What did you do today to prep?

[Sgt Nambu]

Picked up 120rnds of Sig 9mm HP's and 20rnds of Sig .40 S&W HP's for my son.

 

[The Heretic]

Another thing I learned: refrigeration.

I have an external thermometer, that records min/max temp, on my chest freezer in the shop. It has been in the upper 30s at night and upper 40s to mid 50s during the day. With the power out for 30 hours the freezer never got above 15*F.

The freezer is about two-thirds full, is not self-defrosting, has ice on the walls and I keep it turned down to keep it as cold as possible because the colder the better for the food and just in case of power failure. That said, it still seems to vary between -5*F and -20*F, not sure why it varies so much - I don't open it that often, but I do check the temp whenever I am in the shop.

I noticed the food in the small freezer section of my in-house fridge stayed frozen, although the ice cream was a bit soft. The food in the fridge itself was cool, but not cold like it usually is. I am going to get two more temp gauges for the fridge to keep track of its temps during power failures.

 

[The Heretic]

Messed with the generator. Sprayed starting fluid at the intake and it picked up and tried to run. So I took it to the shop and started to tear into it. Fuel was flowing from the tank so I tore into the carb. Could not find anything obviously wrong. Blew out the jets and the float orifices.

I'll put it back together and try again.

 

[TeacherSmurf]

Last night I practiced driving @CounrtyGent's truck (I rarely drive it) and picked up supplies for the raised bed garden and landscaping.

Today, I cleared out the raised beds, used the old garden dirt for fill projects, re-fabriced under the beds and surrounding area, refilled the beds, put mulch around the raised beds, and planted some herbs. I'm pretty proud as I got all that done before it started to rain and with being "helped" by the 3 1/2 yr old.

 

[CountryGent]

Loaded up a bunch of magazines (e.g., 10/22, M1 Carbine, etc.). Also picked up some seed potatoes and worked on the wood supply.

 

[nammac]

Ordered up half dozen 7 round magazines for the new Shield .45

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Last night I practiced driving @CounrtyGent's truck (I rarely drive it) and picked up supplies for the raised bed garden and landscaping.

Today, I cleared out the raised beds, used the old garden dirt for fill projects, re-fabriced under the beds and surrounding area, refilled the beds, put mulch around the raised beds, and planted some herbs. I'm pretty proud as I got all that done before it started to rain and with being "helped" by the 3 1/2 yr old.

YOU ROCK TEACHERSMURF!!!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Loading magazines this AM. 9mm and 5.56mm. I've gotta tell you with my messed up flippers, having an Uplula center fire pistol loader and a Caldwell .223/5.56 loader, takes an impossible task and makes it a breeze!

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

"Paperwork".....At the range.

 

[Camelfilter]

Loading magazines this AM. 9mm and 5.56mm. I've gotta tell you with my messed up flippers, having an Uplula center fire pistol loader and a Caldwell .223/5.56 loader, takes an impossible task and makes it a breeze!

Loaders are handy. Even have a crank style one for loading 10/22 mags which works pretty decent. Forget the brand on that one.

For 5.56 we use the Lulas, also handy to unload Pmags in just a few seconds.

 

[The Heretic]

Among other things delivered yesterday, was what I think will be my favorite flashlight, and probably the most expensive one - one OLight S1R with turbo mode, but I am more interested in the 'moonlight' mode which seems to be enough to walk by, at least to not trip over most things, and enough to read by, and if what they claim is true, will run for 15 days - which would be 30 nights - maybe enough for me to walk quite a distance if I had the legs/lungs and had to walk by night.



But turbo mode is pretty bright and seems to be good out to at least 100 meters or more.

I like the simple interface, and the fact that it goes back to the last mode (except for turbo) - both moonlight and turbo are easy to get to.

 

[erwin643]

Excuse the run on paragraph / sentence I am dictating this

I am totally disgusted with myself at this point

Starts with yesterday when I knew that the power went out I should have been charging my phone all day but I didn't I was too distracted with work

So I get home and the power still out and my phone battery is running low so I had to switch to the backup battery pack and then this morning after all the posting and texting my battery was running low again

So I decide to go out and get the generator hooked up to the house and fussed around with the chord and thought I had the wrong one then was ready to go into town and get the right one I was taking a picture of the outlet from the Gen set and figured out that I was trying to plug it into the wrong place so then I plugged in the court I had hooked it up to the house and tried to get the generator running but the circuit breaker kept tripping the ground fault circuit breaker

so now I know I need an electrician to come out and look at my setup and figure out why it is tripping the ground fault circuit breaker on the Gen set

Good thing this is not a serious emergency estimated time for power restoration is 10 p.m. tonight

Why didn't you just plug your phone into the cigarette lighter in your vehicle? Cell phones don't draw that much current when charging. You don't even need to start the engine. A spare set of keys is handy here, to keep the vehicle locked-up.

Also: I would start transitioning away from fuel-run generators: Noisy and draw too much attention. Also not good for long term/multi-generational collapse. Get alternative/120 VAC input systems like the the Powerhub 1800. Also, there have been advancements in Li Ion batteries for off grid homes. A lot of people in foreign countries are already using these batteries, which literally just hang on a wall, yet provide backup for almost EVERYTHING in the house!

 

[The Heretic]

Why didn't you just plug your phone into the cigarette lighter in your vehicle? Cell phones don't draw that much current when charging. You don't even need to start the engine. A spare set of keys is handy here, to keep the vehicle locked-up.

Also: I would start transitioning away from fuel-run generators: Noisy and draw too much attention. Also not good for long term/multi-generational collapse. Get alternative/120 VAC input systems like the the Powerhub 1800. Also, there have been advancements in Li Ion batteries for off grid homes. A lot of people in foreign countries are already using these batteries, which literally just hang on a wall, yet provide backup for almost EVERYTHING in the house!

My car requires the car to be turned on for the cig lighter to be powered, that is a lot of current draw just to charge the phone. I thought about it, but I wanted to power other things in the house (like the fridge) and to test the system.

I live on a mountain out in the boonies on 20 forested acres - my neighbors all have gensets, and the closest neighbor is 100+ yards away, so running a genset is not that big of a deal, anyone outside of my immediate neighborhood won't hear the genset, some inside the neighborhood won't hear it either.

My next place, which I will build after I retire, will be mostly off-grid and have solar.

The alternative "generators" (just batteries with inverters - they don't generate power, they just store it), won't run the well pump and most probably would not run any of my other 240 V appliances either (hot water, dryer, stove, etc.).

That said, I do need to get a battery backup system - I do have an inverter that runs off batteries, meant to be used in an automobile. I also need to get a small inverter genset to power the freezer in the shop and to take with me in my trucks. I should check CL - I bet there are bunch of gensets being sold now that everybody has their power back.

 

[erwin643]

Uh... Phones DON'T draw very much current. Just an amp, or so (we're talking milliamps here), max. Especially since all you're doing is stepping-down straight D.C. in the charger. Of course the car's electrical system has to be turned-on. If you're losing that much current leaving the electrical system on, then you've got other problems.

When I park my truck on 5-day trips in the woods, I have an inverter plugged in that also has USB ports. As long as I turn-off the inverter when I'm not using it, I can keep my netbook computer and smart phone charged WITHOUT running the engine. Granted, it's a deep-cycle battery in a Dodge Cummins diesel.

Start transitioning from fossil fuels NOW. There really is such a thing as Peak Oil. Just ask the Alaskans.

 

[erwin643]

What did I do to prep today?

I just discovered an AWESOME panel consisting of MOST of the heaviest hitters in collapse theory: A real world panel consisting of Dmitry Orlov, John Michael Greer, Chris Martenson and James H. Kuntsler (not my favorite. He beats-up too much on Suburbia. Last time I checked, I grow a decent amount of food each year, organically, in both yards).

 

[The Heretic]

Uh... Phones DON'T draw very much current. Just an amp, or so (we're talking milliamps here), max.

Not the phone, the car itself, as I said, for the cig lighter to charge the phone, I have to turn on all the accessories in the car.

 

[The Heretic]

I agree fossil fuels are a resource that is peaked, probably well past peak, despite last gasp efforts to get more.

Maybe the automobile industry will have a electric vehicle in the coming years that has a fast recharge battery that lasts a long time and has good range, but right now nobody is selling anything like that. The energy density of fossil fuels still is much much greater than any production battery.

Long term electric is the way to go, but if SHTF, in the short term, I would not be driving off my property any distance further than I have fuel for. I would stay put.

 

[CountryGent]

It is amazing what can get done when you've got a Saturday off and the weather doesn't blow ....

• I finally got our Kawasaki MULE running again. This the vehicle we use the most on our hilly property as it fills the gap between wheelbarrow and pickup truck. It is used to move and haul things around, power stuff while working away from the house, pull stuff with the winch, etc. It not working is no bueno. But after tracking down the issue, it is roaring again.
• Hauled about six more loads of firewood down to our main storage facility with the aforementioned.
• Did maintenance and test of the backup (or rather backup to the backup) portable, gasoline generator. I found a couple things I need to do it once I have the parts, but it is running.
• Shot the M1 Carbine some. I put, roughly, 200 rounds through it today. It seems, for want of a better phrase, "broken in" now after several outings. It just seems smoother and more reliable.
• Replaced the springs on two problematic M1 Carbine mags with Wolff brand springs and they run fine now. When they get here, I am going to replace the springs on three 30-rounders too.
• Did some target practice with a Glock. It is originally in .40 S&W, but I changed it over to 9mm so that I could, obviously, shoot that caliber in it and since it is threaded, I can, and have, run it suppressed. I can always swap it back to forty if need be.
• When through the primary tool shed and cleaned things up, tossed dead tools, etc.
• Cleaned out the range bag. There was a bunch of extraneous crapola built up there, and I was missing some pretty basic items that somehow got away from it (e.g., small tools).
• Replaced a pocket knife.
• The winter storms destroyed a outside hose bibb, so it had to be replaced. That was already done, but I laid brick around it.
• I finished reading a guide on fallout with respect to agricultural production that I had started earlier in the month.

It is good to get stuff done.

 

[The Heretic]

Ordered 12 pounds of dark chocolate M&Ms

What? I'm a chocoholic, gotta have my chocolate pills!

 

[Camelfilter]

Ordered 12 pounds of dark chocolate M&Ms

What? I'm a chocoholic, gotta have my chocolate pills!

Get it.

Ordered 42lbs of coffee last order. Friends & family were all like . We're all like ...