Ice melt is very valuable in areas that experience cold winters. So in addition to the supply of calcium chloride that you will use to keep your home or bugout shelter from freezing, gather a separate stock for trading with people who didn't think to stock up on ice melt.
As its name implies, calcium chloride contains calcium, an important mineral required by the body that can only be gained from food. This salt can be used as a supplement if you are short on foods that naturally contain calcium.
While calcium chloride is safe for consumption by humans, you must add the right amount of the stuff to your food. The NHI's Office of Dietary Supplements has a table of the Food and Nutrition Board's recommended dietary allowances of calcium for people of various ages and conditions. (Related: Making medicine after a disaster: North American’s top medicinal plants.)
Add calcium chloride to your canned food, electrolyte mixes, and home-made cheese
Speaking of consuming calcium chloride, the salt is also used as a food additive to give a salty taste without causing the high blood pressure that comes with high sodium levels. If you know how to can and preserve food, you can add calcium chloride to the process, thereby improving the taste and the nutritional value of the canned food.
Calcium chloride can serve as a source of electrolytes that prevent dehydration and keep salt levels up. Several sports drinks use it instead for much the same reason food makers use it in food products with "less salt," salt here being sodium chloride that can cause high blood pressure.
You can make an electrolyte mix for your bugout bag in case you have to bug out during hot weather. Combine calcium chloride with other electrolytes to improve the effectiveness of your electrolyte mix. Magnesium is one such electrolyte mineral that works well with calcium chloride.
The salt is also used in cheese making. Calcium chloride absorbs the moisture in milk curds, which lets the curds bind into a solid mass that cheese makers can turn into different kinds of products. People who make cheese at homes, artisan cheese makers, and commercial cheese companies all use calcium chloride to improve their products.
Using calcium chloride to protect your supplies and survival gear
Finally, calcium chloride's ability to absorb moisture makes it an excellent dessicant. Dessicants are invaluable for long-term storage of potentially degradable materials.
Pantries, survival caches, and safes will be much more efficient at preserving their contents if they also contain desiccants. The food, guns, ammunition, and other items in these storage spaces are vital to a prepper's survival and success, so they need the best possible protection from moisture.
Desiccants should also be placed inside bugout bags and other portable containers. Preppers are likely to touch those bags only when they need them or when they want to check on the contents. A desiccant-like calcium chloride can help protect the valuable supplies inside those bags.
In summary, calcium chloride is a very useful compound that can preserve items and help maintain healthy bodily functions. Preppers are advised to stockpile as much of the salt as they can, even if they don't live in an area with freezing winters.
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