How to test emergency battery shelf life and dispose of batteries when they’re dead

Emergency batteries fail when you need them most. Here’s how geeks can test, store, rotate, and safely ditch cells so flashlights and gear always work.

Silica gel beads aka silica gel packets or desiccant packets

Below are various uses for old, discarded silica gel packets (desiccant packets).

If modern civilization fails, one of the first pieces of equipment required to bring mankind back from the stone age will be the means to forge and form metal tools. To do this requires a forge or a foundry.

In a survival situation, tools and weapons made from stone, bone, or wood will suffice but those same tools and weapons constructed from metal may prove overwhelmingly useful.

In a survival situation, a mixture of mud and grasses can be used to create a substance known as “survival cement”. Survival cement can be used to construct shelters, create cookware, kilns, and to wrap foods for “clay baking”. It takes two ingredients to make cement in the wild – mud and grass.

Hand sanitizer is not as effective as washing your hands but will suffice in situations where hand washing is not possible. Most people are not aware that commercial hand sanitzer uses just three simple ingredients – alcohol, aloe vera gel, and scented oils. You can easily make your own.

Civilian throwing a homemade tear gas bomb

Police use tear gas to maintain control of crowds or cause them to disperse. For citizen survival scenarios, you can use tear gas to ward off enemies, disengage dangerous animals, or to make a location temporarily inhabitable by people.

According to U.S. government guidelines, for emergencies, it is recommended you store at least one gallon of water per person. About ¾ of the water would be used for consumption with the remainder used for sanitation. How do you stockpile water and ensure it remains safe to drink in an extended emergency?

Clean earth filter water gravel dirt to remove radioactivity from contaminated water sources

The most basic of water filters is the clean earth filter. Although not ideal for producing crystal clear clean drinking water, it does have the added advantage of filtering out some components that other filters are unable to remove. For instance, a basic clean earth filter can filter out 99% of radioactivity in water making…

In a wilderness survival situation, clay can be used to construct bowels, cups, ovenware, and other utensils. It is especially useful when the need for a waterproof container arises.