Black Powder from Literally Nothing. Part 1

Will the American Dollar fail? Hope not. But if it does, it may not recover for a long time. If that happens, chaos will ensue. And you may not be able to get ammo anymore.

If this happens, how will you protect yourself? The answer, is black powder weapons.

But how do you make black powder from literally nothing? Make the ingredients first.

Saltpeter. One of the three ingredients of Black Powder. Easily attained, but requires a little work.

First, you will need manure, or fertilizer. Large quantities are good.

Then, green plants, dirt, and wood ash. Potato leaves contain a lot of potassium, and are good for the mix. Mix all of these ingredients together to make a salt peter bed. The pile should be about half manure and about 6 to 7 feet tall. Also, it must be placed on something like a piece of plywood to keep the saltpeter from soaking into the ground.

Cover your bed with a tarp suspended over it. You can use cinder blocks or a shed wall to do this.

Next, you pour Lant, or stale urine, over your pile. This should be done at least once a week, until yellow crystals appear. This is what you want. Once the yellow crystals appear, stop pouring the lant on the pile, and wait for the crystals to get to 6-10 millimeters thick.

Collect the crystals and save as these crystals are saltpeter. The pile will create more for a while, and when it stops, filter the pile using the following technique, then replace the pile.

In order to filter the rest of the saltpeter out of the pile, make a filter by poking holes in the bottom of a five gallon bucket, and covering the holes with cotton cloth. Cover the cotton with about 1/2" of fine wood ash, then cover the ash with another cotton cloth. DO NOT USE A CHARCOAL FILTER, IT WILL REMOVE THE SALTPETER.

Fill the bucket with dirt from the heap, while boiling 2 gallons of water. Place a pan underneath the bucket, and pour the boiling water into the filter.

Let the water drain into the pan, and pour the contents through a paper filter, such as a coffee filter. Boil some of the water off, and then put the water into black containers.

Once the water evaporates, viola, saltpeter.