2017 Personal Preps

[Watchman]

Let's go!

[Toepopper]

We are having an unusual cold snap here in Oregon with lots of snow. I had to make a sled/toboggan to slide firewood from woodshed to house and use strap on ice cleats so as not to slip on the ice covered hillside. What a pain in the butt. Using lots of firewood to stay warm but I have 7 dry cords on hand ready to burn. Can't get much done outside so I am concentrating on re-organizing canned food stores and re-assessing bug out bags and other equipment.

[Watchman]

Well Toepopper it looks like the unusual cold spell migrated to the High Plains of Wyoming! For twenty years I have been reflecting on whether all the preps were realistic or worth it. Last night we were tested again and I am happy to say we survived. When I went to bed it was -20 degrees. As fate would have it we lost power all night long. The wood stove kept us in comfort and I used my strike-anywhere matches to light the gas to make a cup of coffee. What else could one ask for? Power came back on about 45 minutes ago. It has taught us a lesson that we have to do some updating and fine-tuning. One other thing that came in real handy was about 8 months ago I went to China Mart and found some really GOOD $1 LED flashlights. They take 3 AAA batteries. We bought enough of them to hang on a nail at every doorway in the house and for our pockets. None of us are ever more than about 5 steps away from a light. I bought cheap Dollar Tree batteries (6 to a pack for a dollar). Have had them in storage for a year and the lights worked all night long and are still strong.

[Watchman]

Our water resources are fair to adequate, depending on how many are at the Last Outpost. We have a very large Berkey with the new black filters that [supposedly] filter out micro-organisms as well as sediment and other solid particles. We also keep 60 cases of bottled water that is NOT touched for any reason during the year. When a year has passed for the stored water, we refrigerate it and drink it so it doesn't get stale - I'm still not convinced that plastic is good for the innards. At any rate, when we start drinking the stored water we also buy new water. Today I went to our local Smith's and bought 60 cases of Kroger bottled water. Normally it is 4 cases for $10 then it went to 3 cases for $10, a price increase. Today we got it at $1.88 a case on sale; on top of that there was an event savings of a further $3.00 per 6 cases. I think I had it figured correctly that we saved almost $80 for the lot. Savings under the mattress!

[Toepopper]

Have you ever considered refilling your empty water containers? Some brands are ultra thin plastic designed for a use once, throw away application but others like Sam's Choice are a little bit thicker and will withstand refilling. I have done this more as an experiment than anything else, to see if this process is feasible and have had no leaks yet. Have had an unopened case of store bought water from Costco sitting on a shelf for 9 years, in a cool dry area that gets no sunlight and the plastic bottles have held up.

[Watchman]

Yes, yes, and yes. We have two gallon glass jugs with spigots that we use for "lite" drinking (such as a small glass). I hate to keep bringing up Smith's but a couple of months ago they had a "Taste of Italy' sale and sold big (1.5 L) bottles of San Pelegrino mineral water and were selling it two for $2. We didn't buy any and most Americans don't drink mineral water = we do, but we waited until the sale was over. San Pelegrino comes in a green glass bottle, very desirable for refilling. But, we waited it out. And then one day Smith's marked them down to 10 cents a bottle. My wife caught it just as they were putting it up and bought 4 cases (12 to a case). She actually pissed another shopper off, but all's fair in love, war and prepping. The plastic bottled water is an emergency back-up. We store it in the basement where it is cool and no sunlight. When we begin filtering water again to fill the glass bottles, the green will keep out the bacteria from growing. In the meantime, while we finish up last year's water, I have about 100 glass bottles siting in the garage for my use. Mineral water does hydrate you (same as beer) I take a quart jar with a handle, squeeze one fresh lemon and fill it up with mineral water. My doctor said it was one of the best things I could drink instead of soda. See, I've been drinking so much mineral water ........Ciao, Bella!

[Watchman]

Catch of the week: Wife came home from Wally (they hardly ever have deep cuts on food) with 78 packages of Starkist tuna that normally sell for a buck each - she got them for .25 each. I asked her to check the expiration date first and they were all over two years.

[acet7]

Nice score on the tuna, I picked up ten whole milks in those cartons from the dollar tree. They have a shelf life for about 2.5yrs from now and only cost a dollar. Usually they are out of the whole milk and just have the skim or reduced fat. They sell pretty much the same thing at the regular grocery for close to $3 a carton.

[Watchman]

Way to go!

[Watchman]

Yesterday I had a small crisis. The high pressure hose on my well pump ruptured. Not only that, the two lines, one from the well and one to the holding pressure tank did not line up - they were separated by about a one inch gap. I went to NAPA, bought a 7-inch piece of flexible high pressure radiator hose, 4 new hose clamps, hooked it up, resumed watering and saved about a $150 well-repair job. The parts from NAPA cost me $11.

[acet7]

Is that well for irrigation or drinking? If for drinking does the rubber radiator hose make the water taste any different?

[Watchman]

Irrigating only (although I have never had it tested).

[Watchman]

Out doing some errands today and noticed that there is still heavy snow on top of the Wind River mountains. This is the latest I've seen it in a good while. Since we have converted to a cash basis for everything, we are budgeting for a snow blower. I'm using the KISS principle. No fancy electric snowblower but a good, sturdy 4-cycle one will cost us about $350. Will have the funds saved up by October.

[Watchman]

We scored good yesterday. 8 quart jars of strawberry jam for .40 each. Neither one of us use much sugar but this has carbos and calories and might make a good barter item. Some years ago we switched from using refined white sugar to nothing but honey and natural sun-cured sugar. Our local Dollar Tree has 2-lb bags of Moreno natural sugar for $1. Thats .50 a pound! I also found two one-pound cans of Maxwell House bold coffee for $2.49 each, Ace bandages at $3 for a wide one, assorted bandages, etc. It was a good day.

[Watchman]

Bought one of these babies! Will give a progress report soon.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjehG6YlFU[/video]

[Toepopper]

NICE! I'm drooling.

[Watchman]

I will admit I have been hesitant to install it on my bench. Its made of heavy plastic in part. I've been drooling over it for the past two weeks, watching several videos too. All I can say is that it takes me a good hour to sharpen by hand, Supposedly this will take care of it in 5 minutes.

[Watchman]

Today, 1st Use - MIXED BAG. Learn by my trials. The number one priority if you are "older" like me and have less than 20/20. The mount where the chain rests must be VERY WELL ILLUMINATED. You set the proper angle for your chain sharpen one side of the chain, reverse the angle and then sharpen the other side. Although I did not examine the chain by microscope I feel it may be okay. It took me some false starts but I did it in about 20 minutes and I believe I an get it down to about 5. It is probably a good buy. Local saw shop charges $7 to sharpen a chain. Nuff said.

[Toepopper]

You will find out if the angles were set right when you use that chain, if it cuts straight than its set right. If not the saw will cut to one side.

[acet7]

After Irma I quit putting off the propane conversion kit for the generator, I was getting worried after the storm that i would not be able to find gas. I only had 20 gal as I thought it was law that gas stations in FL were required to have generators to keep the pumps running, but about 80% of stations had no power. And the ones that did didn't have gas. Luckily I was only out electricity for 2.5days. It was funny the regular gas propane kit cost more than the tri-fuel kit, so I bought the tri-fuel one instead. Anyway I just got the kit in the mail today, so I might start working on it this weekend.

[Watchman]

Please give us a progress report, especially if you test out different fuel.

[Watchman]

SNOW.jpg

I decided I am too [advanced in age] to shovel snow by hand and last year we got a ton here in Free Wyoming. Got a good deal on this.

[Watchman]

This almost sounds too good to be true! This company will ship any amount, any weight, to any address in the lower 48 for $4.99. I'm getting ready to order a 50-lb bag of germade cereal.

http://shop.honeyville.com/

[Watchman]

Can you believe this! I ordered the 50-lb bag of cereal Sunday and it arrived yesterday (13th). Highly recommended.

http://shop.honeyville.com/?utm_term=ho ... gKvQvD_BwE