PowerSwitch

Measuerments show that using a mains inverter can lose you 15-20% of your power - best to get stuff that runs directly off 12V. I took this line recently when buying a solar panel, gel-cell lead acid battery and LED lights. Another thing to watch with inverters is that they are often not able to po...

Refrigeration is actually a bit of a luxury, in many ways. I've coped without it before, and while I prefer to have it if I can, I know I don't need it if there are other things to spend my money on. There are solar refrigerators and freezers that run on 12V power; presumably these could be run from...

Do you think I could use hexamine tablets in a kelly kettle? It seems almost ideal for it, although I probably wouldn't use them with the grill part (yuck smelly!). I have some Chanukah candles that are somewhere between birthday candles and regular candles in size; I wouldn't want to use them for l...

Regarding candles: is it possible to get tallow candles anywhere? They're good in survival kits because they can be eaten if necessary. I found a website that sells soy wax candles, but they weren't very helpful about whether they can be eaten if you're desperate. They said in theory it was possible...

Contraceptives. Latex condoms make good water carriers if you can get the spermicidal lubricant off of them. I suspect the polyurethane ones are not so good for carrying water because they do not stretch. Just because the world falls apart doesn't mean people stop wanting sex. I've 'lost' a month's ...