Sometimes, our crowd focuses a little bit too much on gear and equipment. However, the properties of different materials and their usefulness are often underappreciated. Take the importance of copper in prepping, for example.
Copper is a versatile metal with many uses, including in construction, electronics, and medicine. It is also an important survival resource.
It is an essential nutrient for the human body and helps to support a healthy immune system. Additionally, copper pipes can help to reduce the risk of some nasty bugs like the one causing Legionnaires’ disease, a serious lung infection that can be caused by bacteria in water.
When my kid was growing up, I asked my mom for a silver-lined spoon that had been in our family for decades. We used it to feed him, and he grew up quite healthy, indeed. Most of his colds were because of the contact with other toddlers in the daycare, but he did not get sick often, either. This is an example of the benefits of using metals.
Why is copper so useful?
Copper has many properties that make it valuable:
- Conductivity: Copper is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. This makes it useful for cooking, heating, and powering devices.
- Antimicrobial properties: Copper has natural antimicrobial properties that can kill bacteria and other microorganisms. This can help prevent the spread of disease in a survival situation. In my opinion, this is one of the most important properties.
Therefore, Copper is excellent to use for the following:
- Cooking: Copper pots and pans are good for cooking food over a campfire or other heat source. Copper is a good conductor of heat, which helps food to cook evenly. Safety measures wise, they will work for a long time as they don´t get too rusty with the stove flame. However, be very aware that copper will accumulate in the human body. If you’re going to use copper cookware make sure it is lined with stainless steel like this. It is best suited for low-heat applications.
- Heating: A copper pipeline can be used to make a coil to use even inside your stove or fireplace. There are plenty of great devices that are used to heat water that will naturally ascend for a pipeline to end in a tub for a bath.
Copper: A great ally (if used reasonably!)
We can’t know if our world will be one where survival depends on cunning and preparation in the future. Imagine if, for some reason, the grid water stops flowing. This metal, naturally occurring and easy to work with, becomes a powerful weapon against bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, providing a crucial advantage in extreme situations.
- Copper has a natural biocidal action, eliminating a wide range of microorganisms. Its mechanism of action is multiple, damaging the cell membrane of pathogens, altering their metabolism, and ultimately causing their death.
- Proven effectiveness
- Scientific studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of copper against bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Salmonella, responsible for gastrointestinal diseases and skin infections. This biocidal action has also been evident against viruses such as influenza A H1N1 and coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Mind you, the bacterial infections mentioned above are not exactly common in my country. But rest assured, they will experience an inevitable surge when sanitary conditions and access to medical attention and medicines deteriorate, no matter where you are.
Practical applications
Copper has various uses by homesteaders. Some ways to prevent disease and maintain a hygienic environment are:
- Water purification: Copper pipes or copper-infused filters can be used to remove bacteria and viruses from drinking water. I believe this is the easier way to go. The temporary (and strong emphasis on temporary) storage of drinking water in a copper vessel makes a lot of sense if one wants to lower the odds. However, there are some special considerations. As with many other metals, you need to be aware of the safe limits. Consuming water that has been stagnant in contact with a copper container for too much time can be harmful so be careful in this regard. As usual, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. I would rather drink three cups per day of Copper water, should a cholera outbreak someday happen to erupt, than risk it all with that nasty disease.
- Wound care: Copper-impregnated bandages or topical applications of copper ointments can speed healing and prevent infection in wounds.
Advantages of copper
There are many advantages to using copper.
Effectiveness
Eliminates a wide range of pathogens coming in contact with copper surfaces, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Accessibility
It is a relatively abundant metal and easy to find in nature.
Versatility
If the buses connecting the poles of your battery rack cells need replacing for some reason, or if you are looking to build one on the 
cheap, using a piece of copper pipe will be a permanent solution. This will be more detailed in Instructables available in the future, as this is a material universally available. A very interesting application is using pipe copper as buses between the poles of battery cells. I like this option better, as the properties like the alloy and the thin thickness used in the commercial lugs sometimes are not as good.
On the other hand, if you have done it previously with homemade buses you will never run out of these pieces as long as you have a length of pipe. Copper pipes are versatile and used for many plumbing applications, including hot and cold water lines, drainage systems, and radiant heating systems. They can also be easily bent and shaped, making them ideal for complex installations. Such flexibility allows plumbers to design and install plumbing systems that meet the specific needs of any building.
This is very convenient: maybe you want to wrap a few coils around (or even inside) the stove to always have warm water. There are plenty of possibilities. These pipes are visually attractive, too, and will add some value to kitchens or bathrooms and give them that classic, vintage look – or steampunk, whatever you prefer.
Durability
Copper pipes were standard for plumbing in residential and commercial buildings for decades. While newer materials like PVC plastics have emerged, copper still offers many advantages that make it a great choice for plumbing systems. Copper pipes are very durable and can last for several decades with proper maintenance. They are corrosion-resistant, which means they are less likely to leak or burst. The tubing conducting the cooking gas from the bottle to our stove at mom’s home has been there since I was a little boy. That means almost 50 years. They are a wise investment for homeowners who want to avoid costly repairs and replacements. I have never lived in cold climates, so please feel free to add value and correct me as much as you like (in a civilized manner, as usual, s’il vous plaît). If your main pipe is from some plastic and has burst because of freezing, I would bite the bullet and get a copper pipe. By doing it this way, with a redundant pipeline as an alternative to your PEX pipeline, you achieve a few extra goals:
- Improve the general reliability index of your water supply
- The value of your property will increase.
- You will have passed your main water supply through a biocide agent.
Reliability
Copper pipes are highly reliable and can withstand high water pressure and temperatures. This makes copper a dependable choice for plumbing systems that need to function consistently and efficiently. However, they can be susceptible to freezing and bursting if they are not insulated, which is especially important in colder climates.
Efficiency
Copper pipes are highly effective in transferring heat, which makes them ideal for hot water lines in systems where you can afford some heat transfer to the environment. They can transfer heat quickly and efficiently, reducing energy costs and providing consistently hot water throughout the home. Furthermore, copper pipes have a smooth surface on the inside, thus reducing friction and allowing for better water flow.
Sustainability
Copper is a sustainable material that can be recycled multiple times without losing quality. Copper pipes are naturally antimicrobial and won´t grow bacteria and mold inside, so they can be recycled. Currently, copper scrap has a very good market price in the industrial foundries that produce copper wires in the country.
Important warning about copper!
It is important to note that prolonged contact with copper can cause skin irritation. When handling copper objects, it is recommended that you wear gloves and avoid direct contact with your eyes and mucous membranes.
Copper is a natural ally for humans, offering an effective defense against pathogens in situations where hygiene and health are critical is a fundamental feature we should consider.
Mind you, all the uses of copper for medical purposes are widely documented. This information should not be used as the ultimate guide to a better life using copper. It is a mere guide, an introduction to what this element has to offer.
As a metallurgist, I have some more-than-average information about the effect of metals on the human body. Mind you, as a general rule, most metals are toxic. Do your research so everybody can sleep well.
For these and some other reasons, I believe that a few lengths of copper pipe are safe, at least in some parts.
It is a metal in short supply in Venezuela. There is a large shady market where foundries do not ask too much where all that scrap comes from.
However, it is unsure whether that size of business will continue to function in a total meltdown, which will make it less attractive to scavengers.
Read a lot and do your research about the safety of using this metal, but copper has been a good material for the applications mentioned above, and it will likely continue to be so in the future.
Keep safe, and stay tuned!
J.
Do you use copper?
Do you incorporate copper into your home, kitchen, and workshop? Have you used it successfully in any projects? Do you find it to be a useful metal? Do you have other uses that you could add?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
About Jose
Jose is an upper middle class professional. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities. He has an old but in good shape SUV, a good 150 square meters house in a nice neighborhood, in a small but (formerly) prosperous city with two middle size malls. Jose is a prepper and shares his eyewitness accounts and survival stories from the collapse of his beloved Venezuela. Jose and his younger kid are currently back in Venezuela, after the intention of setting up a new life in another country didn’t go well. The SARSCOV2 re-shaped the labor market and South American economy so he decided to give it a try to homestead in the mountains, and make a living as best as possible. But this time in his own land, and surrounded by family, friends and acquaintances, with all the gear and equipment collected, as the initial plan was.
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Yes, I use copper… I purchased a set of copper “silverware” from Thailand. So called “silverware” is almost always steel. True silver “silverware” is costly and tends to grow legs and walk off. A set of copper eating and serving utensils is much more attractive, as it does not need polishing, and it is anti-bacterial. Dinner guests are usually impressed as well.
Dear Kalbo,
My mother had a stomach lesion because of a viral infection of hellicobacter pillori. We deducted it was in some friends’ who invited us for dinner and the dishes were not properly cleaned up as we both got sick that night. I developed similar symptoms but much later than her for some reason and had to be treated too.
I’m sure this would not have happened with copper “silverware”.
And one of my plans for the near future is getting a couple of silver forks and spoons for me and kiddo.
Two thoughts
This is an incredible history of how copper was used in thousands of years of antiquity:
https://www.worldhistory.org/copper/
Despite the almost countless uses for copper … there are some exceptions. In our era of electricity … induction stoves have been introduced both as built-in models as well as portable models. One has to see if a magnet will stick firmly to the bottom of any proposed cookpot intended for use on such induction burners. If there’s no such sticking, that cookpot can’t be used there. That includes copper pots because the induction burner can’t induce the electric current needed in a copper pot to heat it up.
–Lewis
I use copper wire wrapped around wooden dowels in my veggie garden. I had read about using this method of electroculture last spring, and decided to give it a try. It really works!! My strawberry bed harvest was doubled from previous years, and most of my vegetable beds had higher yields than I was getting before. My lemon tree also doubled its harvest.
Also assists in repelling slugs that love strawberries. They won’t cross strips of it as it sets up an electrical current when they touch it. Copper is also important element in the construction of stills, it removes impurities from alcohol which is distilled from the fermentable liquids ie grain mash or fruit must.
One of our apple trees looked like it had died. My son wrapped a thick copper wire around a piece of wood and suck in the ground next to the tree. It worked! The tree is coming back to life! Now I want to put copper wrapped sticks next to all my trees!
Me too! When I first put them in my raised beds, in 2 weeks my garden growth doubled and some plants tripled in size. It was amazing! Now I have them everywhere in my yard.
Where does one buy this copper for the garden?? I have never heard of using copper as an antibacterial. I am familiar with silver use & use if often. Makes sense I guess.
That is so cool! I’ve been gardening for years and had never heard about that. Definitely looking into it!
Dear Red State Nana.
I’m very much pleased to see where this article took us!
That is the utmost interesting information I’ve seen in some time. I didn’t believe in those copper bracelets or rings but they definitely do something…
Copper and brass used to be found in all doorknobs and door hardware in hospitals, schools, and most homes. In this capacity it served as a daily hand sanitizer. If someone were to look at when copper was replaced with stainless steel and when the there was an increase in bacterial spread my guess is that they would find a correlation.
If you can, replace doorknobs, faucet handles and the like with copper ones and get the benefit of passive protection.
Thank you for that most interesting observation.
As it is, I clean the most used door knobs, light switches and fridge door every Thursday, Field Day.
Dear AtTheReady,
You’re right. This arised again back in 2020, indeed. My own kid mentioned it after watching it in a YT video.
I have one correction: Legionnaire’s disease is usually caused by water contamination from cooling towers not protected against backflow. It got its name from a meeting where the registration was being held and the Legionella contaminated air was blowing directly on the people. Since that occurrence, most water purveyors/city codes depts have implemented strict backflow prevention requirements for cooling towers.
Dear Monkeygirl,
Thanks! Additional information is always useful.
The legionella is present in all surface water just like anthrax is present in soil all over the world.
Legionella came to the public eye because a cooling tower that did not have proper water treatment was located next to the intake of the air condition system, where an American Legion meeting was taking place.
The bacteria overloaded the respiratory tracks of the mostly senior citizens in attendance.
When cooling towers are not properly maintained or the water chemistry gets out of whack causes foaming. There is carryover, which is a mist of water droplets that exit the tower with the cooling air.
Backflow is not the issue.
The issue is lack of chemicals, specifically a biocide in the water and keeping the cooling tower clean.
Dust, pollen, leaves, and other debris building up in the corners will not be properly treated by the biocide.
Another thing that is done with cooling towers is regular blowdown.
This is where water is drained away in a controlled matter, and freshwater added to maintain a certain dissolved solids concentration in the water.
Historically, copper teapots and many copper pans were plated on the inside with tin (pewter) because the copper got too strong in water. Everyday utensils, mugs and plates were usually made of pewter. The problem with pewter is that it melts at fairly low temperatures. Copper bottom pans use the copper to distribute the heat from cooking, but the real pan is usually made of stainless steel.
Uninsulated copper wire can be bought at most lumber stores that also sell lighting, appliances and other electrical tools. The last time I bought some was at a Home Depot, but I have found it in other big box lumber stores.
In working copper, the more one bends it or hammers it, the harder it gets. Oetzi the iceman found in the Alps had a copper ax that was almost as hard as steel. The way to soften it so that it can be worked again is to heat it up to red hot, then quench it quickly, after which it can be worked or hammered again to shape it further. It will get hard again.
Great for building 2M J-pole antennas and some other antennas.
Last fall we had to locate a leak in my wife’s uncles house. Upon inspection we found that the sheet rock had to come down in two separate places in two rooms. Once it was opened up we found the plumbing was done in copper pipe and the leaks were coming from 2 ninety degree elbows. The house was built sometime in the early eighties. The water is from a city water system. What I don’t know is if this was just years of corrosion from the water that is treated or is normal from water and age. Any thoughts?
Dear Oldtimer, if the water is too hard, sometimes scale can be formed and then a phenomenon known as “corrosion under deposits”. As much as I hate acknowledge it, the early 80s were 45-ish years ago. LOL. More than enough for corrosion making it to a thin layer of a few mm of metal.
Be safe!
A lot of information about how important copper is to the body and all kind of ways how to get it in a caveat near the end to wear gloves if you’re going to handle it a lot
How much is a lot? What is the dosage required? What are the symptoms of a deficiency and what are the symptoms of an overdose?
I might’ve missed it, but I didn’t see food that provide high levels of copper.
I’ve never worried about getting enough copper, but I do have a 364 silver dime that I keep in the car and suck on while I’m driving.
Silver can be a problem in too high a dosage as well and I believe that’s where we get the term bluebloods because they had so much cooking and tableware are made of silver believe the symptom of an overdose is your skin begins the term blue.