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Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

A practical guide to what matters across CDDA’s scavenging, crafting, equipment, and specialist systems.

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potassium lye

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A liquid form of potassium hydroxide. It is highly corrosive; handle with care.

2 recipes

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quicklime

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The product of burning limestone, this white powder is a crucial ingredient in making cement. That said, it is also extremely caustic and will cause severe burns to any tissue it comes in contact with. This property could probably be exploited.

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RDX

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Several off-white crystals of RDX, or hexogen: a military-grade, shelf-stable high explosive. Can be cast into shaped charges, or mixed with scrap to pepper the blast area with high-velocity shrapnel.

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red phosphorous

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An allotrope of the element phosphorous. It's what you use to light matches, but can also be used in the synthesis of methamphetamine. You could use it to make bombs, and if you were truly desperate you might even be able to use it in small portions as a propellant for bullets.

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rosin

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A chunk of yellowish rosin, usable as a flux for soldering.

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salt water

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Water with salt added. Not good for drinking.

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saltpeter

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A handful of saltpeter. Sometimes used as a fertilizer, this ubiquitous nitrate is the principal constituent of black gunpowder and simple rocket propellants, such as rocket candy.

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slaked lime

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A handful of slaked lime, a white odorless powder with many uses. Also known as calcium hydroxide.

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soap bar

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A cleansing agent shaped into a bar.

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soap flakes

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A handful of flakes shaved off a bar of soap, suitable for use in a washing machine.

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soapy water

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Water with soap added. Not good for drinking.

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sodium

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A chunk of sodium, a highly reactive soft gray metal, immersed in anhydrous mineral oil to prevent it from oxidizing in the air during storage.

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sulfur

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A handful of pure sulfur. Primarily used to make battery acid, sulfur is sometimes used as fuel for explosives. Can be burned to produce acidic smoke that is deadly to bacteria and humans alike, or oxidized to make paper-bleaching agents. It also serves as a basis for many kinds of fungicide.

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sulfuric acid

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Sulfuric acid: viscous, foul-smelling and extremely corrosive, particularly to organic matter and evil clowns. Although used to prepare a number of chemicals, it is mostly known as battery acid, due to its widest commercial application.

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tainted tallow

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A smooth grayish block of cleaned and rendered monster fat. It will remain 'fresh' for a very long time, and can be used as an ingredient in many projects. You could eat it, but it will poison you.

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thermite

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A handful of silvery-greenish powder, produced by mixing aluminum and chromium oxide. This mixture, burning at a constant pace and at extremely high temperature, was once used for on-the-spot welding. Can be used as an incendiary material in a pinch.

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toluene

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A colorless, toxic, and highly flammable liquid which smells like paint thinner. It's predominantly used as an industrial feedstock and a solvent, and is also used as an intoxicative inhalant in a manner unintended by manufacturers.

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turpentine

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Oil of turpentine, distilled from pine resin or crude oil.

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washing soda

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A handful of white, odorless, hygroscopic powder. Often used as a cleansing agent and for glass manufacturing, among other things. Also known as sodium carbonate or soda ash.

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water purification tablet

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Intended for the clarification and disinfection of unsafe drinking water while camping or traveling, this sodium dichloroisocyanurate-based purification tablet removes dangerous contaminants using powerful chemicals. The label says to use one tablet per liter (4 units of water).

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white phosphorous

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An allotrope of the element phosphorous. Extremely flammable, produces toxic smoke, you can use it to make smoke bombs.

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wood ashes

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A handful of almost-weightless residue left after the burning of some substance.

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zinc powder

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A handful of zinc powder. While commercially used mostly in cosmetics and for paints, hobbyists used to mix it with sulfur to make basic rocket fuel or a smokescreen. When treated with a strong acid, it will produce hydrogen.

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acetylene

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A flammable gas that explodes under pressure. Combined with oxygen, acetylene makes a great welding gas.

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acrylamide

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A handful of highly carcinogenic white powder that can be readily polymerized into a whole bunch of useful water-soluble gels.

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agar

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Clear flakes of processed seaweed that can be dissolved in boiling water to create a very sturdy, temperature-resistant gel. Not only is it good for making gels to separate molecules by size, but it's a great cheat ingredient to make sure your jellies set properly.

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ammonia solution

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Ammonium hydroxide, a common household cleaning agent.

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antimony trichloride

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A handful of soft, colorless powder with a sharp pungent odor, also known as butter of antimony. It's a catalyst for polymerization, hydrocracking, and chlorination reactions, and has some other niche uses.

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artillery propellant

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Single base smokeless gunpowder intended for use in artillery propelling charges.

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baking soda

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A handful of white, odorless powder with a slightly salty alkaline taste. Often used in baking as a leavening agent, and has many other niche uses. Also known as sodium bicarbonate.

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bee venom gland

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A fragile, slightly quivering organ for the production and storage of honeybee venom. You could extract some very useful chemicals from it with the right know-how, but only if you hurry.

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benzene

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A colorless, highly flammable liquid with a sweet odor, one of the elementary petrochemicals. Being used primarily as a precursor to the manufacture of chemicals with more complex structure, it's a major industrial chemical, but finds limited use in consumer items because of its toxicity.

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biogas

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Biogas gathered from anaerobic digester system, can be used in biogas cooker.

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bird litter

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Bird droppings, feathers, and soiled bits of rubbish.

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chromium oxide

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A handful of chromium oxide. This substance, typically known as the only stable green pigment for paints, is also a mild oxidizer, which can be mixed with aluminum powder to make thermite for welding. If one had access to a CVD machine and a laboratory worth of reagents, they might be able to produce very durable ceramic layers.

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chunk of sulfur

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A chunk of pure sulfur. Break it up to use it.

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cloth dye powder

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A handful of powdered colorful cloth dye, which can be used to dye many fabrics if combined with water and some mordant.

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composition B

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Composition B is an explosive consisting of castable mixtures of RDX and TNT. It is used as the main explosive filling in artillery projectiles, rockets, land mines, hand grenades, and various other munitions.

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corpse ashes

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The burnt remains of a person or animal.

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cow pie

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A fresh cow pie; this could probably be used to make some great fertilizer.

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denatured alcohol

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A high-strength ethanol solution mixed with denatonium benzoate to make it impossibly bitter to drink, so as to avoid pre-apocalyptic regulations on ethanol. Intended for use in alcohol-burning stoves and as a solvent.

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detergent

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A popular pre-Cataclysm washing powder.

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dimethyl sulfoxide

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Dimethyl sulfoxide, or DMSO, is a common and important aprotic solvent, capable of dissolving a huge range of things. It has the unusual property of being absorbed very quickly through the skin, causing a garlic flavor in the mouth, even if it touched your arm.

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dog dung

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Droppings from a canine.

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ethanol

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Extremely pure alcohol suitable for use as a component in chemical reactions. You could also water it down and drink it, or use it as fuel in an alcohol-burning stove.

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ether

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A useful industrial solvent, and the first inhalative anesthetic in widespread use. Its uncomfortable side effects and tendency to explode caused it to fall out of favor decades ago in the developed world. If you can't get the good stuff, however, it might make a passable substitute.

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exodii ceramic patch

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A patch kit produced by the Exodii for repairing their nanotube-infused ceramics. Requires a kiln.

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extinguishing agent

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A dry chemical solution effective at extinguishing fires.

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