Waterproof Your Survival Stuff!

In a survival situation, getting wet and cold can mean the difference between life and death. If you've watched any of the survival reality shows, you've seen some of the people suffer miserably from the cold temperatures. I don't want that to be me!

Waterproofing your stuff before a survival situation is essential!

This waterproofing wax (sometimes called oilskin, tin cloth or barbour wax) recipe is the perfect solution to treat your canvas, cotton, denim, duck cloth, boots, leather and wood items!

You'll find many recipes to make this stuff. I spent a bit of time researching, and found what I believe to be the best overall solution.

Here's a thought comparison...there are many different recipes for making an apple pie. People like to tweak the ingredients to make it their own. You will also find that people have tweaked the waterproofing recipe too, so if you do research on your own, you'll find many variants to making the mixture.

The mix ratio for the recipe I'll show you is 2:1:1 for beeswax to boiled linseed oil to turpentine.

For example, if you have 1 pound (or 16 ounces) of beeswax, you will need 8 ounces each of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. You can make as much or as little as you'd like.

For this project we will use the following:

1. Natural Beeswax (1 pound or 16 oz block), which is fairly easy to find. The best source is from a local beekeeper if you have one in your area. Otherwise, you can find it at hobby stores (e.g., Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc.), or online (e.g., Amazon, eBay, etc.).

2. Boiled Linseed Oil (8 oz) found in hardware stores (e.g., Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.)

TIP: Make sure you choose BOILED linseed oil, not RAW linseed oil.

3. 100% Turpentine (8 oz) also found in hardware stores

4. Burner, hot plate or stove...I'll be using a Coleman stove

5. Measuring cup

6. Double Boiler System which sounds difficult, but is simply two pots...one to boil water in and the second to sit inside that pot in order to melt the ingredients and keep the wax from burning. The pot you use to melt the ingredients must be big enough to hold all the ingredients when they are mixed.

TIP: For the second pot, you can use a large coffee can or a new empty one gallon paint can with a lid from the hardware store

7. Containers to pour the mixture into when finished

8. Hair Dryer or Heat Gun

The ingredients you are using are flammable! Keep them away from open flames. Do not smoke while doing this project!

Be careful! Be safe! If possible, have a fire extinguisher nearby...it's better to be safe than sorry!

Do the work outside in fresh air!

Be aware that this stuff will turn your material darker.

And finally, this stuff stinks! It must air out for several days for the smell to evaporate.

1. Set up your heating system...for example, a burner, hot plate or coleman stove.

2. Add water to the larger pot and place it on the burner to boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Keep in mind that you will be adding the smaller pot with all the ingredients, so you don't want the water to overflow.

REMINDER: Do this outside and away from open flames since the ingredients are flammable!

1. Beeswax: It's easier and quicker to melt the beeswax if you chop it up or cut it into slivers. Add the shavings and small chunks to the pot. Let it melt down slowly and stir occasionally. The melt time could take up to an hour!

2. Once the beeswax is melted, reduce the heat to low and slowly add the boiled linseed oil. Gently stir. This will darken the mixture. The boiled linseed oil will polymerize or harden when exposed to the outdoors air.

NOTE: Linseed oil generates heat as it begins to dry, so when you're ready to throw out the rags or brushes you used, keep them outdoors to dry first. You really don't want them to spontaneously combust and burn down your house or shop!

3. Slowly add the turpentine. Gently stir.

NOTE: The turpentine is used to cut the linseed oil. It would not penetrate the material fibers as well and would take forever to cure.

4. Remove from the heat.

5. Stir for a few minutes to insure it's thoroughly mixed.

6. You can either use the waterproofing stuff right away or pour it into the containers and let it sit overnight to set up.

7. If you choose to use it later, pour it into the containers for storage. You can pour a bit of it into smaller containers (e.g., Altoid tins) to give away as gifts or to put in your survival bag.

1. Allow the waterproofing stuff to cool a bit so you don't burn yourself.

2. Use a sponge to work the stuff into the material.

3. Keep it warm so it won't harden while you're working.

4. If your item you're waterproofing has pockets, be sure to wax the inside.

5. Wipe off any excess with a cloth.

6. Leave it to dry overnight.

Cover your container to protect it from debris falling into it while it sets. I used a cooking screen, but foil will work just as well. After setting up overnight, the stuff should have a paste-like consistency.

1. Use a rag or your hands to spread a thin layer over your material.

2. Take extra care to insure you get the waterproofing stuff into the seams and stitching.

3. Use a hair dryer or heat gun to go over the material to melt the wax so it penetrates into the fibers of the material.

4. Hang your item up in the garage or outdoors to let it dry and air out for several days.

You can always double-check the waterproofedness (I think I just made up that word) by dripping some water over it. The water will bead and run right off! There you go!

Note: If you are applying to wood, such as a garden tool, axe or tomahawk handle, lightly sand the handle down first; then wipe it down with a warm damp cloth to smooth down the fibers.

TRADITIONAL:

1. Natural Beeswax - 1 pound (or 16 ounces)

2. 100% Turpentine - 8 ounces

3. Boiled Linseed Oil - 8 ounces

4. Pine Tar - 1 ounce

TIP: Pine Tar is more for darkening the color and adds mildew resistance

TIN CLOTH:

1. Natural Beeswax - 1 pound (or 16 ounces)

2. Linseed Oil - 2 quarts

3. Pine Tar - 1/2 cup

4. Orange Oil (Optional) - 1/2 cup

BASIC TRADITIONAL OILCLOTH:

50-50 mix of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. Again, ventilation is important! You'll need to work outdoors and keep your item outdoors until the turpentine dries and airs out. This could take up to two weeks. It's important to make sure it completely dries out or it will stick together in hot weather. Once it dries, you can use powder or talc powder to reduce sticking.

OILSKINS OR TIN CLOTH: Into a new empty gallon paint can, add

1. Raw Linseed Oil - 1 quart

2. Turpentine - "a little" to thin the linseed oil

3. Shaved Beeswax - 2-3 pounds, and then melt all

4. Pine Tar - 1/2 cup

5. Add more Raw Linseed Oil until the mixture is 2" from the top of the can

6. Add Orange Oil for fragrance

In response to some of the questions, suggestions, and comments, I'll attempt to continue answering or providing additional information. If you read through the comments section of this Instructable, you'll see that many people have added their tried and true recipes that they swear by. I welcome these comments and appreciate the efforts expended by these readers to provide the additional information. Thank you all for that! This is the "apple pie thought comparison" I spoke of at the beginning of the Instructable. When I wrote this, I took into consideration (1) simplicity of the concoction and (2) ingredients that seemed to appear most often in my research. As noted in the previous step, there are MANY recipes!

As a side note, you might notice that I tweaked a few of the words! Mea culpa! My face is broiling red! If anyone finds any more typos or grammatical errors, I'll claim it's the "odd bead!"

In response to some of the questions asked:

1. How does this feel?

The feel is stiff, kind of rubbery and has a shiny-matt-wet look...not sticky.

2. Can I use this recipe on jeans that I was still planning on wearing?

I wouldn't wear them, but from what I understand, there are people that wax their jeans to get a leatherette look. If it was me, I'd use plain wax if that's the look you're going for...Google or visit YouTube and search "wax jeans" for more information.

3. Did you make that jean sack? Can you please add a picture of the bottom. I want to make it. It looks great and very handy.

See the new step added...

1. Find an old pair of jeans that you're willing to give up and cut off the portion you'll use for your bag...the type of jeans and height of the bag is up to you! Mine was approximately 14" long to allow for a 2" hem at the top. Keep in mind you want the widest part of the jeans leg (unless you want a skinny bag).

2. Measure the diameter of the end of the jeans leg and cut out that same diameter in your leather...I used 4-5 oz leather.

3. Turn your jeans leg inside out and match up the leather circle to the end of it.

TIP: Keep in mind that the jeans leg is inside out, so you want to make sure that the side of the leather that you want showing at the bottom of your bag when you're finished, should be facing inside...

4. Sew the circle to the jeans leg. Let's call it a bag now...

5. Turn down a 2" hem at the top of the bag.

6. Most hardware stores sell grommets with a setter and mini anvil for tarps/tarp repair. I used eight grommets, evenly spaced. Make the holes and add the grommets.

TIP: Note that the number of grommets used must be an even number in order for the lacing to come out even (you don't want one end of the lace ending on the outside of the bag and the other on the inside).

7. Add your lace. I used leather lacing...550 paracord will work just as well.

8. Start at the beginning of this Instructable and waterproof your masterpiece!