Writer John Galvin (member "Horus" here on ETS and owner of www.gettingprepared.info) has published another terrifying article about real-life incidents of survival in April's issue of Popular Mechanics. To quote the article's tag-line:
"An engineer, a contractor, a repairman, a pilot - ordinary guys who overcame life-threatening accidents, thanks to preperation, courage, and tenacity. Their stories yield lessons that can help you survive if disaster strikes."

What these people went through and overcame was astounding. People can be damn tough!

Along with that article there are some neat preparedness gizmos in the magazine. I especially like the tiny Porta-Jump Emergency Jumpstarter and the Autochron Programable Wall Switch Timer . Note: I think these look useful but I have no idea if they live up to their billing, nor do I have any financial incentive for posting them.

-Blast

I have the current Popular Mechanics magazine and the survival stories are nothing short of stunningly amazing. Especially the story of the downed pilot in Alaska who suffered terrible burns all over his body and still managed (with his shoes almost melted away) to walk 20 miles in Alaska's October weather to safety. This is truly a story of a will to survive against almost impossible odds of not only the walk but the aftermath of the burn treatments also.

This edition (April) of Popular Mechanics is worth spending the money on for these survival stories alone.

Thanks for the tip, the articles sound really interesting - I'll have to check out the magazine.

On the toys, err gizmos mentioned - the Porta-Jump (and related products that plug into 12V port) is only good in a very limited number of cases and does not replace a good set of jumper cables or a portable battery that connects directly to the cars battery. You just can't push enough power (amps) through those tiny little wires (and the 12V "power port") to drive the starter.

If you really want portable jump starting capability consider something more like one of these. Note: no particular interest/affiliation with the products/companies pointed to in the link.

- Eric

huh? From the FAQ:

That's not the only place they mention 30v.

These types of mini-jumpstarters are only good for slightly weak batteries to give them a little extra boost. They are not strong enough to fully jump a dead or nearly dead battery. This is one of those occasions where bigger is better. For a regular car I would recommend getting a real jumpstarter rated to at least 450A or better, the smaller 350 ones are more suited for economy 4 cylinders in ideal conditions, i.e, if they're fully charged, the weather isn't too cold, and the main battery isn't too far discharged.

I'm guess the 30V might be because they're relying on a high voltage, low aH battery to limit the amount of charge. Kinda like hooking up 100 AA's to a car battery, it might be 150V but the voltage will drop to about 12V immediately due to internal resistance you won't get a significant amount of energy out of it.

I went one step furthur, the 3/4 ton and 1 ton diesel versions of my 1/2 ton truck have a second battery which is put in parallel with the first to get more power to start the big diesel engine. I found that the battery tray will bolt right up and bought one and put it in. I then bought a new battery for the truck and put the old one in that tray and put in a battery isolator to keep both charged but only allow one to discharge. So I can now jump start myself if needed. I've also added a secondary fuse block and a few power ports to that battery so things plugged won't run the main battery dead.

It will drop, but not before sending some noise and spikes through the $$$ electronics boxes. I'd want to see it on a 'scope before putting it on my car.

Hand Cranking - Safe and Easy
http://www.abarnyard.com/workshop/handcrank.htm

I've been wanting to do that but wasn't sure how. Can you please start a new thread with pictures and part lists about it?
-Blast

I always thought it would be hilarious to retrofit my vehicle with a hand-crank like that. I'm guessing it's not even remotely possible...hmmm, maybe on a motorcycle?

-Blast