Easy-To-Make Fire Starters

While getting ready to leave this morning, my wife asked me to change out the scent cube in the wax burner.  Having never done this task before I asked her how she does it.  

Wax Burner Air Freshener 

In response she brought some cotton swab circles to the living room and said just put these in there to soak up the old wax.  Throw them away and then put the new cube in to melt.

The Package of Cotton Rounds

I pulled a couple of these cotton rounds out of the package and proceeded to follow her instructions when it dawned on me that once they cool off these little honey-do remnants would become perfect fire starters!

Cotton Round To Soak Up Old Wax

After pulling them out of the wax I proceeded to place them on a paper plate to dry.  From there I  placed them in a plastic bag to store until they are needed.

Fire Starters Drying On A Paper Plate

The above picture is what they look like as they are drying.  I had to flip them over a few times to keep them from sticking to the plate, but it was worth the effort.

The next time your wife asks you to change out the scent cube in her wax burner, remember to grab the cotton rounds and add some fire starters to your preps.

- A prep a day can keep ill fate away.

Will You Have Access To Your Preps During An EMP?

My wife and I woke up in the middle of the night last night only to discover that our power had gone out.  As she grabbed her phone in order to report the outage I jokingly informed her that we had just been hit by an EMP.  Continuing to lay there in the dark I began rehearsing the possible outcome of such an event and the steps that would be necessarily taken to guarantee the safety of my family.  

While pondering these thoughts, I began to realize that if an EMP ever does strike the U.S. there will be many people believing themselves to be well prepared who will find out that one of their biggest assets is now a liability.  Many preppers go out of their way to store their guns, ammunition and other valuable necessities in a safe.  However, those same people are unaware that the very safe they rely on to keep their valuables protected will work against them during and EMP event.

Safe With Electronic Access Code

While it may not seem too obvious at first glance, anyone who has a safe like this will have a real problem when it comes to accessing some of their preps in the event of an EMP.  An electromagnetic pulse that is capable of taking out our power grid will fry any unprotected electronics.  Get the drift?  The electronic access keypad for your safe will be rendered useless!  

What can you do to fix this problem?  My suggestion is to sell your safe for as much as you can to someone who will be happy to just have one a fireproof place to store their valuables and use that money towards purchasing another safe with a combination lock instead.  If you don't like this idea, you can always invest in a super sized pry bar to keep on hand just in case you find yourself needing to  battle it out with your current safe if an EMP does strike.  Either way I suggest you take this into consideration and come up with your solution to the problem before the grid goes down.

- A prep a day can keep ill fate away!