Keeping meds cool

[cpt_sfc]

There are at least 2 ways to keep meds cool if SHFT. One is to dig a hole as deep as you feel comfy with , line it with wood , metal etc.. Make a cover of 2 inch pink or blue foam board double or triple up 4 to 6 inchs thick to cover. Put the meds in ammo cans to keep dry and safe . This should keep meds at 50-55 degrees not ideal but better then 70 or 80 degrees.
Next way is ammo cans again but hope you have a creek near by or a spring. You can make a spring house, Older folks might recall this. Just set the can in the creek try to keep the top out of the water or make sure it is water proof. Make sure it is out of the current and won't float away Just a thought as I have to keep insulin.

[Lowdown3]

A gal asked this very question last night at a Preparedness Conference I was speaking at in South Carolina. Other than a small fridge powered by solar, this is the only long term option.

[RobertJ]

When I get home from work Im going to post some procedures and videos for y'all, For post SHTF coldness many might not know or thoght of.
You will be able to keep some meds cold for a bit any how. Not finite just a method.

[cpt_sfc]

Hi guys , I have a spring house as I mentioned above. I keep a stock of insulin in it. It is made of rock covered with 4 inch's of foam and covered with wood/sheet metal, like a well pit cover. The water temp in the summer is 45-50 degrees and winter it runs high 30's to low forty's once it covers with a couple of feet of snow. The creek it feeds into, next to it never freezes over all winter. My rotated stock of insulin seem ok every 6 mo's. How long would this set up keep meds good , Ballpark guess. It also keeps beer and pop cold/no food kept because of bear's.
Thanks

[RobertJ]

Years back when I was reading "One Second After" I was screaming at the book, much like one dose at a movie or television show when gun handling is wrong etc.
In the book when they had no way of keeping the insulin cold, all I could think of was this. Well some may already know these methods some may not. This is not a long term solution but an option non the less.

Making dry Ice at home. Some may already have the ingredients in place. Others may have to go shopping to Obtain. During TEOTWAWKI scavenging this product may be easier then you think.

Dry Ice is frozen carbon dioxide, a normal part of our earth's atmosphere. It is the gas that we exhale during breathing and the gas that plants use in photosynthesis. It is also the same gas commonly added to water to make soda water. This gas is often captured during industrial processes and recycled to make Dry Ice.

Dry Ice is particularly useful for freezing, and keeping things frozen because of its very cold temperature: -109.3°F or -78.5°C. Dry Ice is widely used because it is simple to freeze and easy to handle using insulated gloves. Dry Ice changes directly from a solid to a gas -sublimation- in normal atmospheric conditions without going through a wet liquid stage. Therefore it gets the name "dry ice."

As a general rule, Dry Ice will sublimate at a rate of five to ten pounds every 24 hours in a typical ice chest. This sublimation continues from the time of purchase; therefore, pick up Dry Ice as close to the time needed as possible. Bring an ice chest or some other insulated container to hold the Dry Ice and slow the sublimation rate. Dry Ice sublimates faster than regular ice melts but will extend the life of regular ice.

It is best not to store Dry Ice in your freezer because your freezer's thermostat will shut off the freezer due to the extreme cold of the Dry Ice! Of course if the freezer is broken, Dry Ice will save all your frozen goods. (Stole the above from work)

Commercial shippers of perishables often use dry ice even for non frozen goods. Dry ice gives more than twice the cooling energy per pound of weight and three times the cooling energy per volume than regular water ice (H2O). It is often mixed with regular ice to save shipping weight and extend the cooling energy of water ice. Sometimes dry ice is made on the spot from liquid CO2. The resulting dry ice snow is packed in the top of a shipping container offering extended cooling without electrical refrigeration equipment and connections.

Items you may have around your house with CO2...
CO2 fire extinguisher
Paintball cylinders
Keg a rator
Soda stream
etc.

You may notice in some of the videos that the 10#,20#,50#,75# industrial cylinders are inverted (upside down, valve at bottom). These are "Non Dip Tube". A "Dip Tube" is copper pipe fitted to the valve and runs from the valve to bottom of the cylinder in order to pick up the liquid CO2 (all CO2 is in liquid form in cylinders). This is inside the Cylinder you can not see it. Non dip tube cylinders use the gas the CO2 makes inside the cylinder. You dont want that liquid getting into your soda,beer,etc. So by inverting the non dip tube cylinder you can get the liquid out. Liquid propane works much the same your BBQ 20# tank is a non dip tube, and just uses the gas. propane powered vehicles use a dip tube to use liquid. All tanks with a Dip Tube will be marked so, If no marking its a Non Dip Tube.
If I had a decent way to make a video I would, but YouTube has provided for me.

A CO2 Fire Extinguisher,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLNHDxd6nDc

A paint ball cylinder,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7U2CbxfMMk

Soda Stream,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEbwxFinuEs

A more professional/industrial maker,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxS01ZQtNHM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne_5F3rjOZ0

Sorry for such a shoddy post but wanted to get this posted before I forgot.

Another post in the future may be on ammonia freezers

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Thanks RobertJ those are informative.


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