Being Self-sufficient is no longer a Pipe Dream it is doable, and it is now more than ever a necessity
Today America has virtually lost its ability to support itself. The infrastructure that made America the most powerful nation on earth has been eroded away to almost nothing.
What Most People Think About
Perhaps you want to blame it on the government’s one-way trade agreements that enrich everyone except the American citizenry. You might think it is due to corporate greed that only looks at its bottom line and outsources its job to 3rd world nations that pay workers a pittance that keeps them in abject poverty.
It might also be due to predatory world powers that want to undermine our markets and through economic Means of currency manipulation and dumping of inferior goods on our shores.
Maybe the real problem is that Americans don’t take charge of their own lives and want something for nothing and someone else to do things for them while they watch their Big Screen Plasmas and want to hire someone else to do the work.
Those of you who read articles like this one are different. You are tired of that feeling of helplessness, and you want to take control of your life.
That is the reason we write these articles. So, that you can gain the knowledge and skills to stand up on your own two feet, handle your own affairs without interference, and carve out a niche for you and your family to enjoy a happy life.
To that end, we are going to address an area that can impact your comfort and the well-being of your family.
That being leaks in your home, your outdoor gear, and for those DIY structures, you are building to help you survive if the SHTF, which is becoming a looming possibility with crazy weather and those who want to destroy your way of life.
The Problem?
Anything built by man has problems with the elements. Waterfalls from the sky in the form of rain, snow, and pollution. Water and pollution combine to create Acid Rain and is the most corrosive thing in the environment today that speeds the destruction of homes, property, and the health of the environment you live in.
Even the Great Pyramid of Giza is eroding away at an unprecedented rate in the last two decades alone than from the previous 2,000 years. The monuments of Greece and Rome are dissolving away as well. It is estimated that in just a few more decades they will be no longer recognizable anymore.
Your home, its structures, and surrounding property are made of less enduring materials. Because of this, the damage caused by the elements. It can cost you untold grief, hardship, and cash if you need to repair a roof that’s leaking or other damage to the underplaying structure of your home in the form of cracks in the foundation and supporting materials that make up your walls could all render your house unlivable.
When you are out in the wild, a leaky tent can ruin a holiday outing. So, you can imagine what it would do to live in your home.
If you’re trying to build a retirement home or a Prepper Shelter on a parcel of land to get away from it all, your hard work and the food, goods, and mementos you are storing away could be ruined in a short period of time if moisture is introduced into the world you are building.
The solution is simple… Flex Seal everything
Flex Seal it watertight. Many of you, who read these articles, you know the benefits of Pine Tar; pitch made from tree sap, and resins.
All of these things can help you keep the inside of a shelter in the wild snug and dry. However, to protect things, even more, we need to put a barrier between what you want to protect that can do this and be able to adapt to changes in the environment.
The earth shifts, slides, and sinks. Water tables are dropping, Fracking is occurring with more frequency, and the earth itself decides for whatever reason to move about.
This means you need a substance that can stretch and shift with the world to prevent gaps that can allow water or other liquids to move from the outside to inside or from where they are being stored or channeled to take alternative courses that are detrimental to your comfort.
Such a product exists today, and its name is Flex Seal. It comes in a liquid, spray, and tape on sealant that once in place and cured you can paint to match its surroundings. What’s more, it can be used on a variety of surfaces.
Benefits of Flex Seal
- First Flex Seal is a sealer. It comes in a number of forms. This gives you a number of advantages. There is no lengthy prep time to get the product ready to use. With Pine Tar, you need to harvest the wood after identifying the pieces that have the most resin creating a fire, collecting the Pine Tar, and then changing it into the pitch. Then come the application and curing.
- Flex Seal, on the other hand, comes ready to go. This saves you the hours you spend doing the steps to creating a sealer like The Finnish sealer used for guns and wood products, which is made of Beeswax, Natural Turpentine, and Pine Tar.
- You have a rubber sealant that in a few coats that apply evenly and leaves a smooth surface behind. Flex Seal comes in a variety of primary colors and a special Bright White formulation that is suitable for being painted in colors that match its background. But, Flex Seal’s best selling point is that is sticks to any surface and provides a tight seal.
- This means it can be used in a plethora of applications and different venues. Giving you the precut tool to block water’s inroads inside vehicles, houses, and containers along with tubing, piping.
Uses of Flex Seal
Below are just a few applications of Flex Seal with being roof leaks topping the list.
- By working inside your attic, you can seal a leak inside first and then go topside and do the same on the roof proper on the shingles. It works well sealing the eves as well. You can also use the product on your gutter work as well. This then prevents water from going where you do not want and possibly eroding the topsoil of your yard and creating gaps in walls and foundations.
- Speaking of that if you have a cracked foundation if will seal it along with chimneys and flues. After you have done that, you might want to survey your home and check the house’s downspouts and give their joints a once over with Flex Seal as well.
- In the summer, your AC takes a beating and plastic cracks over time, and instead of replacing your drip tray use Flex Seal to keep things going until you can replace it. But, your home is not the only place Flex Seal comes in handy. Just before you go camping seal your tents so if it rains while you are in the field you will stay snug, warm, and dry.
- Make sure if you have a tent that has a floor you go over the seams as well. However, don’t stop there as often when in the Field punctures to the flooring can occur, and Having Flex Seal along can prevent you from waking up in a soggy tent.
What’s More
For the boaters among us, Flex Seal can keep your boat from taking on water and sinking. Go over the bilges of your cab cruiser and the bottom of your smaller bass boat and water ski and fish to your heart’s content.
They say getting there is have the fun and making sure your RV and camper trailer are sealed to prevent bugs and water from getting inside before you start out on your next trip and just before you store them up for winter you can seal everything up tight for the winter months.
For the Prepper you can go over your stash and seal the area watertight before you close it up. It is also safe for food storage sheds and ideal for the windows in your home, garage, and DIY Shelter or cabin.
Drainpipes in your basement often spring a leak. You can seal a leak in a metal pipe and then you can make a permanent repair or have a plumber come in later to do it for you.
Hoses can be sealed tight after you apply some Teflon tape to hold the pressure and Flex Seal does the rest or you can for “Emergency patching” that has to be done “NOW” you can use the companion product also made by Flex Seal as well.
This is the perfect product, which goes hand and hand with Flex Seal spray on for use with PVC Piping and ductwork.
Hidden chinks in your Bug Out Shelter can be sealed against the elements and you can apply it over a wooden gunstock just before going outdoors in a harsh environment to protect it from wet and being slippery.
Pros
- It goes on fast and easy.
- Seals floors, windows, and even Bay Windows weather tight.
- Prevents drafts in hard to get at places.
- Planters and window boxes stop leaking where you don’t want them to.
- Comes now it comes in a liquid form.
- The tape goes on fast and hits the spot right on.
- Used the liquid version on my tools and they don’t slip or slide while I work.
Cons
- With the spray-on the version, you need to be careful with pressurized hoses, PVC, and pipes. You need to use a pressure resistance tape or Flex Seal Tape. Then you can use Flex Seal Spray on will add additional sealing.
- If you see the boat demo do not fall for the hype. Use the liquid version and you can get a rubberized boat bottom that can do the job.
- The liquid version has a limited number of colors is limited.
- The liquid version attracts lint. But it wipes off.
Who Can Use Flex Seal?
This is the perfect add-on to a homeowner’s arsenal DIY home repairs. The spraying is useful for quick work and the other two products provide a more permanent solution. For the campers and hikers here you have a great solution to that leaky tent that has been driving you batty. It worked on tarps as well, so this who are minimalist who likes to rough can build any one of over 25 survival shelters with just a piece of 10 X 10 tarp material. (See our article on Tarp Tents)
So, for these people, they now have the means to be comfortable out of doors and not fear getting wet.
But, for those who are into preparedness. Flex Seal can seal the floor of an underground food cache where you have stored canned, dry, and pickled produce. It becomes a self-contained Prepper’s pantry where some are even now eating from the front and stocking from the back in order to have a buffer against costs, weather, and economic hardship. Having a year or more worth of food gives peace of mind in these harsh times we are living in.
So, you see Flex Seal is many things to many people and those of you reading today are probably one of them in a number of categories.
Final Analysis
This reviewer prefers to do a thing in an old-fashioned way. Rediscovering skills like making drinking cups from leather and using Pine Tar as well as various ways to make fire are just a few of the things that we have learned along the way together.
However, this writer is no fool. If there is a solution out there, that makes sense. He is the first one to embrace it until something better comes along. Let’s face it with the thousands of people who need to seal secure cases and food supplies there is only so much pitch or tar you can make in your free time.
Instead, take advantage of the current technology while it is there and use it until the SHTF. Then you are ready to fall back onto the survival skills you have learned. Flex Seal may not be everything it is hyped up to be. (Nothing ever is) Nevertheless, with the proper application it can be used to fortify, simplify, and secure your family’s safety, security, and comfort.
Which is all one can ask of anything.
