ENERGY

Sierra Stove: This lightweight, dependable stove uses just about any type of combustible -- twigs, bark, fuel sticks or any other solid fuel. Using a battery-powered adjustable speed fan, the Sierra creates a forced air system that quickly produces a super-hot, efficient fire that can bring a quart of water to a boil in four minutes. The less expensive stainless steel model weighs just 1 pound and travels in a compact nylon carry sack that can also hold a kettle, pan and windshield. One AA battery provides six hours of cooking; an optional D cell extends cooking time to 35 hours. Batteries can be recharged with your portable solar battery recharger. You essentially have unlimited fuel with all the cooking heat you'll need, although you'll have to spend more time cooking than you may be used to -- welcome to the world of your forefathers! It's basically the same system used in the Philips' stove that's making life easier for thousands of poor families around the world.

Trangia Stove: The classic Swedish camping stove, introduced in 1925 and still used by the Swedish army, has long set the standard for dependability and performance. The Trangia burns alcohol, typically ethyl alcohol or ethanol (sold as denatured alcohol in stores), but also isopropyl (rubbing alcohol), grain alcohol (aka "fire water") and even high proof liquor like Bacardi 151 (what a waste!). The stove is super simple, consisting of a brass burner or fuel pot that holds the alcohol and a windshield base that controls airflow and supports the cookware. Fill the burner with fuel, light it up and you've got a cooking fire, all with no moving parts, valves, tubes, tanks, etc. There's an adjustable burner cover, the "extingusher", that allows for flame control, but it's not something most users spend much time with. If you're going to use a processed fuel for the long haul, you can't beat alcohol. It's far less toxic than hydrocarbons, there's a lot of it out there now and if all the "revenuers" disappear, there'll be a lot more. Trust me!

Solar Ovens: If you've got sunshine, these simple cooking tools take care of the rest. In place of photovoltaic cells, these ovens use the power of the sun in its simplest form: heat. Inspired by gardening hothouses, they are little more than well-insulated boxes about the size of small suitcases that let solar heat in through a transparent top panel and use the captured heat to cook food in pots resting inside. They cook just about everything, using a "slow" heat that preserves flavor and moisture with little chance of burning or overcooking. With full, constant sunlight the interior temperatures and cooking times generally match those of conventional ovens. As a bonus, solar ovens can also pasteurize water -- very handy when those "boil drinking water" alerts come out. They can also quickly heat up freeze-dried food. Two models to consider are the lighter (10 lbs.) Sport Solar Oven manufactured by the non-profit Solar Oven Society and the Global Sun Oven, the undisputed "Webber" of solar ovens. Both will "run" for years on free fuel, making them ideal survival tools.

NOTE: Solar ovens are not only becoming popular as cost-saving, "green" and emergency cookers here in the States, they're also being sent overseas by the thousands to make life easier for impoverished families in the developing world. Interestingly, the ovens are also on the radar of hard-core survivalists who like the idea of cooking in their remote camps without giving off tell-tale smoke!

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PRELIMINARIES | WATER | FOOD | ENERGY