Mylar can save your life

Mylar was developed in the 1950's as part of a project for NASA. It was used to make the balloons on the Echo Satellites launched in the 1960's. While it was developed for the space program it wasn't long until people started realizing it's true potential. Mylar is one of those products that just keep saying "I would be good at this." It has too many uses to list. Have you seem Space Blankets? They are made from Mylar. Since this is a survival based blog most of those uses don't need to be mentioned anyways. Mylar film has some excellent survival attributes, among them are:
1. Reflects existing light in a room to increase the total light from the source.
2. Helps indoor plant seedlings get more light by reflecting the grow lights or low sunlight.
3. Line solar ovens for faster cooking.
4. Increases outdoor plant growth in low light situations or when temperatures are low.
5. Can scare birds away from your seedlings or berries when they see their own reflections.
6. Could increase effectiveness of a solar dehydrator.

7. Mylar bags can be used for long term food storage

8. Mylar reflects a lot of heat which makes it ideal for a survival shelter construction.

9. ....and many more

Not only is Mylar great for retaining body heat. It is also great for protecting you from the sun in the form of a lean-to shade structure. Mylar it also moisture proof. Moisture will not seep through the film. That also makes it great for collecting water and rain water. You should add 2 Mylar blankets for each person in your home to each of you vehicles, bug out bags, 72 hour kits, survival kits, etc. There is no excuse not to. Mylar blankets are cheap and very compact.

I have never seen this but I have been told that you can start a fire with Mylar. You can line a bowl with Mylar, place some kindling in the center, and point it at the most direct sun rays. Like I stated before, I have never seem it. If you have see it done be sure to leave a comment in the comment box on the bottom of this page. If you have any other survival uses for Mylar, and there are many more, be sure to comment.

Thank you for reading Zombie Splatter: Helping you stay alive because tomorrow counts. Be sure to connect with us on Facebook and join our YouTube account. We will be posting some videos soon. While you at it share us with your friends too.

Survivology 101: The science of fire

Survivology 101: The science of fire:

The science of fire

Many of you are aware of the fire triangle and the fire pyramid (yes they are different) but how many of you REALLY understand the science behind these catchy terms?

A quick review: The fire triangle is heat, fuel, and oxygen or sometimes referred to as air. Picture a triangle and if you remove any one of the sides the triangle loses support and collapses. Remove any piece of the fire triangle and the fire goes out. This is a fortunate effect as you will understand soon, if you don't already.


And the fire pyramid which is tinder, kindling, and fuel not to be confused with the pyrimid fire that is unrelated to this article. A pyrimid is unlike a triangle in that it is built on a stable platform and can support itself.

Fire is a chemical process known as oxidation:
In this process oxygen combines with hydrogen and carbon, together the atoms rearrange and form water and carbon dioxide. This energy causes heat, the same process takes place when metal rusts but the apparent lack of heat is due to a much lengthier time involved.

But who cares about that nerd stuff here is some more nerd stuff to ponder!

Wood gas is a syngas, also known as producer gas, which is produced by thermal gasification of biomass or other carbon-containing materials such as coal in a gasifier or wood gas generator. It is the result of two high-temperature reactions (above 700 °C (1,292 °F)): an exothermic reaction where carbon burns to CO2 but is then reduced partially back to CO (endothermic); and an endothermic reaction where carbon reacts with steam, producing carbon monoxide (CO), molecular hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (CO2).

In several gasifiers, the actual gasification process is preceded by pyrolysis, where the biomass or coal turns into char, releasing methane (CH4) and tar rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Other gasifiers are fed with previously pyrolysed char. Wood gas is flammable because of the carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane content. According to Wikipedia...I love Wikipedia.

Now for the important parts...When heat is applied to carbon fuel IE: wood, it immediately begins to break it down to the pyrolysis process (char) which brakes down further as described above, releasing wood gas that is ignited by the extreme heat. When we interrupt this process such as when making char cloth we create a fuel that requires very little energy from heat to initiate the rest of the process because it does not have to first dry out the fuel and then break it down, it is already there.

NOTE: Remember that the process of breaking down carbon releases basically water and carbon dioxide, this will be revisited when we talk about food and the survival diet.

So when we use a small heat source on a small fuel IE: tinder it will be sufficient to complete the process were it is insufficient on larger materials. This why we use tinder, then kindling, and lastly larger fuel wood in a gentle slow progress that supports itself and allows the fire to grow. This is exactly why you cannot light a log with a little match. This is important to us because in order to BUILD a fire for survival we have to understand where we can take shortcuts and where physics will simply not allow short cuts no matter how cold or in need you are. Fire does not respond to tantrums and believe me I have seen some tantrums.

In a friction fire, material selection aside we have to be able to create sufficient tinder (the char) heat from friction and air flow based on the size of the char particles and the arrangement that they fall in (the lay). When you practice friction fire and find success pay close attention to the char particles shape size and lay. That is what you are trying to reproduce time and time again. It is the most under studied portion of the friction fire process and in my opinion the most important.

So heat oxidized the carbon eventually releasing woodgas that is ignited by the heat creating more heat. the greater heat is capable of braking down larger fuel etc. etc.

Have you ever noticed that when a fire is burning it appears to dance on top of the log not actually touching it. That is the wood gas escaping the biomas (fuel) and carborizing (mixing with oxygen) to allow combustion. sometime you may even see a gas pocket burn out of the side of the fuel like a little torch, that is because it is escaping the fuel under pressure, just like turning up the bellows fan on a forge. If you can crank up the airflow you increase the heat, you can even increase the heat to forging temperature if you are clever. Of course this will also increase the fuel consumption and reduce the waste IE: less smoke.

There is an equal amount of science involved in controlling the smoke on the fire to create more or less as your needs change. I may visit that topic in the future. And of course there are more factors to consider when using chemical fuels to generate a fire but these are the basics and are true in all carbon fuel cases. Honestly it is amazing to me that a cigarette tossed carelessly out of a car window can create such large wildfires if you think about all the factors that you must consider in order to light a campfire.

HAVE FUN WITH IT, BE SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE.

The next time that you are sitting around watching the woodsman's TV. Pay close attention to all the little chemical processes that are happening in all the stages. It is more educational than the Discovery Channel.

Norseman

Easy Fire Building

Here is a quick and simple post.

   Fire is necessary for survival. You can survive a little while without it but you will eventually need it. I'm not going to teach you how to rub sticks together to make fire tonight. The best way to keep from having to do that is to carry a frikin lighter. Not a cool Zippo either, a plain ole BIC Lighter. They are simply the most reliable If you are stranded in the middle of the woods and need fire you will be glad you have that lighter in you pocket. Get a bunch of them, they are cheap. Put one a few in your bug out bag, some in your cars, carry one in you pocket. Stash them everywhere.
  
   If you want something a little cooler get a fire piston. They require no fuel, just natural tinder. Fuel pistons work similar to diesel engines and spark from compression. Hopefully I can get my video camera fixed soon and get a YouTube channel up for you guys to see. If I can get that going I will teach you the cool stuff like fire by hand drills, bow and spindle, fire plow, optics, and more.