About This Talk
Using wikis and digital fabrication tools, TED Fellow Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing the blueprints for 50 farm machines, allowing anyone to build their own tractor or harvester from scratch. And that’s only the first step in a project to write an instruction set for an entire self-sustaining village (starting cost: $10,000).

About Marcin Jakubowski
Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing a set of blueprints for 50 farming tools that can be built cheaply from scratch. Call it a “civilization starter kit.” Full bio and more links.

H/T to Brad Spangler for the link:

Another useful DIY from instructables could help you resurrect your old iPod without having to shell out FRN’s for a new one.

Via member bryceronie

If you have a broken ipod , with a business card and five minutes it will be fixed!

I enjoy instructionables that are easy to do , short to complete, and will work for anyone!

(!!Please VOTE for me so I can win a prize!!)

This is a common problem among many, many people that have a warranty that has expired.

Now you could just send it back to apple to get a new one, but if your warranty expired, like mine did, they won’t give you a new one. You need to fix this pretty $350 piece of apple!!

Instead of having a nice paperweight (hopefully you didnt throw yours out) , you will need these with three things before starting:

1. a flathead screwdriver
2. a broken ipod and 5 minutes
3. a new and or old, but crisp, business card

p.s. No memory loss either, all songs, data, ect will still be on the iPod.

Step 1. Easy does it

The first thing is to take the iPod apart.

This is not a big deal, there are little plastic holds around the iPod, and the flat head screwdriver will allow you to pry it open at the plastic parts. (see pic)
Once completed, you can just snap the ipod back together so it looks exactly the same, just dont get too frustrated if it takes a few minutes to get the first clip.

Use a MICRO flat head screw driver. Go in from the side as shown in the demo, but to get it started angle the screwdriver down so that it slides in between the plastic and metal, then take a bigger sized micro screw driver to open it the rest of the way.

Step 2. Careful

When all the plastic parts are un-snapped ,  you can pull the ipod apart an inch or so , you only need to do one more step.

Here is where this gets neat:

Fold the business card twice. So it is still springy.

Put the folder business card in the iPod on top of the blue sponge that is inside.

shut and snap the iPod back together.

So now it your iPod is back to normal, and all you needed was a folded business card!!

The blue sponge needed a little more pressure over time.

Another great diy project from instructables.com by member hpstoutharrow. If you plan on working on this project, check out the original article for comments to improvise your design, and additional pictures to help you visually. Below are step-by-step instructions and a quick video showing the setup process, build and sink in action.

While this new wash station can’t make campers wash their hands, it can make it easier, and prevent a soaking; all while conserving water.

Pumping water, even with a foot pump, requires effort so you know water use will be kept to a bare minimum…letting gravity spill it on the ground is easy… and fast!

The same 5 gallons now lasts all day even with everyone washing their hands for meals.

Intro: Field Sink

Bring running water to remote locations with this foot pump operated wash station. Perfect for camp or the patio. Ideal for campfire or BBQ grill-side food prep clean-up.
Ready for a duch oven or BBQ outdoor cook competition yet miles from running water? Our scout troop uses this Hand Washing Station to clean up before, and during meal food prep.

Even if you are just grilling on the back deck, use this set-up grill-side to keep from from running into the house for a quick rinse every time sauce is slopped.  And if its a party…just watch guests try to open a screen door with sticky BBQ covered hands. This pump is made to be operated with a foot…can’t say the same for a sliding screen door!

This is ideal for an outdoor group washing-up before meals. Especially when cooking at camp, it would be nice for the cooks to easily clean-up while preparing food with a more traditional sink with running water to promote:

Safe Food Handling Practices

- No Faucet Handle to turn  ON and OFF with Dirty Hands.

- Its easy (and fun) to use…so it gets used!  (apparently its cool to squirt water with a foot pump)

- There’s room for a soap dispenser right there on the table (up off the ground).

It also helps with:

Water Conservation

- The on-demand pump system uses a lot less water (compared to letting gravity spill it from a water jug spigot.

How it works:
A foot pump transfers clean water from the lower bucket up and out the spout for hand washing. The wash water is collected a basin and drained and stored in a gray water bucket receptacle.

When all the fresh water has been transfered to the in the gray water bucket, the gray water is emptied into the fire ring to douse the campfire

The video shows the set-up, convenient “all-in-the-bucket” storage, and the Hand Washing Station in action.

Step 1: Materials

The central components of this project are 5 gallon buckets with lids and a marine (outboard motor) fuel primer squeeze bulb and hose assy.

The Squeeze Bulb is the pump
that moves the water from the Fresh Water Bucket
up to the Spout and out,
collected and funneled by the Basin
into the Gray Water Bucket
the rest is just plumbing and support

Major Components
(3) 5 gallon utility buckets
(2) 5 gallon bucket lids
Marine fuel primer bulb and hose assy
3/8″ brass fittings
Rubber O-ring
3/8″ tubing
various 1″ and 1/2″ plumbing pipe sections and fittings
Automotive steel fuel/brake line
Door hinge
Scrap wood

Step 2: Fresh Water Bucket

Drill a 3/8″ diameter hole about 1″ from the bottom of what will be the Fresh Water Bucket.

1. From the inside of the bucket, feed the male end of a 3/8″ 90 degree brass fitting though the hole in the bucket.

(Place an O-ring on the inside of the bucket at the base of the 90 degree fitting before pushing it though the bucket wall (Photo 2).  When the fittings are tightened the O-ring will seal the hole in the bucket.)

2. From the outside of the bucket, thread on a female 3/8″ barbed hose fitting.

3. Thread a second male barbed hose fitting into the 90 degree fitting inside the bucket. (Photo 3)

4. Angle the open end of the barbed fitting downward until it touches the bottom of the bucket. (photo 3) This will help to pull water from the very bottom of the bucket allowing it to almost completely empty the bucket before it needs refilling.

Alternate Construction Note: If you don’t want to add a hole to a perfectly good bucket to dedicate it to this project, you may be able to cut a hole in the fresh water bucket lid at the very outer edge and snake the hose down into the bucket (make sure the buckets will still stack).  This should also work, and eliminate the need for the brass hose fittings (less $) but, the hose may curl and not stay submerged especially because the hose will be coming out of the top of the bucket and will have to travel down to the pump on the ground.

Step 3: Basin

The Basin is a nice finishing touch.  It is not entirely necessary but it serves a few purposes.

Number one…it is a lid for the Grey Water Bucket. It keeps you from staring at bucket of dirty, soapy water from the last guy, while you wash your hands.  It also keeps that same dirty, used water from splashing back up on your clean hands while your are washing.

The Basin also allows hands to be washed inside the basin’s high side walls – keeping the falling spout water from splashing off your hands onto your pants.

Because the Basin sits almost entirely above the grey water bucket it does not compromise the storage capacity of the gray water bucket. This means that the gray water bucket does not need to be emptied until the fresh water bucket is exhausted and ready to be refilled.

Hand washing could be done directly over an open Gray Water Bucket without the Basin but, as it fills; imagine trying to wash-up with water splashing into a nearly full bucket of used water.

A similar commercial product (Wishy Washy) selling for $90 (buckets not included, shipping extra) is set up with an open gray water bucket.
The addition of the basin shown here and the provisions for stacking the two buckets to bring hand washing to counter height, improves on the comercial product and go a long way to make the system more practical than splashing water from a waist high spout into a open bucket of gray water on the ground.

By the way, the material to make the system shown here did not cost anywhere near $90..nor even Half that!   And both systems use similar Marine Outboard fuel primer squeeze bulb and hose assemblies that cost around $15-20. (or buy cheaper hardware hose (Chemical resistant hose is not necessary with water) and the squeeze bulb with check valve is around $12 by itself).  Another $15 for plumbing, tubing & fittings; throw in some scrap wood and it will land far less than $90!

Step 4: Basin Construction – The Bottom

The Basin is constructed from the the upper portion of a third bucket and a bucket lid.

Removing the Outer Rim of a lid creates the Trimmed Lid which will be the bottom of the Basin.

1. Remove the rubber seal from the underside of a bucket lid.

2. Cut along the bottom of the trench that the seal was in. (dotted path in Photo 2)
Cut all the way around the lid to remove the Outer Rim. (Photo 2 & 3 shows where to cut)

3. After cutting off the Outer Rim, clean-up the outer diameter of the lid by trimming any excess material so that the outer diameter of the lid is flush with the Upstanding Rib Wall.

When complete the overall lid diameter should not extend beyond the Upstanding Rib Wall.

Note: In the completed basin photos in step 5, notice that the bottom of the basin is concave.  To achieve this “bowl shape”,  the lid was heated in the oven at about 275 degrees F for about 15 minutes to soften the plastic.  While hot, it was worked over the bottom of a large glass mixing bowl to impart the concave shape.  The removal of the Outer Rim was done after this forming.

“Stretching” the lid to form this shape is not necessary, and was in fact, the most difficult part of the process.  (handling hot plastic while stretching and keeping it from buckeling and over-thinning is not so easy).  Well worth the effort thought…It gives it a true sink look and better funnels the water to the center drain…much better than a flat lid basin bottom.

Step 5: Basin Construction (cont.) – Join the Side Wall & Bottom

The Basin is just a shorter bucket with a center drain hole, that sits inside the top of the Gray Water Bucket.
The Trimmed Lid from the previous step, added as a bottom to the cut off top portion of another bucket, creates a shortened bucket Basin.

1. Cut-off the top rim portion of a third bucket.  The cut should be about 3/4 of an inch below the last flange on the bucket.  When cut, the removed upper portion of a bucket forms the Basin Side Wall.

2. Fit the the Trimmed Lid from step 4 into the Basin Side Wall.

3. From the underside of the Basin Side Wall, make sure the Upstanding Rib Wall on the Trimmed Lid is flush with the bottom of the Basin Side Wall. (photo 2)

4. Drill (4) 1/8 inch diameter holes through the Upstanding Rib Wall on the Trimmed Lid and the Basin Side Wall. Drill the holes at North, South, East, West)

5. Use Aluminum pop-rivets (with washer) to secure these two components through the four drilled holes.

Note the interface between the Trimmed Lid and the Basin Side Wall does not have to be a full waterproof seal.  Because the finished Basin will fit inside the Gray Water Bucket, any water that seeps through at this joint will drip into the Gray Water Bucket.

Step 6: Foot Pump

The pump is made from a marine (outboard motor) fuel line primer squeeze bulb.  The hose and bulb (with integral check valve) was purchased as an assembly from a sporting good / hardware store that sells marine supplies for outboard motors.

The pedal assembly was made from scrap wood, a door hinge, wood dowels, and a foam rubber toy ball.

The dowels (glued into holes in the wood base) allow the bulb to move up and down freely when pumped. The open top of the dowels make for easy installation and removal of the bulb for storage.

The foam rubber ball prevents damage to the rubber squeeze bulb.
The ball was cut in half and epoxied into a recess on the underside of the pedal.  The recess was cut with a hole saw drill bit and then the material inside the hole saw cut was chiseled out.

Step 7: Support Table

The Support Table serves a few purposes.  The wider stance of the table provides stability for the two buckets.  A nearly filled Gray Water Bucket stacked on top of a nearly empty Clean Water Bucket can be a bit of a top heavy tip hazard on uneven ground.

The table also holds the Clean Water Bucket a few inches off the ground.  This reduces the impact to ground cover when compared to a a bucket sitting directly on the ground for an extended period of camping.

The table is also a place for a bottle of pump soap and a wrist watch removed for hand washing.

Step 8: Spout Riser

The main purpose of the Support Table is to attach the Spout Riser.  The Spout Riser is a combination of 1″ dia. and 1/2″ dia. galvanized pipe sections threaded together and attached to theSupport Table.

The galvanized pipes that make up the Spout Riser threads into a plumbing mounting flange attached to the table.

Step 9: Spout

The Spout is formed from an automotive steel fuel/brake line.  (purchased as a generic 4′ section at the local auto supply store)

1. Bend it into a 180 degree cane shape.
The diameter of the bend should be 1/2 diameter of the bucket.  This will position the Spout nozzle over the hole in the bottom of the Basin.

Note: The flared end of the brake line adds a finished look to the open “Nozzle” end of the Spout.

2. Slide a 2″ section of clear hardware tubing onto the other end of the Spout.

3. Slide a 1/2″ to 3/8″ galvanized reducer fitting on the Spout.

4. Then slide about a 24″ length of tubing onto the Spout.
The reducer fitting will be trapped in location on the Spout by the two sections of tubing; yet free to spin and thread onto the Spout Riser.

Note: The contact area of several inches of tubing “sleeved” over the bottom edn of the Spout, and the low pressures involved, means a clamp is not required to retain the tubing or to prevent leaks at this joint.

5. Feed the Spout, and Tubing Assembly down through the Spout Riser pipes and thread the reducer fitting onto the top of the 1/2″ Spout Riser Pipe.

Ignore the wine cork shown in the photos it is remenents of an earlier spout locating scheme.

Step 10: Connect the Pump

After feeding the Spout and Tubing  through the Spout Riser pipes connect the clear tubing to the tubing attached to the squeeze bulb pump. (or it could connect directly to the squeeze bulb but because I bought the bulb and hose as an assembly I wanted to leave the factory clamps in place)

The reason there are two sections of tubing is so that the unit can be disassembled for storage.  The upper clear tubing remains attached to the Spout as a friction fit.  There is no room for a clamp inside the smaller diameter upper Spout Riser pipe so the servicable connection is made under the Support Table.

Step 11: Ready for Clean-up

Now that this handy wash station is assembled its time to clean-up.

Fill the lower Fresh Water Bucket with… you guessed it…fresh water.  Put a lid on the Fresh Water Bucket place the Gray Water Bucket on top and cover it up with the Basin.  Start pumping.

Health Note: One of the scouts suggested this would be a good “bug juice” (Lemonade) dispenser.  Sounds cool except, the Marine grade chemical resistant primer bulb specifically indicates it is not food grade safe. Water for hand washing should be fine…prolonged contact with ingestible liquids - not good.

Step 12: Storage

Note: Each of the components - Pump, Pedal, two sections of Spout Riser pipes and the Spout and Tubing Assembly are sized to fit within the height of the bucket for storage.

- Everything is stored inside the Gray Water Bucket.
- This bucket fits inside the Fresh Water Bucket
(The brass fittings in the Fresh Water Bucket are mounted low enough that they do not prevent the buckets from nesting fully together.)
- The Basin fits inside the top of the Gray Water Bucket
(the 1/2″ pipe portion of the Spout Riser fits through the drain hole in the Basin)
The Fresh Water Lid fits on top of the Basin to close everything up.

The Guardian has posted a two-part minidoc by Heydon Prowse and William Pine about DIY as political and community-building action:

Part one of two — DIY Britain: the real big society

As our jobs become more specialised fewer of us possess the practical skills to look after basic human needs like shelter, food and water. Journalists Heydon Prowse, who edits dontpaniconline.com, and William Pine meet the people taking control of their lives and argue that they point the way to a better society.

Part two of two — What the real big society means for the economy, charities and copyright

The second and concluding part of Heydon Prowse and William Pine’s polemic on the real big society, in which they investigate a changing Britain. They examine new ways of paying for goods and services, cheap but smart technological innovations to help developing nations, and a revolution in how ideas are shared and monetised.

How will YOU survive this?

I am always surprised by the number of people I run into that do not have any supplies in their car for emergency situations. I guess most of them have the, “it can’t happen to me” mentality — that mentality will get you killed.

Every year, stories pop up in the news about a person or family being stranded while driving through a remote area. Even if you are not driving in the back country, it would still be wise to have supplies on hand. You could get in a wreck and not be able to contact help; and even if you can contact help, it may take them a long time to reach you. Then, there is the possibility of running out of gas miles from anything. If anything is certain, it is that anything can happen, and that you should be prepared for it.

A survival kit for your car does not have to be as extravagant or as expensive as your “bug out bag.” Some of the essentials we are going to look at are: water, food, tools, first aid supplies, clothes, and books.

Let’s get started shall we?

Water:

Water is the number one priority in any survival situation. You cannot survive without it for more than a couple days. Water is the first thing you should add to your kit. This is easy enough to accomplish right now — it may not be so easy when your life depends on it. You can buy a couple of gallons from the grocery store, or just fill up some containers with tap water. The amount of water you want to store will vary by how many people you tend to have in your car. I would recommend no less than a couple of gallons for one person. If you have the feeling that you are going to be stranded more than a few days you are going to need to find a source of water. So, I also recommend keeping some water purification tablets in your kit. It is far better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them.

Food:

Some possible choices

Food is secondary to water. You can survive a lot longer without food than you can without water. It is important to have food on hand nonetheless. As hunger can take your mind off of other things. A lot of people want to run out and buy a bunch of MREs for their kit. This is unnecessary and can get quite expensive. Of course, if you have MREs available there is no reason not to use them.

The main thing is to have food that is not going to go bad quickly, provides you energy, and is easy to fix. The best would be food that only requires water to prepare, as well as food that is ready to eat straight out of the bag.

Some foods that require water include: Ramen and other noodles, rice, instant potatoes, coffee, tea, cocoa, and things of that sort. Many of these products are dehydrated, similar to MREs, but much cheaper.

Some foods that are ready right out of the package include: beef jerky, trail mix, nuts, candy bars (non-chocolate or you will have a mess on your hands) Vienna sausage, etc.

Also: Most people acquire condiments from eating out. This is a cheap (free) way to add salt, pepper, ketchup, sugar, hot sauce, etc. to your kit.

There are a lot of foods out there that you can add to your kit, so I am not going to recommend any specific brands. Pick what you like to eat. Just make sure it is easy to fix, because you are going to have limited cooking resources available to you.

Tools:

You shouldn’t go anywhere without a multi-tool and a good knife. However, it happens. I recommend having a separate multi-tool and knife specifically for your car survival kit. That way, even if you left your everyday tools at home you still have them available. People will argue over brands until they are blue in the face. For car survival this issue is not that important. You’re not going out there trying to live off the land — you do not need the best tool available, you just need one that works.

I have a Gerber multi-tool for my normal dealings. It costs around $60 new. That is pretty expensive for something you are going to toss in your trunk and hopefully never have to use. I found a Durabuilt brand multi-tool at a pawn shop for $5. It has most of the tools my Gerber has, but not quite as fancy. I bought it specifically for my car, and it will work just fine for that purpose.

The knife on your multi-tool is going to have limited functionality, so you are going to want a knife separate from that one. Do not buy an expensive knife to throw in your trunk, but buy a decent one. You can probably find one fairly reasonable at a pawn shop or off of the Internet. A knife with a full tang and a sharp edge is what you are looking for.

An example of a knife with a full tang

Full tang means that there is no break in the blade. The metal goes from blade edge all the way to the end of the handle. They are sturdier and less likely to break than a folding knife. Make sure you sharpen your knife before you put it in your kit. It may be a good idea to put a sharpening stone in with it.

Aside from a knife and a multi-tool there are other items you should consider for your kit. Some way to start and contain a fire is essential. Keep some matches and a lighter in a waterproof container. In case those fail or run out, you may want to also carry a fire starter similar to the picture below:

Handy backup in case matches/lighter runs out

“Canned heat” is another alternative for heating water and cooking. You will also need a container for heating water. A camp cook set works nicely for this, as it is made with that purpose in mind. If you look around you can find a set fairly cheap. I picked up a set at a yard sale for around $5 that came with 4 mugs and a large pot. You will probably want to put a set of silverware in your kit too (unless you just like eating with your hands). You can either store some plastic disposable ones, or take some out of your kitchen that can be rinsed off and reused. If you rinse them, use minimal water, so as not to deplete your on hand supply too much.

Furthermore, be sure to have a source of light. LED flashlights provide a good amount of light, can be obtained cheaply, and are easy on batteries. I picked one up at Big Lots (a discount store) for somewhere around $2. It probably wouldn’t hurt to have a few extra batteries just in case. Mine takes two AAA batteries. So I keep 6-8 batteries in my pack. Again, I’m not picky about what you buy for your flashlight. You do not need a $60 Mag-light. Some prefer headlamps. That is fine too, so long as it works and serves its purpose, it doesn’t matter. Whatever you prefer.

First Aid Supplies:

You can buy pre-made first aid kits these days fairly reasonably. If you want to save a little cash and put one together yourself that is fine too. Make sure you have the essentials: band-aids, wraps, gauze, something to make a splint and/or a sling with, antibiotics, and Tylenol. Also, keep a supply of any prescription medications you are on. I would recommend keeping a bottle of multi-vitamins as well. Tweezer’s, scissors, and a scalpel are also handy to have around. Make it to suit your needs, but be sure to have the essentials.

An example of a well stocked first-aid kit

Clothing:

Being stranded in a car in the middle of winter without extra clothing supplies could make for a very rough survival situation. Even if it is not winter time, temperatures tend to drop considerably at night, and it would behoove you to have the supplies to stay warm. Most of us wander around in cotton clothing. This is not good in a survival situation. Wool would be better. In your trunk you want to keep some extra clothing for warmth (preferably wool or poly blend) rain gear, and a sleeping bag and/or blankets.

The car itself will make you a good shelter to keep the wind and rain off of you, but it is still going to get cold, as you are not going to be able to have a fire in your car. The sleeping bag and blankets will help you get through the night, and the rain gear will keep you dry if you must go out in bad weather.

Books:

There is one book in particular that I would recommend keeping on hand in this type of situation: Where There is No Doctor: A Village health Care Handbook by David Werner.

ISBN: 978-0-942364-15-6

An essential book for any survivalist

From Amazon:

“Home health care manuals are a dime a dozen, but this one is in a league by itself… This amazing manual…successfully brings together modern concepts of public health and personal health care into a usable and understandable format for the Third World villager. If you are a physician, dentist or nurse planning to volunteer on a medical mercy mission, review this book ahead of time and take it with you. — Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 125, no.12″

This book is a must. It will show you how to treat any number of injuries and illnesses. If you do not own this book, buy it post haste. Seriously!

Some other books you may want to carry: a general survival book, a survival book that focuses on winter time survival, and a book on wild edibles (regionally specific if possible).

Other things to consider:

There are a million things you can take with you. Build your kit to fit your needs. Take things you will use, and that you know how to use. Otherwise it is just taking up space. Some other things to consider taking are: Rope, snare wire, foldable camping shovel, small axe, toilet paper, garbage bags, plastic tarp, duct tape, toothbrush, soap, comb, hand sanitizer, signaling mirror, whistle, etc.

This is not a conclusive list by any means. It is a starting point to get you thinking about your survival. It is hard to say how many people have lost their lives simply because they were not prepared. DO NOT let that happen to you.

A creative design for seed bombs. You do not have to get this fancy. A simple rolled ball will work just fine.

Here’s the recipe:

5 parts dry red clay*
3 parts dry organic compost
1 part seed
1 – 2 parts water

*For the clay it is recommended that you use dry potter’s clay. You should be able to obtain this at any farm or gardening store. It comes as a powder, which makes it easier to mix.

After mixing together all of the dry ingredients, slowly add water to the mixture. You want to add enough water that the mixture sticks together, but you do not want the mixture to be too dry and crumbly or too wet that you cannot role it into balls.

When you get your mixture together it is time to start rolling it in to quarter sized balls.

Mixture rolled into balls ready to be thrown

Once you get the mixture rolled up, the next step is to let them dry out. Generally, the drying process should take somewhere around 48-72 hours. Thats it. You’re now ready to distribute your seed bombs.

Most of the places I have come across use seed bombs to beautify the area. Most are thrown in vacant or abandoned dirt lots. However, if you are feeling frisky and want to take it a step further you could always use all those pot seeds you throw away. I am sure you can come up with some very creative place to distribute the marijuana seeds. Perhaps make a point with the people who will harass, abuse, and imprison you for using it…

As an alternative to the aforementioned recipe, I came across another way to make this work using old Christmas ornaments or water balloons.

Here is another way to spread the seeds of your choice.

Have fun and be safe!

— Johnny Marijuanaseed —

This time around, Bob breaks down the art and science of building a quick-and-easy teepee (tipi).

—————–

A few days before Christmas I had a sudden hankering for a Teepee. Don’t ask me why. It was just a sudden and strong urge. I had to have one!

It’s been years since I’ve had much to do with teepees. During the summer of ‘78 I spent two weeks high in the Colorado Rockies living in a teepee, and ever since then I’ve had a soft spot for ‘em.

Now the trouble with teepees is they are expensive to buy, and take a lot of sewing to make. Way to much work for this lazy bum. But still, I needed a teepee bad. What to do?

Then it popped into my mind how some folk make tents from cheap tarps and glue ‘em together with contact cement! What a brilliant idea! Could I do something like that with a teepee?

So, the day before Christmas I stopped on the way home from work at Harbor freight to buy a tarp and 100 feet of cheap cord. Another stop at a hardware store for a can of contact cement and I was all set.

I’d already downloaded more traditional teepee fixin’ directions and a diagram from this site.

This is to be a ten foot teepee. Big enough to sleep two adults or a pile of kids. You need a tarp about ten feet wide by twenty feet long to make a teepee this big.

You could get material by the yard and sew it all together, but by buying one big tarp to start with we save most of the work involved in making a teepee!

Teepee fixin’s —

Christmas day I went out to layout my teepee.

First, lay it out and hammer big nails in the corners to hold it in place. The ground was frozen hard and ice covered so ordinary tent stakes were out of the question.

Then, find the middle of the tarp, bang a nail in and tie a cord to it.

With the cord and a magic marker, draw a semicircle on the tarp.

In the corners, draw smoke flaps. Back at the top center, mark two triangles.

Cut it all out, and because it was so cold out I dragged it all inside to glue-up.

I pushed the table back and got to gluing the smoke flaps on, a cord in the bottom hem, and a cord at the top center.

I also cut about a dozen 12″ lenths of cord for stake loops.

Finished!

The next day was the family gathering at the in-laws’ place. Eleven of my nieces and nephews showed up. None had ever seen a teepee, some didn’t know what one was. I commandeered four or five of ‘em and went to the forest to cut poles. I sawed down 12 green grand fir saplings and had the kids drag ‘em up to behind the house.

Then I passed out hatchets, machetes, and other implements of mass destruction and we all set about trimming the branches, piling the brush for a floor, and cutting poles to length.

Up went the poles. The teepee was tied onto one pole and raised up over the frame. We cut slits in the hem for the stake loops, and tied the loops in place. Again, we had to use log spikes for stakes because of the frozen ground. Somewhat surprisingly, nobody lost a finger.

Before long the teepee was up, darkness fell, and we had a fire inside with about eight kids crammed in with me toasting marshmallows on sticks.

I barely made it out alive….

Imagine that many kids stuffed into a small teepee. Half are industriously poking at the fire making it smoke and spark, the rest are waving flaming marshmallows around. I thought I’d get nailed in the head by a flaming marshmallow for sure!

Well, the kids had fun and it kept them out of the house. The adults looked through the windows at the brightly glowing teepee, but didn’t venture forth into the night.

I took the teepee home with me that night, and set it up in the woods at my place the next weekend. It’s been up ever since.

The smoke flaps fell off after a week or two. These flaps are held up by their own poles and staked out. They take allot of stress. If you make one have a care with gluing the smoke flaps. I’d kinda rushed the whole thing and I reckon they might hold up if done right.

The lack of smoke flaps doesn’t seem to make any difference though. Surprisingly, despite several fires inside the tarp shows no burn holes or signs of melting. I’ll leave it up all winter long and see how it fares.

My next project is to build some camp beds of poles, rope or brush to outfit the teepee and wrangle up some of my nephews for a campout.

Now I know this tarp teepee will not last like a canvas one will. I did use a heavy duty tarp and am surprised at how well it is holding up. I reckon it’s fine for camping with the kids, or to set up in the yard for the kids to play in. It’s also nice to know how to make one should an earthquake demolish your home and you need a fast shelter…

All-in-all a fun project.

The poles —

The fire was lit before the teepee was even up! The poles are set up smaller than you think the teepee will be.

Lay the last pole on the cover and tie it on.

Raise the last pole into place and wrap the cover around the poles. Tie the ends together.

From the inside, move the poles out to stretch the cover tight.

This picture was taken at night with a flash. Outside a freezing rain is falling, but it’s nice and cozy inside.

The teepee glowing in the dark of night —

I was worried about the fire damaging the tarp but so far the thing has held up perfectly, except for the loss of the smoke flaps.

This is a shot taken with a flash at night, lying flat on my back looking up. No damage at all to the teepee cover.

It does show how much smoke you get up top. This can be a good thing though. In the spring the smoke keeps the black flies away, in the summer it keeps the mosquitoes away, and you can hang meat up to smoke.

Not sure I’d carry one about in my truck for emergency use though. I think a smaller tarp tent that I could carry in a pack on my back might make more sense. You know, if ya gotta ditch the truck and walk home.

I don’t think if my truck got stuck or broke down back up in the hills that I’d shelter in place for more than one night before I simply grabbed my GHB and started walking. So I prefer to carry the stuff needed to walk home, not homestead on the spot.

There are quite a variety of tents you can make from tarps and contact cement. I’m thinking about experimenting with a “miners” or pyramid type tent. Much easier to cut one pole than a dozen. I’m thinking a small pyramid type tent that you could open up one whole side and set up a fire in front of for heat and cooking.

Or maybe one of Rustums “convertible A” tents, which were intended as lightweight tents that could take advantage of a fire.

This DIY solution will help you build a solar panel array that produces about 18 volts of power for under $200. After learning the techniques involved, the design could be improvised to produce more power easily by upgrading the solar cells.

Via Home Solar and Wind Info

Building your own diy solar panel is easier than you probably think. With the right knowledge, a few simple tools and enough drive, virtually anyone can build their own diy solar panel and save a ton of money over what you would pay for pre-built panels.  I built my own DIY solar panel in a weekend and this article will tell you how I did it.

I bought a guide called GreenDIYEnergy to help with the project.  It contained lists of parts, where to get them and the part I liked best, step-by-step videos.  Following along with the videos made the project much easier to complete.

Tools You Will Need

Me playing electric guitar with my amp plugged into the solar panel

You will need some basic tools to build your diy solar panel.  If you are going to go with the simplest design using a wood container like I did, you will need basic woodworking tools like saw, drill and screwdriver.  You will also need silicone caulk and wood glue.  For the wiring, you will need wire cutters, wire strippers, a soldering iron and solder.  You can pick up most of the tools at your local hardware store.  Radio shack sells soldering irons and solder.

Obtaining Solar Cells

A solar panel is really nothing more than a bunch of solar cells in a container of some kind.  The first step to building your own diy solar panel is to obtain solar cells.

My solar cells as they arrived

The standard 3×6”solar cell generates 0.5 volt and about 3.5 amps.  Most people build panels that output 18 volts.  Therefore, you will need 36 cells per panel.  Wired in series, this will provide about 18 volts and 3-4 amps of power in direct sunlight.  The easiest place to get solar cells is ebay.  Do a search for “solar cells” and look through the results for an auction with good quality cells and enough cells for the number of panels you wish to build.  Be careful of “grade B” or other lesser quality cells.  These cells typically have broken corners, blemishes or other problems that keep them from being sold as good quality new cells.  If you can find them cheap, these lesser quality cells can be a good deal, though they will generally produce less energy than good quality, whole cells.  Cells are usually sold in lots of 36, 100 or 108.  108 cells will produce 3 36 cell panels.  Stay away from 100 cell lots if you are going to be building the typical 36 volt panel.  If possible, buy cells that are already tabbed.  It will make the wiring later much easier.  It is worth paying a little extra to get pre-tabbed cells.  I bought 36 3 x 6 pre-tabbed cells from a large seller on ebay with lots of positive feedback.  My cells came with solder, flux and extra tabbing.

Building A Container

Cutting wood for my solar panel

Your diy solar panel needs a container to hold the cells. You can build a box to hold the cells out of many different kinds of material.  The easiest for most people to work with is wood.  Decide on the layout you’d like for your cells and figure out the dimensions you’ll need for the box to hold the cells.  Plywood works fine for the back and ¾” square wood for the sides, but you can use whatever you happen to have.  You’ll need some additional wood to put into the box to attach the cells to called the substrate.  Again, you can use whatever you happen to have around like cheap fiberboard.  Cut this to fit inside the container box.  You will also need a clear cover for the box.  Plexiglass or lexan are best for this.  Cut it to cover the box.  After cutting all the wood, you’ll need to paint it and screw it together.  You should also drill a hole for the wires to exit the box.

Soldering cells together

Wiring the cells

Now that the cells are glued in place, you need to wire the cells together.  Wiring 36 cells together in series will give the 18 volts that we are looking for.  Buying pre-tabbed cells will make this much easier as you can just solder together the tabs.  If you didn’t buy pre-tabbed cells you will have to solder on tabs before you glue down the cells.  Buying pre-tabbed cells saves the time of soldering on all the tabs.    Depending on how you plan to use your panel you may want to solder on a diode.   A diode will allow power to flow in only one direction, in this case out of the panels.  If you have your solar panel connected to batteries, at night when there isn’t any sunlight power can actually flow backwards from the batteries into the solar panel, draining power that you stored in the batteries during the day.  Installing a diode will keep this from happening.  However, most charge controllers include this feature already so if you plan to use a charge controller and not connect the the panel directly to batteries, a diode is unnecessary.

Attaching The Cells

Laying down 1 string of cells on the substrate

Now you will need to attach the cells.  Some silicone caulk will work best.  Be sure to apply just enough caulk to the middle of the back of each cell.  The wood will expand and contract with heat so using a single dot of caulk in the middle of the cell will allow the wood underneath to expand without problems.  Putting caulk at each corner, for example, wouldn’t allow the expansion to happen without damaging the bond.  Lay out all the cells in the layout you decided on and glue each cell in place and allow the caulk to dry and set.

The homemade solar panel I built with the GreenDIYEnergy guide

Final Construction

There are only a few more things to do.  First is to drill a hole through the bottom of the container for the wires to come out.  You should use caulk to fill in the hole after you put the wires through to keep moisture out.  Then glue the substrate with attached solar cells into the container.  Finally, screw your plexiglass down on top of the container. It is also a good idea to solder a connector on to the end of the wires. What kind of connector depends on what you intend to connect your panel to.

Testing

Take the panel out into direct sunlight and bring a voltmeter.  Hook up the voltmeter to the panel and you should read something between 18 and 20 volts.  If you get something in this range, congratulations – you have just built a DIY solar panel!

How much did it cost?

The parts for my solar panel cost $129.  I actually paid a little extra for pre-tabbed solar cells and I had to buy all the wood.  If you have some scrap plywood laying around and tab the cells yourself, you could easily do it for under $100.  I checked around on the internet and I saved between 50% and 75% versus buying a pre-made solar panel.  I’m very happy with how my panel turned out and how much I saved by building it myself.

The Guide I Used

GreenDIYEnergy Video - Laying out the solar cells

I actually ended up buying a bunch of DIY solar panel guides and the best one was GreenDIYEnergy. It is the most comprehensive with over 200 pages of ebooks and 6 DVD quality videos that cover the entire build process from start to finish step-by-step.  When I built my solar panel I followed along with the videos and at the end of the weekend, my solar panel was finished. If you’ve been thinking about building your own solar panel, I suggest you give it a try. If I can do it, you can do it too! If you decide to give it a try, I also highly recommend GreenDIYEnergy. By following it’s step-by-step videos, anyone can build a DIY solar panel and save a lot of money.

Hat Tip PuppetGov

Chemtrail is the slang term for the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) conducted by departments of the U.S. government. If you want to know more about the subject of chemtrails, you can start here with some great posts on the Prison Planet forum. Keyword search these terms on the web and you will find more videos and articles explaining it. I’m going to assume our readers are already aware of the subject, so lets focus on solutions, because this what our site is all about.

I have witnessed the effects of a chembuster while living in Austin. A few years ago, a group of locals made several and placed them around the city. The chemtrails in those areas were non-existent, you could see where they would end in the sky and then pick back up. A local cable access TV producer, named Jeff Contreras, started a workshop and taught locals how to build them. He filmed the effects of his chembuster on formations that were above his backyard, and showed them on his show ThereForIAm. The same effect happened, the trails would disappear and then the sky would clear up. There are a lot of obscure videos on the web showing this device being used against normal clouds. That is not how we recommend it to be used, our suggestion is to use it during times of heavy chemtrail spraying.

Below is a great article from orgonite-info, explaning how to build one, and I also included a video presentation as well.

What Is a Chembuster?

History of the Cloudbuster

The Wilhelm Reich Cloudbuster was well known for its ability to create rain. But a problem existed with its continued use, in that the deadly orgone energy that it absorbed could in fact hurt the operator if it was not correctly “drained off”. This “draining off” of deadly orgone energy was accomplished by 1. Connecting the Cloudbuster to a body of running water (difficult) or 2. Connecting the Cloudbuster output to an orgone accumulator. However, the orgone accumulator would soon become saturated with the deadly orgone energy which in turn caused more problems for the operator. So the Cloudbuster, as good a technology as it is, has lain dormant for many years.

The Cloudbuster Re-Invented

By utilizing the research of Wilhelm Reich, we have created a cheap, portable and easy-to-build device that  consistently destroys Chemtrails and heals the atmosphere. The  “Chembuster” is the answer to these ongoing attacks. Unlike the original Cloudbuster, the CB changes the deadly orgone energy to good orgone energy and does NOT become saturated or dangerous to the operator.  You can build one for about $150.

Join The Battle – Now!

It is human nature to sit on the sidelines and think that one person cannot change the things that are happening to our country. You now have no excuse for inaction. For a few dollars and a few hours of your time YOU can make a difference.

A properly constructed CB unit should be able to greatly reduce the effects of chemtrails for about 45 miles in all directions (90 mile diameter) from the unit.  If used with Slim Spurling’s environmental tools, and a few extra crystals, the diameter can be increased to about 120 miles in all directions.

With this device a mere few hundred concerned citizens can SHUT DOWN the multi-billion dollar chemtrail program. The Chembuster cannot do any damage. It can only help and heal. It’s up to you to join the fight to save America.

Videos on building chembuster.

Chembuster Materials

Set pipes in bottom spacer

Middle Plywood Spacer

Chembuster Construction Details

BUCKET: Base: 9″ in dia., 9″ deep. I use two-gallon plastic buckets from the Home Depot paint department, but two-gallon food buckets, available from restaurants, or two-gallon spackle buckets from drywall contractors are fine. Leave the buckets on, as the handles make it easier to move the finished Chembuster.

COPPER PIPES: Six standard Type M, 1″ copper pipes, 6′ long, open at one end, the capped ends submerged to within an inch or so of the bottom of the bucket before casting. For portability and shipping, you can use 12” sections of pipe in the base, adding five-foot lengths by putting couplers between the 12” and five-foot pieces. You won’t need to buy as much copper pipe this way, too.

CRYSTALS: I glued a double-terminated (two pointed ends) quartz crystal, about 2″ long, into a .75” section of garden hose, (or use electrical tape) then, glue to the inside of each of the six copper end caps, pointing in the same direction as the pipe will be after the cap is glued on. I use ‘Goop’ glue. Tape, or solder around the cap where it joins the pipe to prevent resin from leaking into the cap during casting.   (Note) Another option is to add one citrine gemstone to each pipe before adding the crystal, this smoothes the CB’s energy and helps to transmute negative energies. However, citrine does not seem to make the CB any more effective at eliminating chemtrails.

METAL PARTICLES: Get some metal particles from a machine shop, recycling yard or a place where they saw a lot of aluminum (sign shops and aluminum fabrication shops are good places to look). I use aluminum for weight considerations, but ANY metal will do. Very fine particles (such as filings from a key-making machine) aren’t quite as good as ones that will easily go through a ½” screen are okay. There really is a wide margin of suitability!

PLYWOOD: Template 1 – 3/4” exterior plywood is used to make the base for the copper endcaps/pipes. I arrange the six pipes evenly around a 2 1/2” radius circle, which makes the pipes 2 1/2” apart on centers. A flat, 1 1/4” auger bit drills a suitable hole for each end cap.

Template 2 – Make another piece to fit inside the rim of the bucket. Remember to cut a section away so you can fit your fingers under it to remove it from the bucket. This piece is not part of the finished CB, just used to get the spacing for the pipes right during construction. Cut the holes in this with a 1 1/8” flat bit so that it will fit well over the six pipes. This piece will hold the pipes in position while the second batch of resin hardens.

Template 3 – I make a circular plywood spacer for the top ends of the pipes, 4” radius with 1 1/8” holes on the same 2 1/2” radius circles for the pipe ends. This keeps the pipes parallel with each other and fairly rigid.

Not to scale  Widest circle is 9 1/8”

RESIN: I use polyester resin (used to build fiberglass boats), but epoxy also works, as does Envirotech resin from www.eti-usa.com (this sets up very quickly, so you need to be proficient with it). If you are going to construct many of these units, try to purchase your resin in 5 gallon buckets over the internet, possibly from a surfboard or boat manufacturing supply company. Home Depot gets $24 per gallon for resin.

On a level surface, pour an inch or so of catalyzed resin into the bottom of the bucket and stir in metal particles until the surface is uniform and flat. CAUTION:  Resin fumes are flammable; use in a warm, but well ventilated area.

The ratio that seems to work is approx. one part resin to one part metal particles (equal volume of resin to metal particles). Put the base Template 1 onto that before it hardens, so that it just touches the surface and doesn’t sink in much. Pour a half gallon of catalyzed resin into the bucket after the six pipes are set into the holes in the base template. Use the dowel to stir in handfuls of metal particles in the same ratio as before. Note that the wood Template 1 should not be pushed down to the bottom of the bucket with the resin squishing over the top.

Carefully move the Template 2 down on to the six pipes until it is snugly within the rim of the bucket. Put the top Template 3 onto the top of the pipes and move them until the pipes are parallel. After the resin has hardened, remove the second template and set it aside. This is only used during construction, as I mentioned.

You can finish off putting the resin/metal mixture in now in two stages if you want, up to within a half inch of the rim of the bucket. Now it’s finished (wait until it hardens before you move it. You will actually use about one gallon of metal shavings and 1 ½ gal. of resin.

A MONEY SAVING SUGGESTION, ALSO FOR BETTER PORTABILITY:

Cut six pipes, 12″ long, and put the crystals/endcaps on them for the base. Buy six coupler joints which allow a pipe to come into them from both directions and stop at the middle. This allows you to make the rest of the pipe assembly from three pipes, 10′ long, cut in half. The finished product leaves you with only one piece of pipe, four feet long leftover.

When positioning the 12″ pipes for pouring the second layer of mix, temporarily tape the top ends of the 12″ pipes so no metal particles are dropped in them by mistake.

After the mix is made, take off the tape and push the rim plywood piece down onto the pipes so that it fits into the rim of the bucket.

Put the spacers (soldered if desired), then the 5′ pipes onto the 12″ base pipes, then put the third (top) plywood piece onto the 5’ copper pipes.

The pipes will look skewed, most likely, so just twist the top plywood piece around until the pipes line up parallel. As you do that, the rim plywood piece will move around. You need to do this expeditiously, though not in a hurry, so that the resin doesn’t harden before you’re done.

We experimented with 5′ extensions to the pipes to increase the range. It had a strong effect on the moon and on the upper atmosphere of the planet for hundreds of miles. We also apparently shut down the weather warfare facility under Homestead Air Force Base by leaving the extended Chembuster pointing at the dead orgone field above it for a week.

We found that we don’t need to point it in any particular direction in order to clear the atmosphere of bad orgone, and the longer it’s left standing, the nicer it feels for a longer distance from the Chembuster (many miles). We just stand it on its bottom, pointing straight up. We did once eliminate a belt of smog, which was just off the coast by aiming at it for a few minutes, so direction can be a factor.

Chembusters destroy chemtrails consistently. It may take a few days for your Chembuster to activate the environment enough to do this, but after that point the spew will disappear within seconds of leaving the UN jets and dissipated trails that drift within range of the Chembuster will also disperse, but more slowly. The ones that are made up of solids take longer to dissipate, but we’ve found that these only make up about 10% or so of the spewing episodes.

Dr. Reich’s Cloudbusters were extremely dangerous when in operation since he had no orgone generator attached to them. Bad orgone does carry a charge which can quickly drain one’s life force away when it’s concentrated in one spot. It’s similar to a strong positively charges static electrical field. When cloud cover is unproductive or unbalanced (too much lightning, for instance, or too much rain) the Chembuster busts it up.

It also may help stop drought. Overall, it just balances the weather, I think it sort of mediates between the ground and the atmosphere somehow. The one in Namibia, Africa finally brought heavy rain to the desert there. It happened 9/5/01, and continued for several days. Gert, the fellow who made the Chembuster and reported the occurrence ( http://educate-yourself.org/africasfirstcloudbusterjun01.html ), told me that this had simply never happened in the Namib desert before to the best of anyone’s knowledge. It’s arguably the driest region on the planet.

WARNING: If you touch the pipes when they’re drawing in strong unbalanced or dead orgone and don’t put your hand on the base after that, you may experience headaches, even into the next day, as a friend of ours did recently.

Mind you that our efforts, though somewhat pioneering, should be seen mainly as a springboard for further developments rather than the last word.

SUGGESTION: If you want even more rain, try putting water on top of the material in the bucket and/or hosing down the whole apparatus daily. In freezing climates, cover the top of the six pipes with mini umbrellas so water can’t freeze and shatter the crystals. The CB appears to effect chemtrails equally well whether it’s placed indoors or out.  Up to seven crystals can be placed in each pipe to improve performance.

Source: Don Croft & Ken Adachi’s “Goodbye Chemtrails, Hello Blue Skies!” on Educate-Yourself.org.

One of the best water purifiers on the market are Berkey water filters. Berkey’s use gravity filters that are cleanable, and use micro-permeable ceramic filter elements. These filters are extremely effective, long-lasting and require no electricity. The only drawback is the cost, following the steps in the video below you can make one yourself for about $100, saving you about $200.

Parts

• Two 5-gallon food grade buckets (about $5 each)
• Two lids for the buckets (about$1.50 each)
• A pair of Black Berkey filter elements (On Ebay or Amazon for $99 which sometimes include free shipping and a free Sport Berkey filtered bottle)
• A food grade spigot (the kind used for large coffee pots or water coolers is perfect. About $10)

DIY Berkey Water Purifier

Additional Notes

To use the filter, fill the upper bucket with water and wait. If you are starting with dry elements, it will take quite a while before the water starts dripping into the lower bucket. It takes up to several hours for the clean water to drain into the lower bucket. This process can be sped up considerably by frequently topping off the water in the upper bucket. This maintains maximum pressure on the elements.

• I had no scientific way to test the water quality; however, the filtered water was clear, had no odor, and tasted similar to distilled.
• The specifications of the Black Berkey elements can be found here: http://berkeywater.com/BerkeyLight/BB_Purification_Elements.html
• There are a number of ways to make this even cheaper: Use free buckets from a grocery store bakery or restaurant. I have found the same type of spigot for $5 since making this one. Super Sterasyl elements can be substituted for the Black Berkey elements. They cost about $84 a pair.
• The filter can be made considerably larger by using any two stacking containers suitable for water, trash cans or 30-gallon water barrels for instance. The flow rate can also be increased by adding more filter elements.
• The filtered solids remain on the outside of the filter elements and will eventually interfere with the rate of flow. Therefore, it is important to prefilter through a dense cloth (we use cloth diapers) if your source water is particularly cloudy. The elements can be scrubbed clean with a plastic scouring pad. The Black Berkey elements last for about 3000 gallons each (6000 gallons for the pair).

Video demonstration via green-trust.org

Additional notes via alpharubicon.com

This inspiring documentary is about Michael Reynolds quest to build self-sustaining homes, using trash gathered from the local environment. Called Earthships, he uses tires, dirt, plastic and glass bottles as building materials to craft these uniquely designed houses. Earthships have the ability to stay at 70 degrees ambient temperature, even in freezing weather without gas or any heat source. His eco-architecture designs are completely off-the-grid using solar for power, and uses the roof to catch rainwater for drinking, bathing and sewage water.

One of the most interesting parts of the documentary, is his struggle in New Mexico with the state bureaucracy over building standards for his novel housing designs. This documentary shows the ingenuity we have as humans to create a self-sustainable living environment using nature and our imagination, if the state wouldn’t hinder us.

Synopsis

What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you’re renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of “Earthship Biotecture” by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians hum and ha, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes. Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.

“Big Brother” surveillance systems are growing across the globe at an alarming rate, some people believe it makes them safe, while others believe their privacy is being violated.

This step-by-step article will show you how to cheaply make an IR (infrared) LED mask, that will shield your image to the camera with a bright white spot.

The use of this IR LED device would shield you from unwanted video recording while in public, any criminal activity would still be caught by potential eye witnesses. 

Serious criminals would likely wear a real mask or disguise to thwart any eyewitnesses, so any concerns of contributing to illegal activity are unwarranted. A lot of people like to make gadgets like this for fun and have no grand idea of pulling a heist.

The example below uses a hat to embed the LED’s, but there are more creative designs and uses for this idea that I’m sure people will come up with.

Parts

• Approximate prices are given; this project should cost about $11 USD
• 8 or more High Intensity IR LEDs = $0.30 each that’s $2.40
• 1 Hat/Cap that looks good on you = $6.00 (you may have one already)
  • make sure it’s a hat that all the parts will fit in
  • choose one with a design that will camouflage the LEDs
• 16 thin wires from a 2 meter long UTP cable = $1.00
• 1 Electrical Tape = $0.80
• 1 9v Battery = $1.00

Step 1. Wire the LEDs. Make sure your wires are long enough around (15cm each) depending on how big your hat is. Start wiring up the LEDs one by one, making sure the wires are secured well to each LED and they won’t fall apart. You can even solder to be extra sure but it’s probably not necessary.

Step 2. Mark and cut the hat. This part is also crucial, as you need to pick good spots where you want the LEDs to go. If you place them too far apart from each other, the light beam won’t be strong enough to blind a camera. If you place them too close, they will only hide your face from a certain angle but not others. Think this out and position them well. Mark the spots with a marker, then cut a few holes with a pair of small scissors in the front (middle of the hat) and a few on the sides to get a wide beam. See Tips below.

Step 3. Attach the LEDs. Turn the hat inside out. Take each LED and place it tight in its hole. Make sure each LED is secure and it won’t fall out. You can even use a dab of hot melt glue for extra stability!

Step 4. Secure with tape and power up. Tape all the wires together using electrical tape. Make sure you remember each LED’s plus and minus wire; if you get them wrong, you may burn out some LEDs or risk some of them not working. For example, you can use white wires for each positive terminal and color wires for the negative terminal so you won’t get them wrong later. Connect a small 9v battery to the wires and secured them on there with electrical tape. You can even add a little on/off switch, if you want. In this example, the battery is placed on the inside back of the hat.

Tips

The bright light being on top of the head may still leave at least portions of the face visible. Placing some LEDs in the shirt collar, and/or wearing LED earrings or ear pieces (like fake or modified bluetooth headset) would improve the mask.

Since the infrared is invisible to the naked eye, you will have to use your own video camera to make sure it is working.

Warnings

This method works best in lower light conditions, as in full daylight or brightly lit areas the camera easily adjusts. This can be seen in the video when the finished product is shown. You can clearly see the hat and the individual LEDs, no blinding effect.

Works about as well as shining a light in someones face, except CCTV never blinks. Thus it requires one to be able to continually face the camera at the right angle. Notice almost half of the face is visible in the photo despite good positioning.

Source: Wikihow

Next time your youngin says they’re bored, whip out this easy and fun recipe for making playdoh. I found two recipes on instructables.com, one involves cooking and the other is uncooked. It seems from most of the comments on the post, that younger children have more fun with the uncooked version because they can be involved in the whole process. The basic difference using the cooked version, is that it provides better texture than the uncooked version, according to the writer.

Warning: Keep away from dogs and other pets. Playdough smells like people food but contains lots of salt, and a hungry dog can eat enough to cause a dangerous salt imbalance.

Uncooked kid friendly version:

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1/3 cup salt
• 2 tbsp oil (veg)
• 1 cup water
• 7 drops food coloring

Mix dry ingredients with oil, add food coloring to water and mix together. Add water to flour/salt/oil mixture slowly~about 1/4 cup at a time and mix together with a spoon. Once you’ve added all the water, knead the dough with your hands. Voila!

Author: jennabanana

Cooked version:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 cup salt
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 Tablespoon cream of tartar (optional for improved elasticity)
• Food coloring (liquid, powder, or unflavored drink mix)
  scented oils

Mix and heat

Mix all of the ingredients together, and stir over low heat. The dough will begin to thicken until it resembles mashed potatoes.

When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center, as shown below, remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if your playdough is still sticky, you simply need to cook it longer!
Keep stirring and cooking until the dough is dry and feels like playdough.
I’ve gotten many comments asking about sticky dough, so please just keep cooking a bit longer and it will work!

When it looks like this take it off the heat; you're done.

Knead & color

Play and store

A great post on instructables.com by the user Honus, provides step-by-step instructions how to make a USB solar charger with a lithium polymer battery for your iPhone/iPod. For about $70 and a few hours of work, this fun project will give you confidence to make other DIY gadgets for yourself and others.

How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might.pdf

How to make a solar iPod/iPhone charger

Step 1. Tools and materials

Here’s what you’ll need to build your own MightyMintyBoost:

Tools:
Soldering iron
Scissors
Wire cutters
Pliers (or muiltitool)
Multimeter
Metal shears
Clear packing tape

Materials:
MintyBoost kit
Lithium Polymer battery charger
3.7v 2000mAh Lithium Polymer battery
JST connector/wire
Small solar cell
2″ x 3″ adhesive backed Velcro
Small double sided adhesive squares
Altoids tin

Some notes:

The single cell Lithium Polymer charger can accept input power that ranges from 3.7 to 7v maximum. When the cell reaches full charge the charger will automatically switch to trickle charging. When charging using the mini USB port, the charging current is limited to 100mA. When charging using the barrel plug jack, the charging current is limited to 280mA.

The solar cell maxes out at approximately 5v @ 100mA in bright sunlight. If you need faster charging simply use a larger solar cell- a 6v cell @ 250mA would work very well and they are easily obtainable and inexpensive. I used the size of solar cell that I did because I wanted it to be super compact.

I could not find out from the manufacturer if the solar cell I used has a blocking diode. A blocking diode is used in many solar charging systems to prevent the solar cell from draining the battery during low light conditions. Instructables member RBecho pointed out that the charging circuit used negates the need for a blocking diode in this application. You can tell when the solar cell is producing enough power because the little red LED on the charger will come on during charging.

Step 2. Build the Minty Boost kit

First build the MIntyBoost kit according to its instructions. It’s really easy to assemble- even a complete novice can do it.

Instead of connecting the battery holder in the kit, we’re going to solder a JST connector to the MintyBoost PCB. This tiny connector will then allow the MintyBoost circuit to connect to the Lithium Polymer battery charger circuit. Make sure you get the polarity correct!

Test the MintyBoost by connecting the battery pack (make sure the battery pack has a charge) and charger circuit. The MintyBoost connects to the connector marked SYS on the charger board and the lithium polymer battery connects to the connector marked GND.

Now cut a notch in the Altoids tin for the USB port and use some double sided adhesive to mount the PCB to the Altoids tin.

Step 3. Add the battery and charger

Step 4. Add the solar cell

Step 5. FAQ and additional info

Here’s a list of frequently asked questions:

Q: Is it possible to overcharge the Lithium Polymer battery?
A: No- the charger will automatically switch to trickle charging and then shut off.

Q: Is it possible to drain the Lithium Polymer battery completely and damage it?
A: No- the battery has its own low voltage cut off circuitry that will prevent it from completely discharging- the low voltage cut off is around 2.8v

Q: Does the solar cell have a blocking diode to prevent it from draining the Lithium Polymer battery?
A: No blocking diode is necessary- the Lithium Polymer charger prevents the battery from leaking current.

Q: How long will it take to fully charge the Lithium Polymer battery and how long will it take to charge my iPod/iPhone?
A: How long it will take to fully charge depends on the amount of sunlight available but as a rough guesstimate it would take around 20hrs using the small solar cell in direct sunlight. Using a larger solar cell could easily take half if not one third the amount of time. Those same figures would apply if you were charging it over USB or using a wall wart power supply.

Charging your iPod is much faster. How fast it does it depends on your device’s battery capacity. An iPod Touch has a 1000mAh battery so it should fully charge it in around 2hrs. A 3G iPhone has a 1150mAh battery so it will take slightly longer and a 2G iPhone has a 1400mAh battery, so it will take around 3 hrs.

Q: The Lithium Polymer charger has an input voltage range of 3.7v minimum to 7v maximum- what if I want to use a higher output solar cell for faster charging?
A: To use a solar cell with a voltage output greater than 7v, you need a voltage regulator to drop the voltage to a level that the charger can handle. You could use a 7805 voltage regulator to limit the output to +5v -they only cost about $1.50 and are very simple to wire up. The 7805 will give you as fixed +5v and is usually good up to 1A current. You could also use a LM317T which is an adjustable regulator, but it would involve a bit more circuitry to use. Some people also use diodes to drop voltage, since many diodes have a voltage drop of .7v

There’s a lot more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_regulator

The other option would be to use a 6v/250mA solar panel. This will stay within the current input range and voltage input range of the Lithium Polymer charger. Remember that you can also connect smaller solar cells in parallel to increase the available current- two 5v/100mA solar cells connected together in parallel will give an output of 5v @200mA

Q: What if I want to use a charger with a higher input current limit?
A: Sparkfun does have a Lithium Polymer charger that maxes out at 1A:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8293

Q: How would I connect the more powerful charger- there doesn’t appear to be a clear way to do this?
A: To use the more powerful 1A charger you would need to wire a two way switch to the battery so that in one position the battery would be connected to the charger and in the other position the battery would be connected to the MintyBoost circuit.

Q: Will this work with USB devices other than iPods and iPhones?
A: You bet! There’s a list here: http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/

Q: Won’t the inside of the Altoids tin short out the circuit?
A: No- using double sided foam tape to mount the circuit boards keeps the bottom of the board from coming into contact with the inside bottom of the tin. If you’re really worried you can cover the inside bottom of the tin with clear packing tape.

Q: How much does this cost? Can I build it for less? Is it cost effective?
A: If you buy everything as listed it would cost $70.75 (not including the Altoids tin or shipping.) If you wanted to scratchbuild it using the MintyBoost PCB from Adafruit, building your own charging circuit and supplying your own parts from various sources you can save quite a bit. Both the charging circuit and the MintyBoost circuit are available online- just go to the web pages listed in the tools and materials section- they’re also listed at the bottom of this page.

Both Maxim and Linear Technology supply free samples (according to their websites) of their ICs so you just need to provide all the other bits (available from places like Mouser and Digikey.) Using a slightly smaller solar cell and a 2200mAh battery it is possible to build it for a lot less:

2200mAh battery
solar cell
MintyBoost PCB

After adding up the small parts for the MintyBoost circuit, a small blank PCB for the charging circuit (you would have to etch the board yourself) and a mini USB connector, you could conceivably build this for around $21.00 (not including shipping or an Altoids tin.) It wouldn’t be exactly the same of course, but it would be functionally the same. I don’t know if the 2200mAh battery would fit into an Altoids tin either. It would be a LOT more work of course, and there could be a fair bit of troubleshooting if you’re not experienced in building these types of circuits or soldering surface mount components.

So is it cost effective? Absolutely- it just depends on the amount of work you want to do. Either way, you get a very useful and versatile solar powered charger.

Q: How did you calculate the power usage and equivalent CO2 values?
A: Here’s the math-
3.7v (LiPo rated voltage) x .1A (solar charge current)= .37W
.37W x 12.5hrs (charge time based on average battery capacity) = 4.625Wh
4.625Wh x 365 days = 1688.125Wh per year
1688.125Wh per year x 30,000,000 units sold = 50,643,750,000Wh total used per year (50.644gWh)
50.644gWh per year x 1.5 lbs CO2 produced per kWh used = 75,965,625 lbs. CO2 produced per year

Granted these are more or less maximum values but they clearly show some potential for some serious energy savings. A 12.5hr solar charge time per day isn’t realistic for the majority of the planet but if you shorten the solar charge time to approximately 4.5hrs at a 280mA current the results still remain the same.

General information about the Lithium Polymer charging circuit as well as a circuit diagram and data sheet can be found here:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=726

A complete description and documentation of the MintyBoost circuit can be found here:
http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/

For additional tips in the comment section, view the original post here.

We designed this simple garden structure to be customizable for pursuing your favorite hobbies, entertaining, or just relaxing. In this version, a two-person chaise lounge, outdoor fabric curtain panels and roof offer a shady garden retreat for reading—or napping!

Just in time for spring/summer, build this outdoor space in a weekend with the help of this step-by-step guide from diyideas.com. The uses for an outdoor space like this is endless, and the blueprint for building these structures is at a beginners level, so you can make it your first wood building project. The cost of this project is around $1,200 if you use concrete footings, which uses 20 bags of ready-mix concrete that weigh 80 lbs each. If you have wood building skills or successfully complete this project, you could make some money building it for neighbors or friends. Below are different design ideas for this outdoor structure.

“Remember to check with city officials before building a backyard structure. You might need a building permit!” — DIY Ideas editor Kelly Rawlings

Click here to download the instructions (.pdf).

Potting Shed

Topped with a corrugated aluminum roof, the structure becomes a more substantial garden structure, suitable for potting and puttering. Because the roof can catch the wind, it's best to anchor the structure to concrete footings.

Backyard Bistro

Festooned with sheer outdoor fabric panels (even the tassels are weather-resistant), the structure transforms into a backyard dining spot for four. A candle chandelier, hung low over the table, adds another layer of charm to the structure.