What did you do today to prep?

[The Heretic]

Three buckets delivered (the rest should come in a couple of days). Started stuffing them full of stuff and labeling them, then I will move them to the shop.

Replacement EcoFlow power station came today - box was damaged, but they packed the unit in semi-hard foam and no visible damage to the unit. Charged it up and set it up. Now it is in my office on the shelf next to the LiFePO4 batteries, and the Starlink system is plugged into it. Hopefully this unit will not go bad like the last one did and I can rely on it. Sure could have used it during the last two power outages. Inconvenient time for the last unit to go bad.

Once I get things reorganized around here I will go in the office and connect the batteries to the DC/solar input and test that out - if it works the way I think I should, I would have about 80-100 hours of battery backup for my Starlink (my most reliable and main comms to the outside world).

 

[albin25]

There's an estate sale in town that has 6 of these factory sealed variety buckets, with an expiry date of 4/15/2041 ( so they're about 5 years old) asking $75 ea.
Anyone have experience with this product?
Recommendations?

 

[Camelfilter]

There's an estate sale in town that has 6 of these factory sealed variety buckets, with an expiry date of 4/15/2041 ( so they're about 5 years old) asking $75 ea.
Anyone have experience with this product?
Recommendations?
View attachment 1344047

Augason farms stuff is usually pretty decent.

Don't have / haven't tried any of there multi-day bucket/kit stuff, so can't say on these specifically.

Caution should prevail here (buyer beware), as many multi day kits/buckets, even Mountain House, normally include a large amount of empty calories in there "kits".

Normally one can piece meal together a better/more nutritious "kit" for less or equal price. However these are not "normal" times. So doing such/similar now on your own may prove more challenging than pre-plandemic.

Edit, NB: Price wise seems decent. Current online price for Augason Farms bucket kits runs $100-$200 (depending on where & what type of bucket. For the large bucket). A reasonable offer IMO would be $50 per LARGE bucket. Not the mini 3 day ones. However as noted above, I wouldn't buy them anyways. But that's for us.

Could be a good starting point for others though.

 

[The Heretic]

Caution should prevail here (buyer beware), as many multi day kits/buckets, even Mountain House, normally include a large amount of empty calories in there "kits".

And or they have dried foods like rice or oats, etc., that you can buy for much much less than they charge and store for just as long.

 

[ATCclears]

I bartered with a trusted neighbor. .45-70 from me, cash and excellent honey in return (he has bees).

 

[The Heretic]

Ordered some (6#) steel cut oats instead of rolled oats. I will put 5# away in a bucket and try the steel cut oats mixed with rolled oats (cooked separately as cut oats take longer to cook). I usually mix granola with my oatmeal & farina for crunchiness.

I am going thru all the totes my daughter put together when she was helping me cleanup my house last year. I am finding all kinds of stuff I didn't know where it was or even forgot I had it - but it is all thrown in together with no resemblance of organization. So I am trying to organize it.

So far I have found misc ammo and mags and other gun stuff - which is good. I am reorganizing it all and moving most of it out to the shop.

 

[OrPackrat]

Bought 1000rds 22lr subsonic, 3 kinds to test in various platforms with the can I just got, found a can to buy at an awesome price.

Got an order placed for a handgun scope, going to see how quiet and accurate the 22 pistol can get...

 

[The Heretic]

Just got SG order delivered; three pair of elbow pads, one pair of knee pads and the aramid hard knuckle gloves with gauntlet.

The elbow pads (Hatch: https://www.sportsmansguide.com/pro...enturion-elbow-pads-3-pack-new?p=WX2&i=723181 ) fit good and seem tooffer more protection than I thought they would.

The knee pads ( https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/us-military-surplus-knee-pads-like-new?p=WX2&i=715457 ) - not so sure - I think they will not stay put on my knees; they seem to drop down as a I walk. I think I will order one of the Hatch styles.

I ordered the XL gloves last time and those were too small, so I got the 2XL this time and they are better, but my right hand still seems a bit tight on the index finger when I make a tight fist - not enough to be totally annoying like the smaller size. Maybe they will stretch a bit.

 

[The Heretic]

Picked up 10# of pancake mix in a mylar bag at Costco. That will go in a bucket.
Also 5 storage tote bins - on sale for $8 ea - no limit
Bought 13 more Five Seven mags for a total of 30. This gives us ten mags per gun == two loadouts (one mag in the gun and four backup mags).

 

[NobullSKS]

Extra sheets of plywood on hand for this and that…. Fun projects, broken windows and such. Lumber is pricey today.

Found a warehouse worker selling 3/6’ sheets of 1/2” plywood in great condition….. used for shipping. No skid marks, holes or fasteners. Originally he’s asking $12 bucks a sheet but meeting him, he’s had no takers….so I’ve been able to get a much nicer sale price. Still 12 not bad.

 

[OrPackrat]

Extra sheets of plywood on hand for this and that…. Fun projects, broken windows and such. Lumber is pricey today.

Found a warehouse worker selling 3/6’ sheets of 1/2” plywood in great condition….. used for shipping. No skid marks, holes or fasteners. Originally he’s asking $12 bucks a sheet but meeting him, he’s had no takers….so I’ve been able to get a much nicer sale price. Still 12 not bad.

Last price I paid for 15/32" plywood at home depot for about $20...

 

[The Heretic]

So, the ones you had were a thin blue plastic? These are some pretty beefy, thick, HDPE.
I don't wanna write how thick and beefy it is, cuz I'm sure whatever I write will end up in "that thread", if'n ya know what I mean...

So I got my Reliance 7 gal jug today.

It is much heavier than the previous Reliance jug I used to have, but not as thick or as good as the Tuff Jug I got at BiMart.

The cap on the Reliance is not as good (much fewer threads, thinner plastic and much easier to cross thread - but it does have the spigot).

It should be adequate, but I think I will just go ahead and pay more for the Tuff Jugs which to me seem almost indestructible.

 

[Andesite]

Did my monthly generator run today. I need to do the math and mark the calendar for when I need to change the oil.

 

[The Heretic]

 

[GOG]

Ordered an upgraded trauma first aid kit yesterday and a half case of 5.56 M855.

 

[The Heretic]

Bought 13 more Five Seven mags for a total of 30. This gives us ten mags per gun == two loadouts (one mag in the gun and four backup mags).

Mags delivered yesterday, went to new chiro 3rd time in a week, had xrays done earlier - no surprises, including the fact that I do indeed have arthritis in addition to a screwed up spine. Bought some Diclofenac cream - expensive (compared to BenGay), but supposed to help. Need to see eye doc, get new glasses, and get a general checkup to finish my medical checklist.

 

[Jbsheepdog]

Mags delivered yesterday, went to new chiro 3rd time in a week, had xrays done earlier - no surprises, including the fact that I do indeed have arthritis in addition to a screwed up spine. Bought some Diclofenac cream - expensive (compared to BenGay), but supposed to help. Need to see eye doc, get new glasses, and get a general checkup to finish my medical checklist.

You should look into grounding/earthing, my wife and I watched a documentary on it last weekend and have been doing it for a week now (roughly 8ish hours a day while we sleep) we have seen HUGE improvements in our quality of sleep, mood and energy. As well as aches and pains we didn’t realize were there. The documentary was a little “new agey/fru fru spiritual” but it sited some studies that were pretty incredible in regards to inflammation and pain reduction.

 

[DunRanull]

Bought a few bags of lentils and various other dried beans (pintos are BIG around here but with us, not so much, we prefer kidneys). Need to get some more 1/2 gallons of soy sauce (it ages well if it isnt used).

 

[GrayGoose]

Nothing.

 

[sobo]

Nothing.

My man...