What did you do today to prep?

[Brutus57]

Pipes broke today.....landlord said 3 months ago he was going to build a box over them where they come in the house. I went out a few days ago and wrapped them with an old OD army blanket, but alas it failed. Landlord apologized, fixed and built box all today. Pretty sure not what he had planned to do today. I'd already got my shower and headed to work. Wife was not happy though. It hadn't really got all that cold here (upper 20s) and wind from north, not south side of house where pipes were so was a bit surprised they broke after being wrapped with the wool blanket.

Damn, the Broughton Flume caught fire?

Brutus Out

 

[JackThompson]

Lost power for about 18 hours between yesterday and today.

Generac Generator (5,000 watt) failed me.. worked on it for hours and it seems to be the carb. More work iwll be needed.

Went into town and picked up a nice 2000 watt Honda inverter generator for the well pump. I don't mind losing power, but losing water sucks.

Picked up 2 boxes of 5.56 and 2 boxes of 7.63x39 while I was getting the generator.

 

[erudne]

Lost power for about 18 hours between yesterday and today.

Generac Generator (5,000 watt) failed me.. worked on it for hours and it seems to be the carb. More work iwll be needed.

Went into town and picked up a nice 2000 watt Honda inverter generator for the well pump. I don't mind losing power, but losing water sucks.

Picked up 2 boxes of 5.56 and 2 boxes of 7.63x39 while I was getting the generator.

I suggest you only run pure gasoline in your genny
automotive gasoline has alcohol in it which can ruin plastic fuel lines and rubber gaskets!

 

[JackThompson]

I suggest you only run pure gasoline in your genny
automotive gasoline has alcohol in it which can ruin plastic fuel lines and rubber gaskets!

Yep. Found 2 gas stations nearby that sell Ethanol free Super Unleaded.

Filled up my generators and 5 5gallon cans with it

I've already had to replace 2 carbs this year (Chain saw and Brush hog) due to ethanol turning into gummy bears in my engines...

I've gone through and replaced all my fuels with it, and supplemented with Sta-Bil as well for all of them. (Well, except for the ATV.. I need to just run the gas out on that and I'll switch to Ethanol free there too.)

Once I'm done I'll pretty much only be running soda-pop gas in my daily driver..

 

[erudne]

Always a day late etc. due to the fallen tree and need to mitigate the hazards from the other trees at #2 I was caught short dealing with the drop in temperatures this week.
I finally got to the green house, all tomatoes were frozen, I'll use them in tomato soup.
@ 22 Degrees today, light wind from NE. Humidity is very low.
It started to snow around 9AM, just fine powder snow, very little accumulation at 12 PM.
Stared to winterize the house. tested all suspicious batteries and dumped a dozen bad ones, placed battery powered lights around house, JIC of a power outage.
Disconnected garden hoses (day late but no pipes froze).
Stock tank heater is working but the barn's water stanchion is plugged w/ ice, despite heater tape and insulation, so I'll haul water tomorrow and use heat gun on stanchion.
Some of my fluorescent shop lights failed due to the cold so they need replacing soon.
Switching from pine to fir for fire wood as it burns longer.
Wood stove and propane kitchen range ease worries about power outages, I can heat water for baths and dishes, if needed.
Still sore from yesterday's follies.

 

[erudne]

Yep. Found 2 gas stations nearby that sell Ethanol free Super Unleaded.

Filled up my generators and 5 5gallon cans with it

I've already had to replace 2 carbs this year (Chain saw and Brush hog) due to ethanol turning into gummy bears in my engines...

I've gone through and replaced all my fuels with it, and supplemented with Sta-Bil as well for all of them. (Well, except for the ATV.. I need to just run the gas out on that and I'll switch to Ethanol free there too.)

Once I'm done I'll pretty much only be running soda-pop gas in my daily driver..

What do you pay for your gas?

 

[JackThompson]

For the Ethanol free Super? Just under $4 per gallon..

 

[erudne]

For the Ethanol free Super? Just under $4 per gallon..

I was paying $5!

 

[erudne]

Some truly bizarre wind conditions at work today:
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=-106.90,47.37,1418

 

[The Heretic]

I stayed home and built a fire rather than deal with the prediction of it being a mess out there today. That prediction fizzled - but it is pretty icy where I am at on the mountain so it was probably good that I stayed home anyway. If I could have gotten down I might not have gotten back up home until tomorrow.

Got two 10/22s - one on Saturday (International - Mannlicher stock), one yesterday (stainless takedown).

I need to get some more rimfire ammo I guess. Not sure when it is going to get back down to a reasonable price.

 

[erudne]

I stayed home and built a fire rather than deal with the prediction of it being a mess out there today. That prediction fizzled - but it is pretty icy where I am at on the mountain so it was probably good that I stayed home anyway. If I could have gotten down I might not have gotten back up home until tomorrow.

Got two 10/22s - one on Saturday (International - Mannlicher stock), one yesterday (stainless takedown).

I need to get some more rimfire ammo I guess. Not sure when it is going to get back down to a reasonable price.

You can't go wrong with a 10-22, I have a friend that has two, 1980's 10-22s, the one he uses has 20,000 rnds through it, he even had to replace the barrel ($35 from Midway) as well as the springs and pins. He can still hit a squirrel at 135 paces!
I have seen posts from the mid-west that 22LR inventory is increasing in retail stores so hopefully the drought is over!

 

[erudne]

I purchased my first large dehydrator: http://www.ebay.com/itm/STX-DEHYDRA-600W-10-TRAY-FOOD-JERKY-DEHYDRATOR-3-YEAR-100-GUARANTEE/380684835787?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=27538&meid=5327fe7e362246788f6be95fc2ef7aac&pid=100011&prg=11353&rk=3&rkt=10&sd=311161104180 so we'll see how this works

I had an inexpensive dehydrator years ago and I sold it after using it once. If I were to redo my decision I would buy a more expensive unit because the one thing a propane oven will NOT do is dehydrate!

 

[The Heretic]

You can't go wrong with a 10-22, I have a friend that has two, 1980's 10-22s, the one he uses has 20,000 rnds through it, he even had to replace the barrel ($35 from Midway) as well as the springs and pins. He can still hit a squirrel at 135 paces!
I have seen posts from the mid-west that 22LR inventory is increasing in retail stores so hopefully the drought is over!

I like them - rimfires in general are my favorite thing to shoot; inexpensive to shoot (even today), accurate, relatively quiet, almost no recoil to speak of, and most rimfire firearms are light and inexpensive. They are also very very useful and there is a lot of different ammo for them - and the ammo is light and small.

Also, they don't have the stigma other firearms have - when you tell someone you have "a little 22" they know what you mean and if they are anti-gun they don't begrudge you owning one. Ditto in general with anti-gun legislation - there are often exceptions for rimfires.

I have more rimfires than I do any other caliber - something like seven of them now?

I think anyone who is into prepping should at least first have a .22 rimfire firearm. Good to learn to shoot with, very useful, and so on.

I personally prefer a bolt action as they will shoot anything whereas the semi-auto generally requires full power ammo. Plus, that is what I grew up with - a Marlin bolt action with a peep sight my grandfather made for it - 22" long barrel and bolt, made it quiet and accurate. I did a lot of practicing with that rifle - still in the family (SIL has it now).

Of course, you can always just work the action manually - it it doesn't jam. I wonder if there is a bolt lock for a 10/22 - probably is, just for sub-sonic ammo.

 

[JackThompson]

Some truly bizarre wind conditions at work today:
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=-106.90,47.37,1418

That's a really cool site. What is that?

 

[erudne]

That's a really cool site. What is that?

I believe it is a satellite image updated each hour, I have watched it often and the imagery seems to be consistent with actual weather patterns, the change in the wind flow can be mind blowing (humor)

 

[erudne]

When I lived down under the extra cost for a threaded barrel was $20 and a Maxim can was $60, over the counter. The joy of shooting rodents w/suppressed RF,( ammo was then $.60 a BX) cannot be over stated.
Back then I made the claim that in the bush a man with a 22LR and a primitive fishing kit could not go hungry if he spent 4 hours a day working for his food!
Up in the Northern Territory, even with the snakes and crocks a 22LR would keep a man fat and happy as long as he stayed away from water w/crocs, a bit dicey that, but doable!
In the NT it is not lack of shelter, water, or food. It is crocs, snakes, microbes and bad weather that will kill you.

 

[The Heretic]

If a person didn't have to worry about other people with guns, then yeah, a rimfire, especially a 22 WMR, would be fine for most tasks you would undertake with a firearm.

Some game you would want more oomph for though. I am not thinking "dangerous" game - in the lower 48 there usually just are not that many "dangerous" animals around and most will not bother with you if you don't bother them.

It is too bad that there isn't a true .22 rimfire magnum that allows you to shoot .22 LR ammo from the same firearm (without changing cylinders, etc.) like you can do with a .38 or .44 special and a .357 or .44 mag.

I suppose to do that they would have to make a new .22 LR (special?) that is a shortened .22 WMR since the .22 WMR is thicker to withstand the higher pressures. But then you have all those firearms out there that shoot the current .22 s/l/lr rimfire ammo and couldn't shoot the new "special".

All that said, my survival firearm trifecta would be:

A personal defense rifle (and for hunting medium to large game at ranges under 200 meters) - bullpup AK (or possibly a Tavor or something like that)

A personal defense handgun (for when I don't have my PDR within reach)

A rimfire firearm for small game hunting

 

[Sgt Nambu]

$449.99.......5,000W Generator
.....80.00.......Deep Cycle Battery
.....12.00........12V Accessory Adaptor for C-Pap Inverter
......42.99........Battery Charger
$584.98 Total

Scaring Mother Nature's punk azz away with my awesome gear
.........................................PRICELESS.........................................

 

[erudne]

Like the man says:
all that solar stuff
happy it works for him
My Heart @ My Family, I'm just a Grunt, not enough ammo for a warning shot

 

[The Heretic]

I put another log on the fire.

What? It's cold outside - everything is covered in ice.

Oh, and I ordered this:

http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-BF-F8HP-TRI-POWER-Dual-Band-Transceiver/dp/B00MAULSOK