apocalypse happens, they will be fighting zombies, killing aliens, and fending off invasions of leather-clad bikers that seem to have endless supplies of motorcycle parts for when things break.

While they’re doing that, though, some of them will have to face unfortunate health problems that make it somewhat more difficult to keep stabbing bikers all day long or wading into zombie hordes and cleaving skulls with a broadsword. In my case, I am speaking of hypoglycemia.

What It Is
Hypoglycemia, at its root, is the condition of not having enough sugar in my blood. Hypoglycemics have to make sure that they maintain the minimum level of sugar in their blood needed for their brain, nerves, and various organs to continue normal operation.

People who know about hypoglycemia will think that symptoms are limited to low energy and irritability. This is true, but there's more to it than that; I know several people who actually went blind due to their lack of blood sugar (thankfully for them it was temporary, but very disconcerting). Worse, a hypoglycemic will often have trouble thinking when their blood sugar get low, in part because they literally do not have the fuel needed for their brain to think properly, often making it hard for them to realize they need to fix the problem. If it can sneak up on a person in daily life, think how much more common it would be during a disaster and how difficult it would be to fix.

How It Happens
There can be several reasons that a person might be hypoglycemic, ranging from an under-active pancreas to a problematic reaction to medicine such as metformin, a common diabetes medication. I also know at least one person who had a hypoglycemic reaction after having an allergic reaction. Hypoglycemia can be caused by all sorts of things, so please keep that in mind.

There are different triggers for the condition, with the most common one being not eating a regular diet and overexerting yourself. Untreated, it can lead to all sorts of things, including coma and death. Thankfully, whatever the cause, it has the same treatment.

Treatment: The Stack
When you're treating a hypoglycemic, remember the stack. Incidentally, this is also useful when working with pregnant women who have trouble keeping food down but still need the full range of nutrition provided by normal foods.

1. At the bottom of the stack you have simple carbohydrates. These are things like hard candy, sugary drinks, crackers, and bread. They are the easiest to break down in your body and are the least likely to be rejected by an upset stomach. This is the first thing that you want to give to a hypoglycemic, since it will allow their body to function correctly until you can put more substantial food into them.
2. Once some of that simple sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream, you can put slightly more complex carbohydrates -- fruit, whole wheat bread, Snickers bars, and most commercial Nutri-Grain type bars (not a lot of protein, typically has a fruit filling) -- into the body without as great a fear of rejection.
3. After that, add protein like beef jerky, protein bars, and steak. These take a little longer for your body to break down, but they allow it to continue having energy for longer.
4. Finally, and if you have the opportunity, add fats for ongoing energy, usually in the form of cooked food. I'm a fan of saturated fats like coconut oil or most animal fats like butter or lard, but I know people who stick to primarily vegetable fats for things like this.
5. Whatever you choose, keep in mind that if someone has low blood sugar, they will have a harder time absorbing whatever you feed them, so it is best to give them a little bit of food that they can digest, and then something bigger.

I actually like using trail mix for the beginning of the stack, followed by a protein bar and beef jerky. They're easy to carry, take up little space, and keep well in all climates.

Whatever you choose, even if it's just commercially prepared glucose tablets, please make sure that if you are prepared to check on the medical needs of the members of your group. A little bit of preparedness now can save a lot of grief later.

Good luck, and don’t forget to eat something.

Driving in the Snow

Friday night there was a slight cold snap. Just a little chill, really.

On Saturday I had to go south by about a hundred miles, and ended up leaving for home right before midnight... at which point I traveled through a snow storm in the middle of the night on mountain passes with limited visibility and sheer cliffs.

For those of you on the east coast  reading this: when I talk about mountains, I'm not talking about the mountains on the Appalachian trail. The highest mountain peak in Maryland (where I spent a fair amount of time growing up) is over 3000 feet. As I look out my window I can see Mt. Timpanogos, which is close to 4 times that height, and doesn't even break the top 5 tallest peaks in my state.

These are not small mountains, and the trails in them tend to be twisty and windy due the height of the terrain. I've had to learn to drive in the snow, and have had to do so as a matter of being able to get around. I have to do it fairly well, because going off the side of the road doesn't mean getting towed; it means wondering if I left my toaster oven on in the several seconds that I have left while I plummet to my death.

The next time you are stuck somewhere where it is unexpectedly snowing -- or if you need to bug out to a snowy location -- remember these three rules.

Drive Slow
If there's snow on the road, keep an eye on your speed. Any snow at all means that it's cold enough to form ice on the road, and patches of “black ice” (ice that does not show up visually against the road, but is still very slippery) can form.

If the road is covered in snow such that you can't tell where the lane markers are, or where the edges of the road are, driving slowly is the only way to give yourself enough time to safely brake or make turns.

Sudden braking is actually a very bad idea as it's very likely to cause skidding. You may not be able to avoid it, but if you have to brake suddenly, you want to be doing so at a low speed. Sharp turns can cause the same problem.

Getting into a car accident will put a much bigger dent in your schedule than saving the five minutes by going faster. Remember that.

Drive Low
Most modern cars are front-wheel drive. A lot of them have a tendency to understeer in bad weather, due to swinging around. Having a little junk in the trunk (I recommend a thorough emergency kit) gives you extra traction, which can save your life when you are dealing with adverse conditions.

If you have nothing else, and need cheap weight, buy kitty litter or play sand. They also provide grit (for traction) if you need it to get out of a slippery spot.

Once again, a car accident (even just denting your bumper) is much more expensive than the extra mile or two per gallon you will save by having no extra weight in your car, so put the bowling ball back in the trunk.

Drive Light 
Keep your running lights on. If it's after dark, people will turn on headlights, but there's nothing wrong with keeping your running lights on at all times and erring on the side of caution. Being visible to other drivers makes much easier for them to avoid hitting you.


You can save yourself a lot of grief with some basic preparedness. Having lived in the south (Alabama) and the northeast, I understand what having an unexpected flurry of snow can do to traffic, and to the ability to get around. Hopefully, if you ever have to bug out, it won’t bite you in the back.

Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

Apocalypse Builds: #10 Can Stove

It's after the apocalypse, and you've reached your bug out location and you're sitting around, waiting for the zombies to eat you. Your pork and beans deluxe (now without long pig!) is ready to eat straight out of the can.

You get out your handy dandy P38 can opener and you open the can. Using your tactical spork, you dig in.. and realize that it would really taste better hot. You need a way to heat it up, so you quickly empty a can of freeze dried beef chunks into a gallon ziploc bag, and you make a stove using your handy dandy pocket knife.

Wait, what?
A #10 can stove (sometimes called a hobo stove) is a super easy to make emergency stove. All it requires is a #10 can (think coffee can) and a pocket knife. You can make it with all sorts of fancy features and tools, but at its core, all you need is a pocket knife and a can.

If you want to make it easy on yourself and you have onet on hand, you can use a “church key” style can opener. Tin snips and  a pair of pliers are useful, but not actually needed. 

Note: This is not a number 10 rocket stove. That is a different thing.

Building a #10 Can Stove

1. The can should have one open end (this will be the bottom) and one closed end (the top and cooking area). 
2. Place the open end on the ground.
3. Use the can opener or pocket knife to cut holes below the closed top, evenly spaced along the sides. I prefer eight holes of about a half inch diameter each.
• If in doubt, cut fewer holes, since you can make more fairly easily.
• Don’t cut away the metal! If you need to, you can adjust the air flow by bending the metal back in. 
4. Using the pocket knife, score a spot on the can about one quarter of the way up from the open end (aka the bottom).
5. Cut down from that spot to the open end.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 at a distance of about 1/4 the height of the can between cuts.  
7. Fold the "flap" of metal out of the way.  
8. Place fuel into the stove using that hole. 
9. Light it.

Done.

But why not just build a fire?
In my experience a #10 can stove works just as well as an open fire, and it also keeps the fuel relatively dry and hot. The can forms both a cooktop and a chimney, and allows you to burn a variety of fuels. I especially like it for burning things like fuel tabs with random brush piled on top when it is wet (or the brush is damp). It dries things off quickly, and keeps the fire manageable.

In a pinch, you can even make these out of soup cans; they just have less capacity, and don’t get as hot. 

If you have made a couple of these, you can experiment with the chimney design so that it still flows well, but smokes less.

I made one with nothing but a leatherman multitool, and it worked great. I had cooked eggs in about 10 minutes from a dead start with a cast-iron pan.


As always, don’t forget to practice.

Apocalypse Builds: Concrete Block Stove

Last week I reviewed a rocket stove and gave it a less than stellar review. This week I decided to look into other options, either commercial or home made.

Since I have a bunch of stuff sitting around, much of which I would like to dispose of, I decided to look into concrete block rocket stoves. The siren call of bacon and eggs after the fall of civilization appeals to me; marauding bands of Mad Max style raiders can have fun, but I want my breakfast!

Construction

https://tinyurl.com/y8f683xj

The idea behind concrete block rocket stoves is that you have five hollow concrete (or “cinder”) blocks, called breeze blocks in some places. Four of them will be standard rectangular blocks, with the last one a square block with what looks like serifs on it -- kind of like an “H” with an extra center bar between the two long ones.

If you want to use a frying pan (I recommend cast iron for this), you'll also need some sort of pot standoff. I use a couple of rocks on top of the rocket stove, but most people use something nicer like a gas cooktop pot standoff.

1 & 2) Foundation

Lay two concrete blocks so that they form a long thin bar, with a continuous top and the holes on the sides. This forms the foundation.

It's technically possible to do this without the foundation, but after experimenting, it seems to make a large enough difference to make it worth it.

3) Begin Combustion Chamber

The third block is the differently shaped one. Lay it so that it is dead center on top of the two foundation blocks and aligned with them. The hole in it needs to be aligned so that you can see the seam of the two lower blocks in it. 

This forms a sort of pyramid with the blocks, and creates the back of the combustion chamber.

4) Complete Combustion Chamber
Lay the fourth block on its end, perpendicular to the foundation. The bottom hole of this block will align with the gap in the nonstandard block. 

This completes the combustion chamber, and allows you to feed fuel into it in a protected area. This also allows you to place kindling and small amounts of fuel in the top part of that block, giving you a partially covered area if you have to dry out fuel.

Be aware that the back of the combustion chamber has a small divot that will fill up with ash as you use it, so you'll need to clean that out between uses.

5) Chimney

Lay the fifth and final block so that it's directly on top of the third block, holes aligned to form a chimney. The combustion chamber back will be only partially underneath the hole in the block, but don’t worry, it's supposed to look like that.

Place kindling in the combustion chamber, roughly half way in. Light it, and place small pieces of wood or other fuel in it. Slowly push the fuel into the back of the combustion chamber as it burns.

Use
Grab your kettle, put it on there, and make yourself some hot chocolate. Congratulations! You have a rocket stove. It takes me less than five minutes to heat up a ten inch cast iron frying pan in order to fry eggs.

They aren't terribly portable and aren't the best possible design, but they are a fairly nice option for those of us who expect to bug in and don’t want a larger permanent structure.

My Rating

• 4/5 as long as you are bugging in, or have the materials handy at your bug out site.
• 1/5 if you are bugging out.

Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

Gear Review: EcoZoom Dura Rocket Stove

There was this thing called a “rocket stove” a few years back. I originally heard about them not from preppers or backpackers, but from off grid-living and permaculture forums. A bunch of people were getting really excited about them, and how efficient they were.

It soon became apparent that I would have to test one out. I figured that I'd get to it as soon as I could, and didn’t put a lot of effort into finding and testing one until one day when my neighbor actually gave me one for free. He had been given an EcoZoom Dura  for Christmas by both his father and his father-in-law, so he gave me one of his rocket stoves because he knew that I was interested in that kind of thing.

https://amzn.to/2DxNmol

I was initially excited. This was after all, a cool new toy to play with. However...

(I want to preface this with the fact that if a company representative wants to get a hold of me and explain what I have been doing wrong, I will happily listen.)

... the only way that I ever got the Dura to stay lit was with liberal application of liquid fuel (lighter fluid, rubbing alcohol, etc.), or by blowing on it in order to provide oxygen to the fuel.

• I made sure my fuel was dry.
• I double and triple checked the instructions. 
• I verified that I could light a fire in a fire pit – one match only – and that I had no problems being able to do that fairly consistently, even in somewhat adverse conditions. 

I assumed that this was just a problem with me, that I simply didn't understand how to operate a rocket stove or something along those lines, so I made sure it wasn’t something I was doing wrong by having a couple friends give it a try, and we all had the same lack of success: once we had the fire going, it would only stay lit for a short period before going out. Something was obviously fairly wrong.

As it turns out, my neighbor had the same problem and assumed that after giving me his extra stove that I would share the secret of Prometheus with him, and that he too would be able to show off by frying eggs in his backyard during a perfectly normal day.

I've tried a couple of different stove designs since then, and found that they tend to be not only lighter, but also easier to use, and most importantly they stay lit and you can actually burn things with them. 

My Rating: 1 out of 5
I've been told (though I cannot verify) that the current generation of EcoZoom rocket stoves has solved that issue. But until I can try it for myself, I have to give the EcoZoom Dura 1 out of 5 stars.


Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

Protein Bars? or Candy Bars?

The s**t has hit the fan. You have a bug out bag, you got out in time, and you're on your way to your bug out location. You've met up with one of the other people who bought into the bug out location and are hiking together. You decide to stop and rest on the side of the mountain you are hiking up, enjoying the crisp spring air mixed with the smell of burning cites, and you sit down to grab a protein bar from your pack. Your friend pulls out yellowed plastic-looking puck of something and bites into it with the joyful expression of someone who is eating what tastes like sawdust mixed with lard.

You pull out the packet with your snack in it, rip it open, and pour some in your mouth, crunching away cheerfully. Your friend looks over at you, an expression of deep desire on their face as they as “Is that chocolate?”

In a lot of ways, this is a sequel article to “The Argument For Chocolate”. I started looking into a post-workout snack, and as a control for the experiment I started looking at Snickers Bars to oppose my preferred brand of protein bar.

And then I started to look at most protein bars.

It turns out that for a 68 gram / 2.4  Clif Bar (I went for the oatmeal raisin walnut, since that looked like the healthiest flavor) , there are 10 grams of protein (decent), 0.5 grams of saturated fat (not great), and 43 grams of carbohydrates.

Wait, 43 grams? That's about as much as a can of Coke! For a protein bar, that is a lot of sugar. Okay, maybe it's not that big a deal if you're using this as food in a bug out bag; you're expecting to burn a lot of calories, and carbohydrates are quick energy. But fats, and especially saturated fats are much better for that situation: they're more energy dense to start out, and release that energy slower (which is part of the reason that excess fat in a non-survival situation may not be good -- you're taking in a lot of energy, and you may not be burning it.)

Protein is great if you're building muscle, but if you're just hiking around, moderate amounts of it are fine. 10 grams is a lot when you consider that, for people who aren't trying to build muscle or who have other medical problems, 1 gram of protein per 10 pounds of body weight is the RDA. So two Clif Bars are actually more protein than is needed for the majority of the population's RDA.

Well, at least Clif Bars must be a better value than candy, right?

Nope:

• Clif Bars are much more expensive, about $1.50 each if you buy a case of 12. 
• Conversely, peanut M&Ms (46 grams) are about a third of that cost for a box of 48. 
• Peanut M&Ms have 4 grams of protein, 5 grams of saturated fat and 28 grams of carbs.
• A box of 48 Snickers Bars (52 grams) cost about the same as the peanut M&Ms.
• Snickers Bars have 4 grams of Protein, 12 grams of saturated fat, and 33 grams of carbs.
• Heck, even Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups cost only a little bit more than that, and their nutrition values are similar except with more protein.

So unless your only source of protein is these trail snacks, you're probably getting enough to satisfy your RDA, and both of the candy options have better sustained energy (saturated fat) and lower carbohydrate levels (but high enough to still give an instant boost).

Given that M&M candies originated as a way to keep chocolate from spoiling in the field, they are now my "protein bar" of choice.

In conclusion, unless you cannot eat peanuts I unreservedly recommend getting some sort of chocolate with peanuts instead of a Clif Bar for your bug out bag. It is superior in every way that I can figure out. Even if you're hitting the gym, eat a couple more eggs in the morning instead of a Clif Bar and you come out ahead, both in cost and nutrition.

Cheap Gear Review: Crack and Boil Hand Warmers

Last week I discussed hand warmers. I would argue that they are an essential piece of equipment for people who have to go into extreme cold environments on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, there is a fairly large gap, both price and convenience-wise, between most reusable hand warmers and disposables. Fortunately, there is a happy medium between those two types: "Crack and boil" type hand warmers that rely on a chemical reaction that is actually internal to the hand warmer itself.

https://amzn.to/2Q4uujj

Crack
These warmers have a small, convex metal disk held inside a gel pouch, and when use your thumb and fingers to invert the disk (making it concave), that inversion releases just enough heat to start a chemical reaction. The gel actually turns into a solid crystal that releases heat for some time.

Most crack and boil hand warmers claim that they only last for 30-45 minutes, which I find is an underestimation; in my experience about twice that length of time is reasonable to expect from them.

Boil
When these warmers have finished giving off heat, just boil them in water for a few minutes to reset them. I have accidentally left the hand warmers in for an hour with no ill effect, but it only takes a few minutes to desolidify the gel.

In addition to being reusable, these warmers come in a huge variety of sizes and shapes. I have several that are 6+ inches across and are designed for use on muscle cramps, as well as 3 inch around hand warmers that I use during sporting events.

I haven't had one fail on me, either, despite things like teenage boys whacking them against brick walls. Abuse in excess of usual wear and tear doesn't seem to compromise them, but I have yet to cut into one, so don't go overboard. 

Recommendation: 5/5
Overall, I would definitely recommend these for your preps. They rate five out of five stars for things like sporting events, and being able to give them to children without worries about them being overly expensive, or the children breaking them. You don’t need a source of open flame or special storage for them; just boil a pot of water to reset them and don’t deliberately puncture the packaging.

The biggest drawback to these is that they require boiling water, meaning you cannot easily reset them in the field. These may not be your best option in the middle of a disaster or while evacuating; or the same space and weight you can carry a fair amount of fuel for a zippo style hand warmer. Three out of five stars for use in that situation, so keep them out of your 72 hour kits.

In a long-term SHTF situation, however, that disadvantage becomes minor since you will need to boil water anyway for cooking and sanitation. (I frequently reset my warmers after heating water to make hot cocoa.)


Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

Cheap Gear Review: Zippo Hand Warmers

Winter is Coming, or at least that's what I've been told, by people who read a lot of epic fantasy.

Be that as it may, I live in a chilly climate in the Rocky Mountains, especially this time of year. I have plenty of history to draw upon for stories of people who have literally frozen to death while crossing through the area I live in, brave tales of losing fingers to frostbite adorn the plaques at local parks, and there is quite literally a statue that memorializes a group of individuals who saved many others by taking them across a frozen river and later dying of related injuries.

On the other hand, I get irritated when my hands are cold while I'm at a soccer game. But I don't like spending money on disposable hand warmers, so of course I went ahead and spent $28 on reusable Zippo hand warmers. Note that this is $14 per warmer, not per set!

https://amzn.to/2Sai7n1

Now in my defense, at the time I bought these I was working outdoor construction during the winter. Having owned them for a couple of years, they've only saved me a few dollars overall, but I still think they were worth it.

I'm going to compare the Zippo to the more standard, disposable hand warmers everyone is familiar with.

Standard Hand Warmers vs. Zippo: Cons

• They are not reusable. This means that the cost really does add up after a  time,  especially if you’re in a very cold climate and/or have to be outdoors a great deal. 
• They have a relatively short lifespan. They are good for a number of years while still in the package, but once they are open they only last for about four hours. If you’re attending a soccer game, that’s great; if you're working overseeing a construction crew, that’s a pain in the butt.
• Standard hand warmers are not refuelable. This is another variant on  “not reusable”, but instead of a cost in dollars, it’s a cost of space. The amount of fuel that my Zippo hand warmer requires takes up notably less space than a single packet of disposable hand warmers, and those are already fairly small.
• Refillable hand warmers can get hotter than standard ones. Mine actually comes with a little pouch for it that allows you to restrict how much airflow it gets, allowing you to keep it burning for longer and a little bit cooler, but you don’t have to. I have actually handed mine to someone who stuffed it down the front of their shirt in order to keep their torso warm,  which does a much better job at than a traditional hand warmer.

Standard Hand Warmers vs. Zippo: Pros

• They are smaller than the Zippo, and thus easier to stick inside a glove or similar. 
• They're cheaper if you don’t use hand warmers a lot.
• They don’t require you to fuel them. You open them, shake them, and use them. 
• They store well. They take up only a fairly small amount of space and are very light. 
• They aren't expensive.
• They are flexible. This is the biggest advantage that I've found to this type. The Zippo style of reusable hand warmer cannot be slid into place in a boot as easily or comfortably as a traditional disposable. .
• The Zippo catalyst eventually wears out, and you have to replace it. I haven't had this happen yet, but it does eventually happen. 

All that said…

My Zippo hand warmers have lasted me for six years, and I tend to break them out at least once a winter. I’m not outdoors as much, or at least not for work, but I am out and about just often enough to regret it not bringing the hand warmers out of storage. They're nice for when I'm outdoors all day; if I'm outdoors for less than two hours, they really aren’t worth the effort.

Rating: 4/5
If you live in a very cold climate, I seriously recommend looking into getting a Zippo hand warmer due to the savings from it being reusable. If you already use a Zippo lighter, the hand warmers even use the same fuel, which simplifies your logistics.

If you live in a less-cold environment where you only need hand warmers a few times every winter, then use disposable ones instead.

Hand Tools for Woodworking

Many preppers have aspirations of building something at some point in their lives.

• Some of them have the money to have someone else do it for them;
• Some of them have the power tools and skills (or how-to manuals) to do it themselves fairly easily;
• Some preppers don’t have the money for power tools, but they have the skillset to use inexpensive hand tools to do the job well;
• And some preppers don’t have any of those.

This post is directed at those of you who fall into the latter group.


Several preppers I know have made "First In, First Out" shelving, or have made a raised bed frame for the express purpose of keeping food storage underneath it. Both of these projects are good for beginners, since both of them are fairly simple, relatively forgiving, and fairly easy. I recommend that you look into a project that you want to do before you invest in tools, so that you know what you will want.

Whatever your project, you will need a few basic hand tools. At minimum, you will need:

• Handsaw. The linked handsaw is actually fairly nice, and you can purchase a much cheaper one if you want, but the extra ten or so dollars for this one means that you will be able to cut things more easily and with less effort. Because you will not have to put in as much effort, it will stay sharp longer and will cut straighter lines. 
• Tape Measure. This one does an adequate job, and will generally be fine for a beginner.
• Carpenter's Pencil. I like to use a carpenters pencil, but a normal #2 pencil, just like you use in school, will do just fine. Cheap works just fine for this.
• Hammer. “When all that you have is a hammer, the entire world looks like nails”. There are cheaper hammers on the market, but for a general use, inexpensive hammer that is useful and durable, I recommend something like this. I especially like one that is a little heavier (over 12 oz) for when I have to construct larger things, like animal cages or shelving.

There are also several tools that will make it much easier, but are not actually totally necessary:

• Carpenter's Square. The most used feature on this tool is allowing you to mark right angles on things. There are a lot of advanced features, and some neat tricks if you want to look them up, but having a carpenter's square makes life a lot easier when you are doing woodworking, with hand or power tools. 
• This one is inexpensive, but works great. The advantage to metal ones is that they tend to be a little tougher, and over years of use, the numbers are more clear on them. If you only use it intermittently, you are probably fine with a cheap plastic one.
• Hacksaw. Hacksaws are great for cutting into boards that have who-knows-what in them, like old nails or screws. If you are very space limited, a hacksaw can actually substitute for several other kinds of saw, such as a wood cutting saw, so long as you have replacement blades. (If you want to get replacement blades, remember that low tooth count blades -- 9 to 16 or so -- are best for wood and plastic, while high tooth count is better for harder materials like metal).
• I like this model because of how compact it is, and I keep one in my general use tool box. It extends the blade in such a way that it is a little harder to make precise cuts at the tip, but you can put it into places that another saw could not reach. I have used it to make some fairly nice cuts on lumber when something else was not available; I just had to go slowly and carefully.
• Center Punch. When you have to make a precise mark and put a nail in it or measure with it, it's sometimes easier to use a center punch than to just use a pencil since the punch leaves a divot in the wood.
• In a pinch you can just use a nail, which works just fine for woodwork. The advantage of a center punch is that it is easier to use. I also have a tendency to accidentally hammer in a nail that I am using as a center punch for wood.
• Tool bag or box. I prefer a tool bag for a small tool kit like this which doesn't have a bunch of fragile or expensive items in it. Tool boxes tend to be more expensive for the same carrying capacity, but have a hard shell to protect things like expensive tools or chemicals. Tool boxes have the added advantage that they are harder to break into, since they are usually easier to lock and much harder to cut. 
• That said, the point of this article is that you can have a good tool kit for an inexpensive price. I like this model because it has the features that I need, is fairly durable, and not unreasonably expensive. 

Now when you go on to whatever project you choose, know that you have the needed tools to make just about anything that a carpenter could before 1900, and you bought them all for around $100.

Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

DIY Air Filters

Erin suggested I write a follow-up post to Prepping for Asthma, explaining how to make a box fan air filter. This is useful when you deal with asthma, but also dealing with air quality issues, such as forest fires.

For most of you, an air filter is something you really don’t think of very much. Maybe you stick it in the furnace and change it once a year (if that often; even if people should, they usually don't), and most of you don’t think of it beyond that except to think “Oh, the air smells a little funny” once in a while. One of those great things about living in modern society is that often we live in an environment where we don't have to think about these things.

Unfortunately, if the SHTF scenario you will occasionally find that certain things don’t happen --  things like shipments of allergy drugs, or furnace filters, or similar, and you will find that sometimes you have to improvise something. The goal of this article is to show you how to make a do-it-yourself, HEPA type filter unit, with near HEPA grade air filtration. This should be usable in case of emergencies, and while not muscle driven, it draws a very low amount of power and should work for extended periods of time off of a simple battery bank or solar panel system.

Parts

Box Fan

A square fan that is commonly found in the summers across the US. Usually 20 inches by 20 inches, they tend to be very common in places that cannot afford air conditioning. During the summer they tend to run between $20-30, but you can find them in a great many discount/thrift stores in working order for as little as $2-3.

Hog Hair Filter

A coarse prefilter (usually made from a synthetic fiber, usually used as a simple particulate filter on swamp coolers) can be useful to extend the life of your other filters by catching things like large chunks of things and pet hair. Washable and reusable, it comes in very useful. Hog hair filters can be obtained at most hardware stores and Walmarts. They're meant to be cut down to the size needed, and usually cost between $5-10.

Mid-Grade Filter

Most furnace filters come with a rating system. Major retailers tend to have their own, but what it boils down to is that some of them are more efficient than others. More effective ones cost more money, and so having a cheaper one in front of it on the air intake saves your more expensive filter from having to be replaced as often. If you are willing to spend noticeably (8-10 times) more than the disposable filters cost, you can buy a cut-to-size washable mid-grade filter for $20-30. These are useful for filtering out as much as possible before you get to the pricey ones, to save you money on replacements.

(The listed Amazon link is an example. Amazon doesn't sell these in small quantities; I think it has to do with shipping.)

HEPA Filter

HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance. Originally developed for use by the Manhattan Project to trap radioacative particles in the air before the scientists' lungs did, since then they have found many uses in hospitals, homes, manufacturing, and even agriculture. HEPA will filter down to a very small level, even taking out viruses and odors. For this project you want a HEPA furnace filter from someplace like Home Depot. They typically are rated to last around 3 months of continuous use, but if you use other filters in front of them they will last much longer. They cost upwards of $10.

(Again, multi pack.)


Assembly

Measurements

• A box fan is typically 20 inches by 20 inches. 
• Filters, which we will be adding to them, are measured by height, length, and depth. 
• You will want a 20 inch by 20 inch by 1 inch filter, for both the mid grade and HEPA filters.
• In the cases of washable and/or sizeable filters, simply find something that is around 1 inch deep, and that can be cut to size that is at least 20 inches by 20 inches. Excess material can be used for other projects, such as air filters for lawn mowers.

Procedure

1. Stack the filters in front of the air intake to the box fan from least fine on the outside to most fine on the inside.
• In this example, put the hog hair on the outside and the HEPA filter next to the fan, with the midgrade between them. 
2. Make sure that if there are any airflow direction arrows on the outside edges of the filters, that they are pointed the correct direction.
3. The easiest way to secure your filters to your fan is simply with suction. If you turn a fan onto high, usually it will keep a three stage filter (HEPA, mid grade, and hogs hair) in place while the fan is running. 
• You may want to put zip ties at the corners of the filter, punching through the filters and connecting to the plastic grid protecting the fan blades.
• Alternately, use duct tape or similar.
4. Sit in front of the filter, and enjoy.

Maintenance

• When the hogshair is visibly filled with debris (such as pet hair) or is noticeably darker than it was, wash it using dish soap and water, and put it back into use. 
• When the midgrade or HEPA filters become visibly darker (they start out as white or a very light grey), replace them. 
• I usually visually inspect my filters about twice a season, and depending on how much they have pulled out of the air, they may last the entire season (or longer).

This air filter is simple, effective, cheap. It clears a room of burned food smoke remarkably quickly; pollen, pet hair and dander, and even viruses get caught in the filter and can save you a lot of grief. And if the power goes out, just use the power module you built; the power draw for this is quite low.

Cheap Gear Review: Electrical Conduit Walking Staff

I like to walk. If you have seen my author photo, you may have noticed that I am a little bit heavy. Because of that, I like to have a selection of walking sticks made of electrical conduit pipe at hand.

They function as a way to keep my balance when I am having balance issues or dealing with knee and ankle injuries, help me get over rough terrain, and even serve as a dandy impromptu weapon should ever come to it. I have even been known to use one as a way to carry multiple bags across my shoulders instead of in my hands. What I am carrying is, in effect, a short quarter staff made from steel.

5'5" walking staff.
Model: Joe Vasicek

Now if a walking stick or cane is not your style this article may not be for you, but hopefully it will help you if you ever decide to get one as a gift for a friend. They are surprisingly inexpensive to purchase, and it's surprisingly easy to personalize them.

1. First, the staff itself. I purchase ten foot lengths of pipe and cut them down, since it is cheaper per foot, but you can buy pre-cut five foot (and in some places four foot) lengths. I like to purchase mine from Home Depot, but any hardware store should carry it. 
• I prefer to get 0.5" diameter pipe, but I have purchased 0.75" in the past. The half inch is lighter, but not quite as strong, which I have never had an issue with. I know someone who uses one inch, but I find that to be uncomfortable in my hand as I hold it and I do have some fairly large mitts.
• The total cost for a pre-cut (so more expensive), 5 foot long, ½ inch diameter galvanized steel electrical conduit at the time of this writing is less than $3 US.
2. I prefer to put Great Stuff Expanding Foam on the interior of the staff. This gives it just a bit more weight, and prevents crud from getting in. If you have some sitting around from a project and need to finish a can off, this is a great way to do it; just make sure to spray it in from both ends, to get better coverage. Loctite makes an excellent similar product that actually works better than Great Stuff for projects like these.
3. Then I put on a rubber ferrule. It protects the bottom and provides traction when I'm walking around. I couldn’t find a single one on Amazon, so this link is for a multi-pack, which is nice since these tips eventually wear out.
4. Finally, I put on grip tape. I use 3M electrical tape and re-apply after a couple of years, but your mileage may vary. The neat bit is that it comes in a bunch of interesting colors, making customization is easy.
5. Your electrical conduit walking staff is done. Have fun with it!

3'5" walking stick.
Model: Joe Vasicek

(Regular readers may ask if I have run my staff through the dishwasher. The answer is no, because it will not fit. If I ever purchase an industrial dishwasher I will remedy this.)

Don’t forget to practice.

Prepping for Asthma

As any prepper knows, preparedness is key.

And as anyone with chronic health conditions knows, emergency preparedness for those conditions can be nearly impossible at times.

I have lived with chronic, severe allergies for the last 20 years plus, but they have only notably impacted my life over the last 10. The most significant day to day impact of this has been asthma, specifically allergy-induced asthma that has made interacting with the general public difficult... such as when I have an allergic reaction to most kinds of soap. In addition to soap, I am badly allergic to mold, such as orange mold, various plants, and dust mites.

(I am aware that there will are those of you who claim that it is impossible to be allergic to soap. Feel free to convince my allergist, and my body, of that. When the in double-blind testing I have the same reaction, I promise you that it is not “attention seeking”).

Non-Medicinal Preps
In an emergency, I don't expect frequent access to allergy medication so I can restock what I typically keep on hand. This means that for whatever emergency I am planning against, I have to keep enough on hand to last me for quite some time. To that end, I specifically look for things that will last for a long time.

• Instead of just getting medication, I try to control the environment. Medication tends to expire much more quickly then filters for your furnace or a facemask.
• When I do get medication, I try to keep a stock of individually foil packed pills, so that if there is an emergency, I don’t have to open an entire container of them and risk contamination or expiration.
• When I do stock up on medication, it's easier to do it in stages. The rule that I have is one – two – five. I try to get a one month supply, and then a two month supply, and then a five month supply, and then a year's supply, and so on. If I cannot afford a month's supply at a time of whatever it may be, I start with a day or week.

Over the Counter Preps
As to the specifics of what preps I keep on hand:

• I keep a year's supply in bottles of three different over-the-counter allergy medications. I buy mine from Costco, but it does not especially matter where you purchase yours from as long as they work and have a basic minimum level quality packaging. I use, sometimes more than one at once, generic/store brand versions of Allegra, Claritin, and Zyrtec. 
• I also keep a two-week supply of each of these in foil-wrapped packets. I actually buy name brand for these, because in my experience the packaging tends to be more waterproof. The Claritin and Zyrtec are even available as a dissolving tablet, which means you don't need water to take them. 
• I keep a two week supply of Mucinex on hand. I'm still working up to a full year's supply, but the supply that I do have is all foil wrapped.
• I keep chlorpheniramine (an alternative to benadryl) on hand. I buy this in bulk, since it is cheap, and I know people who are allergic to Benadryl.
• As far as controlling the environment, I use a good spray sanitizer when I clean, and then I use a power fan style HEPA filter.
• To supplement that, I use a box fan with a 20” x 20”  filter on it.
• I even use a face-mask respirator on occasion. It has excellent filtration, and on days like today (where the air smells like barbecue) it ends up being a practical method to be able to breathe outside. I tried to keep between four and six filter replacements for it on hand, because I occasionally use the respirator for work reasons.

Prescription Preps
Everything I have mentioned so far is not a controlled substance, requires no prescription, and can be purchased over-the-counter at any drugstore with no problem. Everything else on my list is still legal, but may be more difficult to obtain in case of power outages or loss of infrastructure.

• Sudafed and other decongestant medications require identification (such as a driver's license) to purchase in the USA. Pharmacies scan your ID, and to enssure that you’re not making methamphetamine with it they monitor and restrict how much you're allowed to purchase in a given month. I try to keep a one-month supply on hand, which is thankfully not very much. I do not use it often, but when I need it, I have to have some on hand.
• I try to keep an inhaler on hand in my backpack, in my desk, and on my person. When I am in public a lot I end up going through an inhaler every 3 to 4 months, averaged over the several that I keep on hand. I also try to keep a foil-wrapped inhaler in my bug out bag, my roadside emergency kit, my primary toolbox, and one to three in the long term food storage. I know that sounds like a lot, but inhalers are inexpensive, (less than $10 each at Walmart without insurance), will be very difficult to get a hold of in a real emergency, and are something I will quite literally die without. I feel that overkill is a far smarter way to go then underkill.
• Finally there is the EpiPen. I've never had to use one, and I hope I never do, but if I have to it will be there. I keep one in my backpack and my first aid kit. I would like to keep one in several other places, but they are quite expensive. I hope to remedy this with an EpiPencil.

It's possible to prep for asthma. I did it, so you can do it too. I know it sounds like a lot, and in some ways it is, but it's entirely doable.

Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

The Most Broccoli Prep Of All: Budgeting

This is not my most thrilling article.

In fact, my editrix Erin calls these “broccoli articles”: not very exciting, but fairly important all the same. You have to eat your veggies so that you can eat your dessert, after all. But I hope that I can at least smother the broccoli in cheese, at the very least.

This post is about foundational preps. You might actually call it prepping for preps. This post is, in fact, about having a budget.

Lets say that you want a new gun, like a limited edition Barrett M107A1. You feel that this will make a valuable addition to your preps, and that it will be well worth the several $14,000  that you spend on it. Unfortunately, it will be some time until you actually have the money. You will have to budget in order to save for it.

I have made a spreadsheet for your convenience. Very few people in this world enjoy budgeting, and this should make the process less painful. You should be able to download it and just plug in your numbers. When you are finished, the spreadsheet should help you visualize how long it will take to reach your savings goal, and how much effort you will have to put in to get there.

The spreadsheet is in ODF format, and should work just fine with most versions of Microsoft Excel and Open Office.

1. When you open the spreadsheet, enter your income and it will auto-calculate tax. (This is designed for use in the USA, and even with that you will have to look up your state income tax. That said, it should be a good estimate for federal income taxes and withholding).
2. Set your savings goal. In the case of the rifle, it should be several thousand dollars. It's helpful if you can download a picture of your goal and keep it in front of you; it's easier to keep the discipline to save if you can visualize it. 
3. Set the amount that your goal costs, and the amount you have already (if anything).
4. Input the numbers into the budget categories: food, shelter, transport etc. It will automatically tell you if you have any left over, and if you are going over budget. If you need additional budget categories, there are several sections left for you to use.
5. When you get to the section of the budget that covers your savings goal, you can see how many weeks you have at your saving rate until you get to your goal. I have set it up so that it displays the time to save to your goal in weeks, biweekly periods (since many people get paid in two week periods) and months. You can add or subtract from other sections of budget until you are satisfied, and you will be able to see how much difference saving from each paycheck can make -- a few dollars a month can make a big difference!
6. Sooner than you may realize, you will have reached your savings goal -- a new rifle, a new tent, or even just being out of debt (the most boring financial prep of all).

So go ahead and eat your broccoli, and don’t forget to practice.

Razor Knife Review

Most preppers expect to need a knife of some sort when disaster strikes, and because preppers find themselves in so many different situations, there is not uniform solution for everyone.

I prefer to carry a pocket knife, but sometimes it makes more sense to carry a razor knife, especially at work where you may need to open packages or otherwise cut things, but a regular pocketknife is seen as a weapon.

To that end I decided to do a head-to-head review of two of my favorite razor knives, the DeWalt Premium and the Milwaukee Fastback, with a specific emphasis on their prepping uses.

My ideal razor knife is:

• Easy to use
• Safe (I have had some terrifying experiences with older tools)
• Durable (no problems with a little bit of water or dirt)
• Robust in operation, does not jam etc. easily
• Fits in well with my other preps

With those qualifications in mind, let's review some knives.


DeWalt Premium Utility Knife

https://amzn.to/2NIZGDA

The DeWalt Premium has a solid single-piece shell and seems to hold together fairly well even in harsh environments like construction work.

It has several razor blades' (officially five, but I have fit as many as eight) worth of storage built into a compartment that stays closed even when accidentally dropped.

I like how the larger handle gives me more grip and power. It actually seems to be a little bit more precise, even though it is larger than the Milwaukee. This makes carving things, and carving bits off of things (such as fire starters), much easier.

I use the loop at the end of the knife much more than I thought I would. It makes a good attachment point for a carabiner or a loop of rope, and it allows me to clip it to a bag or similar until I need it. I have even put a zip tie through it in order to identify it as mine when somebody else has an identical knife.

I actually prefer the tool-free blade change on this one to the Milwaukee. Neither one requires a tool to change the blade, but I prefer the DeWalt method to the Milwaukee.


Milwaukee Fastback Utility Knife

https://amzn.to/2CfFDeI

The Milwaukee Fastback cuts well and folds up fairly small, but because it is a fold-out knife, it has an unwieldy feeling when due to the large handle and shorter total length.

There is space for up to four extra razor blades of storage, compared to the DeWalt's 5-8.

It has a pocket clip on the other side which has held up well over several years of use, and I know multiple people who use this knife for everyday carry.

The button lock on the fold-out portion works well, but it occasionally opens inside my pocket. Be careful about that!

I prefer the line cutter on this one to the line cutter on the DeWalt for ease of use. When fishing or cutting lots of small cord, it works quite well.

It's a good knife overall, but the occasional opening makes it a no-go for me.


Honorable Mention: Gerber EAB

https://amzn.to/2LT84Pb

The Gerber EAB doesn't fulfill all of my needs in a razor knife because I end up cutting through a lot of larger objects and I need a longer handle for leverage.

That said, I ownone of these, and despite its size it has made a remarkable general purpose tool. It has no spare blade storage, and it requires a tool of some sort (such as a dime, butter knife, or even a screwdriver if you really feel the need to) to change the blade, but it seems to do a fairly good job overall.


Verdict for Preppers
I prefer the DeWalt in every single category other than portability. If I needed something that folded, I would choose the Milwaukee.


Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

Improvised Weapons for Self-Defense

When SHTF, you may need to defend yourself. And when that happens, you may not have your preferred option, such as a pistol, at hand. In fact, you may find yourself in a location, such as a FEMA camp, that will not allow you to carry a personal defense weapon.

First, some advice:

1. Remember what you have on you,  and remember that even a show of force is often enough to make people go away. What this means is that when an individual who carries a weapon is confronted, he often only has to present the weapon in order to avoid conflict.
2. Make sure that you’re aware of your local municipality laws. This article assumes that you do not carry a handgun for whatever reason, and the local laws may be one of them. These laws often extend to knives, and even pepper spray is  banned in some areas, so be careful.

Here are a few recommendations for improvised self-defense weapons:

• Metal chopsticks, especially if the ends have been sharpened. They don't present an obvious threat, can be carried into offices and similar, and make a dandy defensive weapon. I know women who use them as hair sticks, and I often carry a (unsharpened) set as eating utensils. 
• A heavy food-service fork in your pocket, in case you want to eat a salad in an emergency, can also be used to poke into other things.
• The ever-popular tactical pen (I am fond of this one) certainly has a place in self-defense.  Despite lacking an edge, it is very unpleasant to be jabbed with one. If this is too tactical to pass muster, or carrying one is forbidden, use a metal drafting pencil instead. 
• An adjustable wrench kept to make repairs is not considered a weapon, especially if carried in a steel tool box (which can also serve as a deterrent). Nor is a lug wrench, which can be quite large. Pipe wrenches are both large and heavy and not easily carried, but is suitable for a car... or, again, a tool box. 
• Walking sticks are an ever-popular method to deal with unwanted pests, be they two-legged or four-legged. There are also ski poles that have nice sharp metal ends for digging into rough terrain.
• Inside a building, there are all sorts of environmental advantages to anyone who decides to use them defensively. Chairs, tables, and the odd fire extinguisher on the wall all make handy bashing weapons, should you need to use one.
• Innocuous things that most people would never think of as a potential weapon, like a laptop, make dandy bashing weapons. (I do not recommend this in most circumstances, since laptops are expensive, and you’ll either have to replace your laptop, or potentially somebody else’s).
• A cell phone grasped firmly, especially with a rugged case like an OtterBox, can serve as a blunt striking weapon when there is absolutely nothing else. 
• Even a book can be used as a weapon.

At the end of the day, the ultimate weapon is your mind. Remember that objects don't make people dangerous; people make objects dangerous.

Be a dangerous person, and don’t forget to practice.