What have you done this week to prep?

[Rocdenindy]

what are your plans for storage of water? I am wanting to stock up at my cabin but concerned about weight on floor as the cabin is not mounted on a slab. 8 pounds per gallon adds up quick.

 

[churchmouse]

what are your plans for storage of water? I am wanting to stock up at my cabin but concerned about weight on floor as the cabin is not mounted on a slab. 8 pounds per gallon adds up quick.

Due to limitations we use milk crates to hold the 1 gallon distilled water jugs 4 to a case. This is cooking/hygiene etc use.
For potable we store flats of (40 per) bottled water. Easiest to store and use in our situation. We are on a slab so weight is not an issue.

I am reading up on daily water requirements for adults/children and get mixed info. Any really good info sights you folks trust.

 

[dudley0]

what are your plans for storage of water? I am wanting to stock up at my cabin but concerned about weight on floor as the cabin is not mounted on a slab. 8 pounds per gallon adds up quick.

I have totes stored in my unheated, but insulated garage. Have had the water freeze once and that was when we had the deep cold for many days one winter. I have two totes in there, one for potable and the other for non-potable. No need to spend the time or money getting it all perfect. Make sure you have a little on hand that is ready to consume and the rest can be treated quick enough.

I would also avoid the milk jug water as the containers do not last well. They have the thicker plastic jugs that do good. Have about a dozen or so of them in the basement as well as a few off site.

 

[rhino]

I finally got my bug out/hunting cabin wired. Going to have it grid tied but able to run off generator when needed. Honestly the only thing that is really going to be ran will be a min-fridge. Trail cam's up and fixing fencing so neighbors dogs stop coming on property when i am not there. Starting to assess where I am going to put in garden for next year and going to try to setup water catchment but not hook up.

Have you considered some big fans for ventilation since AC won't be a viable option?

-----------------------

At my place: I now have several days worth of water for two in 2-liter bottles where I am living now. It took some negotiation to get "permission," but I prevailed. I will slowly add to it, then cycle through it once it reaches my comfort level.

Now that the weather is cooling, fire making practice will ensue soon. I'll combine that with other fun and educational stuff like making char cloth, testing some new knives, etc. I think I'm going to a "one stick" fire my first time out. I've never done it with my own two hands, but I've practiced the individual parts like splitting the stick into smaller and smaller pieces, fuzzing a few of them, scraping some small shavings, etc. It'll be one dry piece of wood, my knife, my ferro rod, and maybe another stick to use as a baton for the splitting.

I've been practicing my knot tying lately too. I've learned that what I considered a purely ornamental knot, the "snake knot," is actually pretty useful for some practical applications. One use was finishing a new cord wrap on one of my Izulas. After I finished the wrap, I tied half dozen snake knots on the end. That served two purposes: 1) it's not going to come untied accidentally, and 2) it provides a little tail that helps use your pinky when both pulling the knife from the sheath as well as using it, almost like an extension of the handle.

Went to the grand opening of the new location of Self Reliance Outfitters last weekend. Saw some cool stuff, won an awesome raffle prize, got a stainless cup with a very nice fire steel/striker, and a few sticks of fat wood. If you look at the video (it's actually a still photo montage), you can see me receiving my prize from Dave Canterbury. He's not as tall as he looks on TV.

 

[teddy12b]

Since my last post, I had a little outdoor adventure challenge. A buddy and I spent just over a week on the Isle Royale National Park. Over 100 miles in 7.5 days of being on the island between open water kayking and backpacking. Open water kayaking was completely new to me and an experience I'm glad I have done. When kayaking to different places it's almost like having some limited luxuries of car camping. The 4 days of backpacking was an excellent challenge and experience as well. The trails (if you want to call them that) were rough at best. There was hardly a 10' stretch of trail where there wasn't a tree root or rock that we had to maneuver around. On the longest day of our backpacking we had a 17.3 mile day. In preparation for this trip I would go out loaded up with my back, boots, socks etc just as it was going to be on the trail at night once the kids were in bed and walk a ~5 mile loop, in about an hour, and drink about 1 liter of water doing that. On our 17.3 mile day, it took us 16 hours, and we both drank 12 liters of water. It seemed like a never ending obstacle course of up and down rough unkept terrain where we would have to filter and replenish our water multiple times on the move. To this point in my life I've never had more than one blister on a foot at a time, by the end of the 17.3 mile day I had several on both feet. That's been over a month ago and I still have dead skin peeling off my feet.

Some key take aways from this trip for me:
1. I packed too much food, and I thought what I was bringing was fairly reasonable and on the slim side. Now I have a much better understanding of how much food I'll need on an extended trip like this.
2. Even though my boots were well broken in before the trip, they were horrible on the rough terrain and now reside in a trash can somewhere. There will be no budget on my next pair of hiking boots. Even though I have tons of faith and confidence in my Teva sandals they failed me on a portage and a buckle broke. 5 minutes later with 550 cord and I was back up and running, but it went to show that even good gear can fail.
3. My loadout in my backpack was excellent. Only 1 item I took didn't get used at all and that was a 100' roll of #36 bankline, and the only reason it didn't get used was because my buddy had also brought a clothes line. Otherwise, everything I took got used and I didn't end up with a bunch of junk in my pack at the end of the week wondering why I took all that stuff. All my gear held up pretty well.

That trip taught me a lot. It was the longest unsupported outing in my civilian life and completely different than longer excursions when working for uncle sam. Lots of equipment was tested and really, really used. It was a tough but rewarding week and it gave me feedback on my own strengths and weaknesses. It was an excellent test of gear, preparation, skill, and ability.

Since the trip, I'm getting little sawyer water filters setup in both vehicles. I'm also going to start looking at replacing some of the items in my pack with lighter weight versions of whats already in there. I'm happy with all my gear, but if I can knock the total weight down some, I should.

 

[rhino]

Due to limitations we use milk crates to hold the 1 gallon distilled water jugs 4 to a case. This is cooking/hygiene etc use.
For potable we store flats of (40 per) bottled water. Easiest to store and use in our situation. We are on a slab so weight is not an issue.

I am reading up on daily water requirements for adults/children and get mixed info. Any really good info sights you folks trust.

How about trying to measure how much water you and your family use in a week for essentials, then divide that by 7 to estimate how much you'll need for all of you. It might get a little tedious, but it might give you some interesting information about your water consumption and how much you'll really need to live for three days or a month rather than just survive for three days or a month.

 

[teddy12b]

Although the old saying "1 gallon per day" is a decent start what you'll drink in water depends on what you're doing that day. Before my little trip I mentioned I was rucking on flat ground and drinking 1 liter. On a tough day we literally drank 12 liters that day and were still dehydrated afterwards. I tried explaining to my wife, stack up 6 two-liter bottles and that's how much water we drank on an all day long obstacle course. Your water consumption plan shouldn't just be 1 gallon per day, per person. You should really consider that you're going to have some rough & exhausting days where you're going to blow through unbelievable amounts of water. Personally, my biggest concern with water is so much about storing it as it is about being able to filter more of it.

Most folks have a water heater with about 80 gallons give or take. Right there is a lot of water. 5 gallon military water containers from buylci.com run around $25 - or $30 last time I checked and after I had several store bought water bottles break on me I went that route because if I have to transport water to and from the source then I will want to be able to make darn sure those containers won't break.

Water starts with a water heater in the house, then a berkey filter, then backpacking filters, then quality containers for transport, then whatever form of water you want to store it in.

 

[churchmouse]

Our water heater is a 40 gallon unit and it is on the list. If we see it coming the tub will be filled and covered as well. We have decent filters on hand.
If we have issue in the summer the kids pool is 5' deep and 18' across. That is some serious reserves. If not then we are on what we have.
There are 2 property's in the area with working wells. This is a plus. But not something we are banking on.

I know that consumption varies with Temp's and activity's. The 1 gallon a day figure has come up a lot. Add to this that once we eat all the food from the Refrigerators and stop using fuel to maintain them we will be eating freeze dried survival food/canned soups and MRE's which require water (not canned soups) to prepare.

With our limited space to store and head count we can "Live" for 30 days. We can "Survive" longer with common sense and rationing.
Water is the key.

 

[teddy12b]

With that pool, I'd say you're home free. If there was ever something where you'd need that much water to get by, the world on the other end of that situation may not be worth all the effort.

 

[rhino]

Our water heater is a 40 gallon unit and it is on the list. If we see it coming the tub will be filled and covered as well. We have decent filters on hand.
If we have issue in the summer the kids pool is 5' deep and 18' across. That is some serious reserves. If not then we are on what we have.
There are 2 property's in the area with working wells. This is a plus. But not something we are banking on.

I know that consumption varies with Temp's and activity's. The 1 gallon a day figure has come up a lot. Add to this that once we eat all the food from the Refrigerators and stop using fuel to maintain them we will be eating freeze dried survival food/canned soups and MRE's which require water (not canned soups) to prepare.

With our limited space to store and head count we can "Live" for 30 days. We can "Survive" longer with common sense and rationing.
Water is the key.

I'm sure you're aware, but other people reading this might not be. If you intend to use swimming pool water for a potable water reserve, you need to consider the chemicals you're using to maintain proper sanitation for swimming. Those same chemicals are going to be an issue when you need to remove them before using the water for drinking or cooking and filtration short of reverse osmosis isn't going to help.

 

[churchmouse]

With that pool, I'd say you're home free. If there was ever something where you'd need that much water to get by, the world on the other end of that situation may not be worth all the effort.

Good point but at this stage of my life the survival of my kids/grand-kids is all that really maters to me. If I can buy them some time that is the whole point.
If infrastructure/society collapse goes out past 30 days things most likely will not be the same again. This is all scenario exercises at this point. Prepare for the worst.

 

[Rocdenindy]

Have you considered some big fans for ventilation since AC won't be a viable option?

-----------------------

At my place: I now have several days worth of water for two in 2-liter bottles where I am living now. It took some negotiation to get "permission," but I prevailed. I will slowly add to it, then cycle through it once it reaches my comfort level.

Now that the weather is cooling, fire making practice will ensue soon. I'll combine that with other fun and educational stuff like making char cloth, testing some new knives, etc. I think I'm going to a "one stick" fire my first time out. I've never done it with my own two hands, but I've practiced the individual parts like splitting the stick into smaller and smaller pieces, fuzzing a few of them, scraping some small shavings, etc. It'll be one dry piece of wood, my knife, my ferro rod, and maybe another stick to use as a baton for the splitting.

I've been practicing my knot tying lately too. I've learned that what I considered a purely ornamental knot, the "snake knot," is actually pretty useful for some practical applications. One use was finishing a new cord wrap on one of my Izulas. After I finished the wrap, I tied half dozen snake knots on the end. That served two purposes: 1) it's not going to come untied accidentally, and 2) it provides a little tail that helps use your pinky when both pulling the knife from the sheath as well as using it, almost like an extension of the handle.

Went to the grand opening of the new location of Self Reliance Outfitters last weekend. Saw some cool stuff, won an awesome raffle prize, got a stainless cup with a very nice fire steel/striker, and a few sticks of fat wood. If you look at the video (it's actually a still photo montage), you can see me receiving my prize from Dave Canterbury. He's not as tall as he looks on TV.

I am actually looking into adding a couple windows in the loft area for cross breeze ventilation and already looked into solar powered mini fans. Fire making is one of my strong suits luckily. Feather sticks are my friend and always carry more than one option. The biggest problem I have with my cabin is heat due to lack of wood stove. I have looked into them and don't/can't spend 1k on a "proper" wood stove and haven't found a reliable source about using a camp/tent stove in the cabin.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

I am actually looking into adding a couple windows in the loft area for cross breeze ventilation and already looked into solar powered mini fans. Fire making is one of my strong suits luckily. Feather sticks are my friend and always carry more than one option. The biggest problem I have with my cabin is heat due to lack of wood stove. I have looked into them and don't/can't spend 1k on a "proper" wood stove and haven't found a reliable source about using a camp/tent stove in the cabin.

I think that your major concern with either stove would be the flu pipe. You could make one out of a 55 gallon drum if you had to. There's a woodburner in the classy's for decent price, set on some fire brick or a slate base, and run your flu.

 

[teddy12b]

Good point but at this stage of my life the survival of my kids/grand-kids is all that really maters to me. If I can buy them some time that is the whole point.

I completely understand and really respect this. For me, prepping isn't about just saving my own hide so I can see how long I can personally live. If I can't help my family and some good people along the way then what's the point.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Have you considered some big fans for ventilation since AC won't be a viable option?

-----------------------

At my place: I now have several days worth of water for two in 2-liter bottles where I am living now. It took some negotiation to get "permission," but I prevailed. I will slowly add to it, then cycle through it once it reaches my comfort level.

Now that the weather is cooling, fire making practice will ensue soon. I'll combine that with other fun and educational stuff like making char cloth, testing some new knives, etc. I think I'm going to a "one stick" fire my first time out. I've never done it with my own two hands, but I've practiced the individual parts like splitting the stick into smaller and smaller pieces, fuzzing a few of them, scraping some small shavings, etc. It'll be one dry piece of wood, my knife, my ferro rod, and maybe another stick to use as a baton for the splitting.

I've been practicing my knot tying lately too. I've learned that what I considered a purely ornamental knot, the "snake knot," is actually pretty useful for some practical applications. One use was finishing a new cord wrap on one of my Izulas. After I finished the wrap, I tied half dozen snake knots on the end. That served two purposes: 1) it's not going to come untied accidentally, and 2) it provides a little tail that helps use your pinky when both pulling the knife from the sheath as well as using it, almost like an extension of the handle.

Went to the grand opening of the new location of Self Reliance Outfitters last weekend. Saw some cool stuff, won an awesome raffle prize, got a stainless cup with a very nice fire steel/striker, and a few sticks of fat wood. If you look at the video (it's actually a still photo montage), you can see me receiving my prize from Dave Canterbury. He's not as tall as he looks on TV.

 

[2in1evtime]

Wife and i have been canning potatoes and sweet potatoes, had a very abundant crop this year, still need to get the rest of the sweet potatoes dug up now. Got a new generator and installed the panel to our electrical grid, rotated canned goods and water supply also. Now wanting to check and see if it ok and possible to drill a well in our town, we have city water but would like to have a well for back up.

 

[WETSU]

The past week:

Taught some folks how to shoot safely and or better than they did before.

Worked out 4 days- weights, 11 miles of running, heavy bag w/ altitude mask.

1 range session- G19 and J frame.

Bought 300 rds 9mm

 

[bwframe]

Peter Piper...

 

[rhino]

Is that some of the salsa that you promised to my sister two and a half years ago? Hmm??

 

[bwframe]

Is that some of the salsa that you promised to my sister two and a half years ago? Hmm??

Bread and butter pickled peppers. I need to put these on the list for her too, if she likes hot stuff.

The japs were mighty hot this year. Hotter that in recent memory. I might normally pickle them by themselves, but this year 40% japs to 60% bell peppers.

It was quite a good pepper year overall. I dried a bunch also, with more dehydrating to do, if I'm on my game for the next few days.