What did you get for Xmas?

[mbarnatl]

I was just wondering if anyone got any new gear for Christmas?

My daughters got me a light weight alcohol cooking system and a "Freezer Bag Cooking: Trail Food Made Simple" cookbook for Christmas.

[Sarge47]

We give/get money so i bought some stuff including the "space-saver" cup for the Nalgene Water bottle!:cool:

[wareagle69]

3 things i never allow ppl to buy for me tools , books and survival gear, i did get lots of moose stuff shirts sweatshirts slippers coffee cup paintings and a toque

[mbarnatl]

They asked me what I wanted. Most of the time I get money, gift cards to bookstore, or something relating to cooking from family members.

[Tactical Tom]

I got a 14" Gerber/Fiskars sportaxe, RAT-3 plain edge w/sheath & RAT-7 part serr. W/sheath :D

[nell67]

A broken heart count?

[Walkman]

Christmas gifts:

USAF issue CFP-90 rucksack (w/ detachable daypack) :D
CamelBak Classic (2L)
Leki Trekking Poles
2-in-1 gaiters
Magnesium firestarter
Zippo
New hiking boots
100' 550 para cord
USAF SERE (Survival, Evasion, REscue) manual

...and 4 seasons of Stargate SG1 on DVD :)

[canid]

i got another [smaller] pressure cooker, which is nice for canning just about anything, and makes a fine autoclave in an emergency. they can be used for distilation which is good for water purification and are just generaly handy to have around.

[Rick]

Geeese, Canid. I had never considered a pressure cooker for use as an autoclave. Excellent idea. I love stuff that has multiple uses. Now I have to go on the hunt for a pressure cooker.

How do you distill water with it? I get the distillation process, much like a still, but can you remove the top of the pressure valve to hook a hose directly to it?

[canid]

you would use a condensation colum of any practical design which can connect to the pressure regulator outlet [the dealy with the weight on it]. some of these will screw out and leave you with a threaded hole for ease of attatchment. this can be done for any type of distillation. i actualy have plans for a reflux column for spirit distillation with my 18qt presto. distillation of water is easy if you know what the contaminants are likely to be and can find their evaporation points. a merck index is a nice book to own. if you know, for example that the BP of mercury is about 674f. then you can be sure that water condensed from any reasonable temp range will have no measurable amount of mercury in it. you could purify groundwater from within 6ft of an old gold mine. for substances with a BP lower than water, you would run the still lower and condense and dispose of the heads instead.

i use a PC as an autoclave frequently for preperation of culture media and substrates for yeasts, mushrooms, etc and for sterilization of inniculation aparatus and petris.

[Rick]

Thanks! That should be enough to get me into trouble.:D I found an article that deals with distilling salt water but I'm sure the process is the same. I've never used a pressure cooker but understand the process. If you look at the article, there is a picture of the lady cleaning the valve with a pipe cleaner. I assume this is the valve with the weighted body removed. If you scroll toward the bottom, there are instructions for making a distiller.

http://www.boatus.com/goodoldboat/pressure.asp

It also looks like a good way to acquire distilled water for your automotive batteries, solar/wind storage batteries or just for use in your electric iron and humidifiers if you have heavy calcium deposits in your water.

[canid]

that's not a bad resource there. you've got the idea.

[mbarnatl]

I got a new pressure cooker last year from Christmas. The one I had before, I got at a garage sale for $5.

[Proud American]

Me Army Ranger Hanbook 2007