Preparing for hard times

[boomer]

Work continues on the cabin. Most recently enclosed a pantry that should hold 3 months of dry and canned  foods  Fortunately i like beans, rice and chile. Apples and local fruits will be drying soon as will stocking up on perishables. Hoped to be a little farther along by now but life intervened with those plans. As usual.

Summer garden suffered from the intense heat but its almost time for getting the winter garden ready so it continues on. Grateful for the fresh food picked most mornings this season.

Local deliveries to small store on the rez are still spotty but much better The supply town 18 miles away is well stocked for most things except sporting goods. Not sure why. Thankfully, I still have skills in denand to be able to trade

So far it seems I'll be safe and comfortable for a 3 to 6 month period  Any longer than 6 months though things could be very interesting.

[crashdive123]

Just because one claims a post does not contain a political component, does not make it true. 

PW asked a while back that we not discuss politics.  If you need to on this forum, there is a place for it in the private section.  You have to request access to that section from PW.

I know that the forum isn't receiving a lot of traffic right now, but it seems that most are not.

Let's all try to talk about things that were meant to be talked about when this forum was started.

[Moe M.]

I hit a coupla grocery stores to replace the used stock in the pantry.
Ordered  more heirloom seeds because mine were a little old.
Drew up plans for a reasonably efficient toilet here in town if the clean water stops.
We're good up at the cabin.
Need to get more solar cells for a little power.  It's amazing how a little thing like that makes a huge difference in moral.

 Good on you guys,  I agree, what ever you can do, no matter how small, that will make your lives easier and more comfortable in an emergency is a double sided win in my opinion,  you win because it makes you that much more self reliant and you win again because you've gained a bit more peace of mind.
 This past couple of weeks I bought a four pack of food storage totes with snap on lids that are water tight, rodent proof, and keep out UV rays that shorten shelf life of many foods,  I also picked up some more sprout and micro-green  seeds.
 I haven't tried the micro s yet, but I've been experimenting with growing sprouts,  I didn't have good luck with the sprout trays I bought, but I did have great luck growing them in wide mouth quart size mason jars with stainless mesh lids made especially for growing sprouts.
 I started a batch of Salad Blend seeds on Thursday morning and harvested a bunch of it yesterday afternoon,  I used a handful on our salads for dinner last evening and still have a medium serving bowl full left in the fridge, they don't have much flavor on their own, but they add allot of flavor and texture when mixed with salads and used in sandwiches. 
 The best part is that they have about 30% more nutritional value and anti oxidants when harvested as sprouts than the veggies they produce as full sized plants, the same goes for micro greens, between the two you can get all of the daily requirements of vegetables from them year around with very little investment or labor.     

  Let us know how you make out with your solar system, we have a generator but it's a short term thing, you can store just so much fuel for those things before it quits,  I have a small solar charger that has a light and will charge our phones or lap top batteries, but it takes a long time to recover,  I've been looking at solar power packs, the Mrs. is on a Bi-Pap machine and needs it to prevent a stroke while sleeping so it's important that we get something that will provide enough power to keep it going for at least 12 hours.
  So far every one I've looked at is pretty much unaffordable right now,  I'm pretty sure there is something that will work and be affordable, we just need to keep looking. 

[Pete Bog]

 I've been looking at solar power packs, the Mrs. is on a Bi-Pap machine and needs it to prevent a stroke while sleeping so it's important that we get something that will provide enough power to keep it going for at least 12 hours.
  So far every one I've looked at is pretty much unaffordable right now,  I'm pretty sure there is something that will work and be affordable, we just need to keep looking.

The big draw on them machines is the humidifier. It uses a heating element to heat the water. A real power hog.  Turn it off and your mouth dries out pretty bad, but the pressure keeps working and that's what keeps you tickin". On a single marine battery, my machine goes from 5 hours of operation with the humidifier on to 16 hours of operation with it off. Figure out how to turn the humidifier off during an emergency. It will make her uncomfortable, but alive.

My humidifier control is a real easy adjust, but the rest of the parameters require holding two buttons down for a full five seconds. Then a menu opens up to adjust the rest of the machine. There is really no need to adjust anything else.  If you get lost, don't do or touch anything. after a while it will time out and go back to the home display.

A single 100 watt solar panel provides enough recharge to my battery to keep the machine going if the humidifier is turned off. I use a single 300 watt inverter to provide the 120 volt AC for the machine.   Your mileage may vary.

My cost was a Marine deep cycle battery, about 80.00 (4-5 years ago) 300 watt inverter, 30.00 and a 100 watt solar panel with controller, about 150.00 from amazon. Not exactly cheap but the wife's last doctor visit was 260.00 and was little more than a smile and a handshake.

you can always use jumper cables to charge the battery from the car if it's just a short 2 or 3 night emergency. 

[Moe M.]

 I've been looking at solar power packs, the Mrs. is on a Bi-Pap machine and needs it to prevent a stroke while sleeping so it's important that we get something that will provide enough power to keep it going for at least 12 hours.
  So far every one I've looked at is pretty much unaffordable right now,  I'm pretty sure there is something that will work and be affordable, we just need to keep looking.

The big draw on them machines is the humidifier. It uses a heating element to heat the water. A real power hog.  Turn it off and your mouth dries out pretty bad, but the pressure keeps working and that's what keeps you tickin". On a single marine battery, my machine goes from 5 hours of operation with the humidifier on to 16 hours of operation with it off. Figure out how to turn the humidifier off during an emergency. It will make her uncomfortable, but alive.

My humidifier control is a real easy adjust, but the rest of the parameters require holding two buttons down for a full five seconds. Then a menu opens up to adjust the rest of the machine. There is really no need to adjust anything else.  If you get lost, don't do or touch anything. after a while it will time out and go back to the home display.

A single 100 watt solar panel provides enough recharge to my battery to keep the machine going if the humidifier is turned off. I use a single 300 watt inverter to provide the 120 volt AC for the machine.   Your mileage may vary.

My cost was a Marine deep cycle battery, about 80.00 (4-5 years ago) 300 watt inverter, 30.00 and a 100 watt solar panel with controller, about 150.00 from amazon. Not exactly cheap but the wife's last doctor visit was 260.00 and was little more than a smile and a handshake.

you can always use jumper cables to charge the battery from the car if it's just a short 2 or 3 night emergency.

 Thanks Pete,  she takes care of the settings on her machine, I don't fiddle with it, I've tried to understand the settings just in case, but it's one of them if you don't do it all the time you forget how it works kind of thing, I hate that she has to have it but thankful that it keeps her going, but it is a PITA.
 It's one of those Phillips Resperonics machines that been going through the recall "don't use it or you'll die thing",  we called the supplier, they said to call Medicare, they said can't help you call your doctor, doctor said can't help you, call your supplier, the bottom line is no one knows what to do about it, there's no procedure in place to send it back for service, no replacements designated, Medicare hasn't made allowances to get a new one until you old one reaches it's time limit, I think it's five years, hers is only a year old.
 So we go around that bush again a couple of times and the supplier says "well if you haven't gotten sick yet, keep on using it",  now that's reassuring isn't it ?
 After about a week and a half we were finally able to reach a tech at Phillips Resperonics, he says as long as we haven't used a ironizor cleaner to clean out out the machine it should be fine to continue using, something about the ionizing cleaner affects the foam seals in the machine that releases an ozone gas which is leaves particles in our lungs that can't be removed and will eventually kill you,  Who are these F'ing People,  Oh, and the kicker is they're all made in China,  you just can't make this $chitt up.     
 But, Thanks again Pete, I'll look into your suggestion.   

[madmaxine]

We actually use a little solar energy now for phones, ham, and lights.  That is really about all we "need".  The drawbacks are our cabin is in a temperate rain forest (Smokies) and sunlight is iffy sometimes.  Days go by and the sun peeks out just a little a day if at all.  Plus we left a lot of trees around the cabin so even if the sun is out we don't get full sun under the canopy all day.  So more panels, less trees.

In FL,  we have no solar... and trees.  And in certain seasons it rains everyday for months sometimes.  So if we're serious about it we need a big battery bank.  I like the Lipo batteries.  And they are $$$$$$$.

The good part of so much rain is we can easily put up rain catchers in both places.  And clean water is first and foremost top priority.  With the exception of shelter up at the cabin in the winter.  I need a coupla big water storage bins.  Two adults and 2 dogs need a minimum of 4 gallons a day to just survive.  That's 120 gallons a month.

Still prepping is an ongoing thought process.

[Pete Bog]

     Prepping takes a lot of different forms and there are a lot of different threats to ones safety and well being. This past summer seems to have been exceptionally hot as noted by Stan's thread "HOT!!!!"
     The news was filled with stories of multiple deaths under a "heat dome" in the western states. Through chance, that very well could have been us. So one room was set aside with a small 5000 BTU AC that could be run off a small standby generator in the event of a rolling blackout. We can eat and sleep in there if required and like most preps, we hope we never have to use it.
      The flooding in Tennessee this past week had me reassessing what we would do in the event of a 12 inch rain overnight. In July of 1993 we had 9 inches overnight. We used a sump pump in the basement to keep incoming water at bay and all was well. But we did not have a standby generator then. Had the power gone out, we would have flooded the basement. We are in a better position now with the generator. And, I have picked up a small pump that can run off of a 12 volt battery. Have not used it yet, but it's peace of mind.
     Wild fire and tornadoes are two threats I have not addressed very well. Those are shortcomings on my part. I need a storm shelter and a black dirt fire break. The storm shelter I just need to commit the money. The black dirt fire break I need to wait out a US Government land conservation agreement before I can plow a path around the place. Two more years until it expires. Until then, I really should get off my duff and get that Tornado Shelter in place. A small shelter similar to the Anderson Shelter used in England during WWII should be sufficient. But, I have waited to long to build one myself and will probably have to write a check to have one delivered and anchored. Sucks to get old. Should have done it 20 years ago.

[madmaxine]

I like the idea of ac in one room.  We ha a BIG gennie that we never use.  But that's a temporary fix.  I know some elderly here in Ocala that have lived their entire lives without ac.  Tough old people.

[wsdstan]

We never had A/C until we moved to the farm.  Had a swamp cooler for about fifteen years when were in Colorado and it worked fine and was cheap to operate.  One might work where we are now too. 

I have a swamp cooler fan in my shop.  It runs on 120v and just circulates water on a swamp pad.  It works well for small areas but, of course, you have to listen to the fan run all the time.

[crashdive123]

With my tinitus, listening to a fan is often a welcome sound.

[wsdstan]

As a fellow sufferer or tinitus I agree that the sound of a fan sure beats the sounds that I hear laying in bed at night.  At times I swear there are people talking in the kitchen.