What did you do today to prep?

[gunfreak]

Went for a drive in the desert for upland birds, didn't see any but I did pick up several hundred pieces of 223 and 9mm brass. I'm wet tumbling it right now for process.

 

[FortRock]

Got a deal on two 55 gallon water jugs at Murdoch's.

 

[The Heretic]

cutting splitting firewood



About 1/4th of a cord of good seasoned maple & some alder - took 4 hrs over two days. If I was in better health I could have done it all in one afternoon, including splitting & stacking. Probably about 3 weeks of wood depending on how cold it is.

Going to rain tonight so I loaded it up and put the PU in the shop. Next week I will back that up to the porch, split & stack it. The new maul is working well on some of the harder thicker rounds.

 

[Camelfilter]

Recently:

Rotated (into the garden) our water. Rinsed 'em out, refilled and added bleach. Good till next spring.

View attachment 1047456

Exercise is going well, notwithstanding f'ing up my shoulder a couple of weeks ago. Lifted for the first time last weekend, felt alright. Solicited a gym last week, weights only, and may join. (I don't do gyms, but coaching is a thing so...)

Picked up another stack of #10 cans. Not much, but a 25-30 year shelf life means not needing to rotate. So just adding to the pile.

Last thing: did a drill yesterday with 2x12 round mags. Can consistently hit a man sized target 3 times in the chest area from 35 feet with my EDC subcompact 9 presenting from concealment (condition 2) in... I don't know, untimed. Pretty quickly. At the range. Under pressure? If that happens we'll see how urine running down my leg affects my aim.

If you all have a smart phone, consider a free shot timer app (if any still free). Worthwhile to gauge how you are doing & just for fun.

 

[Pete F]

cutting splitting firewood

View attachment 1047599

About 1/4th of a cord of good seasoned maple & some alder - took 4 hrs over two days. If I was in better health I could have done it all in one afternoon, including splitting & stacking. Probably about 3 weeks of wood depending on how cold it is.

Going to rain tonight so I loaded it up and put the PU in the shop. Next week I will back that up to the porch, split & stack it. The new maul is working well on some of the harder thicker rounds.

If you have a rental place nearby, get a gas powered splitter. I split and stacked almost two cords in less than 4 hours with a friend rolling the rounds to me - rental place and back. I don't know why I never tried it before. Now my neighbor has a PTO driven splitter I can use

I have enough chainsaw chains to rotate and get them sharpened at the farm store - free for Stihl and minimum charge for other chains. I drop them off and pick them up in a couple of days. Good for a year, 20" Stihl and 14".

 

[Certaindeaf]

cutting splitting firewood

View attachment 1047599

About 1/4th of a cord of good seasoned maple & some alder - took 4 hrs over two days. If I was in better health I could have done it all in one afternoon, including splitting & stacking. Probably about 3 weeks of wood depending on how cold it is.

Going to rain tonight so I loaded it up and put the PU in the shop. Next week I will back that up to the porch, split & stack it. The new maul is working well on some of the harder thicker rounds.

My truck!

 

[The Heretic]

cutting splitting firewood

View attachment 1047599

About 1/4th of a cord of good seasoned maple & some alder - took 4 hrs over two days. If I was in better health I could have done it all in one afternoon, including splitting & stacking. Probably about 3 weeks of wood depending on how cold it is.

Going to rain tonight so I loaded it up and put the PU in the shop. Next week I will back that up to the porch, split & stack it. The new maul is working well on some of the harder thicker rounds.

Cut some more wood yesterday, split and stacked some this afternoon. If my back holds out tomorrow I will do some more. Rain returns tomorrow night so that means the pickup stays in the shop until it clears up next week. I've got plenty of wood on the porch and by the stove now so no issues there - I just want to keep that wood dry. I should have done more of this earlier in the year.

 

[CountryGent]

Odds and ends:

• Got in a bunch of medical supplies for wife and little girl.
• Picked up a ton of canned goods. Surprised how low we were on some stuff. I must be slipping.
• Continued reading on the Civil Defense historical text.
• Did a little networking with friends in this area that are with us regarding the mutual aid/interaction. (This has suffered some due to last year, but back at it.)
• Split and stored more fire wood. (Late this year, but I've now got over a couple cords cut ready.)
• Placed an order, and therefore got the ball rolling, on a transferable .30-caliber machine-carbine.

All and all pretty productive day. (Though work was a dumpster-fire of idiocy, but what else is new.)

 

[gunfreak]

Bought 200 pcs of 30 cal bullets from Midsouth Shooters. Also going to stock up on propane and canned food.

 

[CountryGent]

The main thing I did was wrap up the last of the firewood storage for the cold, wet months ahead. I'm not going to bother denying it, man am I sore.

 

[The Heretic]

The main thing I did was wrap up the last of the firewood storage for the cold, wet months ahead. I'm not going to bother denying it, man am I sore.

Ditto on the soreness - but not finished. For some reason today I just could not get much done in this regard. Kept running out of breath. But I did get the indoor rack by the stove refilled. I will just keep working at it until I can't do anymore due to weather or running out of space. I expect it to be a cold stormy winter. Yesterday I had no fire, but today I did - temps are such that comfort is borderline when I am sitting idle.

 

[CountryGent]

@The Heretic, I hear you. I've read multiple, credible, articles that indicate we're in for a cold winter. Who knows, of course, but it helps being prepared. Godspeed with your labors.

Reminds me of when the little ones were younger they'd get all perplexed when I was making a fire in the woodstove. They would ask wife "why is Dah-do making fire in that box" and she'd reply laconically "to keep your little butts warm." Now they ask "Can you make a fire to keep our little butts warm?" or making passing reference to said when they see me split, moving, etc., the firewood.

 

[The Heretic]

@The Heretic, I hear you. I've read multiple, credible, articles that indicate we're in for a cold winter. Who knows, of course, but it helps being prepared. Godspeed with your labors.

Reminds me of when the little ones were younger they'd get all perplexed when I was making a fire in the woodstove. They' would ask wife "why is Dah-do making fire in that box" and she'd reply laconically "to keep your little butts warm." Now they ask "Can you make a fire to keep our little butts warm?" or making passing reference to said when they see me split, moving, etc., the firewood.

I mostly prep firewood to save $ on the electricity bill, especially now that I am not working, but also so that I have a backup heat source. Lost power 8 times last winter, and saved a bunch on the electricity bill until I ran out of firewood.

If I can get the temp up from 58* to 62* (outside temps in the low 40s) I feel comfortable while sitting and reading - doesn't take much. If I had to I would be ok with inside temps in the 50s, but my hands and feet get a bit cold.

 

[CountryGent]

I hear you @The Heretic. We lose power here routinely during the crappy months, and at times even during warm ones. Most aren't lengthy, though we had some for extended time. A whole-house generator, a woodstove, and fuel for both makes it easy to plow through those periods.

 

[Arihead11]

Got the generator from Costco. Also have an electrician scheduled to set up a transfer switch. Got a new 4x4. Any suggestions on gasoline storage? i got a couple 5 gallon from bimart. Also anyone ever hook up their natural gas home line to a backup generator before? electrician said he doesn't do that. Plumber? I think short term like a week or two we will be ok. I need to get more water storage.

 

[The Heretic]

Got the generator from Costco. Also have an electrician scheduled to set up a transfer switch. Got a new 4x4. Any suggestions on gasoline storage? i got a couple 5 gallon from bimart. Also anyone ever hook up their natural gas home line to a backup generator before? electrician said he doesn't do that. Plumber? I think short term like a week or two we will be ok. I need to get more water storage.

I don't know who the specialists are for getting a NG hookup, but it is common - the kids have it for their BBQ - so it shouldn't be hard to find someone to do it that is qualified.

As for gasoline storage, get safety rated cans like Justrite or Eagle and preferably store them separately from your residence - like in a shed or shop. I have a 55 gal drum full in my shop for emergencies, and Eagle cans for equipment (tractor, chain saw, etc.).

 

[Arihead11]

Tough shed is backed up until February. I would love to have land. Well... I dream of land. You folks bust your asses maintaining it. This city boy would probably put a chainsaw in his foot. If i could even figure out how to get it started... lol... uh it need gas??? hahaha.

 

[Soli]

Date them when they're filled, time flies. We rotate our gasoline every 2-3 months into the cars. Also have a few 1 to 2.5 gal containers; handling a 5 gallon in a storm/over ice/etc is a pain. We and a neighbor store them in a shed; if the lights go out it's both of ours no matter who filled them last.

 

[The Heretic]

Tough shed is backed up until February. I would love to have land. Well... I dream of land. You folks bust your asses maintaining it. This city boy would probably put a chainsaw in his foot. If i could even figure out how to get it started... lol... uh it need gas??? hahaha.

When people say owning a house is a lot of work I just laugh and say "try owning 20 acres of forest".

Chainsaws today are fairly easy to start. I have no problems with my Stihl saw or the Kombi - they almost always start readily. I did get more chains - it is so easy to make one dull by running into dirt/rocks - I am trying to be much more careful about that, but the way my logs are stacked it is hard to see if there is dirt/rocks between them, and there often is.

I always wear my steel toed boots when cutting or splitting.

 

[CountryGent]

Also anyone ever hook up their natural gas home line to a backup generator before? electrician said he doesn't do that. Plumber?

When we had ours installed, IIRC, the electrician subcontracted the piping and hookup to a plumber. Though I am going from memory here. (We're in the forest, so there is no natural gas line, so had to go with 500-gallon propane tank.)