Anyone had group of 100+ for more than 10 years?

[wheresclair]

Dave, very good draw thank you!! You have very much space and many things I did not see before I will ask you for about! Yes we have big pump now. Just to much of the water. It is good idea for the low wall because some of the water comes from field but I think also comes from under shelter. This could be always going to be problem.

 

[Dave V]

Clair, it sounds like the pictures helped to explain things better. When they moved the container, it left that big space so we could access the stairs up to the school passageway. (You can see the light from the staircase opening to the left of where the container is now missing.) What was amazing is that they moved that massive container without knocking all the furniture around. It wasn’t my container, but the family that owns it couldn’t get here in time to either take some things out or stabilize everything to their satisfaction. They were VERY concerned we were going to destroy all their stuff and I stupidly said I would personally replace anything damaged…fortunately nothing was even knocked off of the walls! There were advantages to them living right next to the grocery/infirmary entrances, but now they’re nearer to the “Retail Row” where the food court is! It’s all good!

We DO mount a lot of stuff including a cellular repeater and antennas including CB, HF Shortwave, Satellite, and Yagi. We don’t put any solar panels on top of the parking decks as they could be easily swiped, but here’s a picture from one of the adjacent store rooftops. You can see we literally used every free space except for places to walk and where the HVAC units sit. Any raised panels are bolted in, but the bulk of the panels sit directly on the rooftops mounted in brackets that are held in place by the weight of the concrete blocks (you can see if you look carefully.) Also, panels have wind guards on the high sides to prevent wind lift which is important in our location. We thought freezers were not possible because they used too much power, but now we have more than we can use, so we’re looking into the possibility of some walk in freezers which will be a game changer in long term preservation and the types of food we can eat.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

This rain all time is killing my spirit. This month we have had sun only maybe 2 days. We are so depressed.

Be sure to take a couple of vitamin D3 every single day, okay? Without sunshine your body really does need it. Help keeps a really bad covid at bay too.

 

[lonewolf]

Back to the original topic, I dont even know 100 people. And far fewer that I actually like.

I have not known 100 people my entire life.
a group of 100 is too many people there are bound to be some odd nuts in a group that size and trying to feed and water that number is going to be an impossible task, no way would I want to get involved in so big a group, no way you could trust that many people.

 

[Disturbed1970]

I have not known 100 people my entire life.
a group of 100 is too many people there are bound to be some odd nuts in a group that size and trying to feed and water that number is going to be an impossible task, no way would I want to get involved in so big a group, no way you could trust that many people.

That's a pretty definitive statement. What do you base that off of? Vetting is a thing. Location matters, as well as footprint, when it comes to food and water production.

We're on our third generation of people in our group. Two of which have been part of it since birth, or close to it.

Just because you don't know 100 people, let alone 100 who aren't scumbags, doesn't mean nobody else does.

 

[Dave V]

Arcticdude said:
Back to the original topic, I dont even know 100 people. And far fewer that I actually like.

I have not known 100 people my entire life.

And not many of us have lived for 12 years without electricity and other modern comforts like you have BigPaul !
Any group would be lucky to have your skills, but I understand you'd rather go as solo as possible. To each their own!

Yep, the original topic was indeed “Anyone had group of 100+ for more than 10 years?”
and I have enjoyed hearing about Clair’s amazing work underground in a frickin sinkhole!!! as well as Disturbed1970’s fantastic rural community.

I don’t expect it, but it would be nice to also hear from some of the big money operations like Vivos Group, Mar-a-Lago, or xPoint.

Hell, it would be cool if there was a former employee of government facilities like Greenbrier, Raven Rock, or Mount Weather that would chime in about some of their specifics that might apply to the rest of us – large and small groups alike! But as I said, I don’t really expect it.

What I expect is, we’ll all just keep plugging on, each at our own rate and improve as much as we can. If we never have to deploy long term, we’ll still be better people for the skills we had to learn and for the relationships we developed along the way.

 

[lonewolf]

That's a pretty definitive statement. What do you base that off of? Vetting is a thing. Location matters, as well as footprint, when it comes to food and water production.

We're on our third generation of people in our group. Two of which have been part of it since birth, or close to it.

Just because you don't know 100 people, let alone 100 who aren't scumbags, doesn't mean nobody else does.

I base that statement on personal experience and human nature, , might be okay in the here and now but a group of 100 in a post SHTF world is going to be something else, without the supply chain any group that size is going to be hard pressed to grow and harvest enough food also a group of that size will draw attention from anyone outside the group, no way you can hide a group that size.

 

[erqueen75]

And not many of us have lived for 12 years without electricity and other modern comforts like you have BigPaul !
Any group would be lucky to have your skills, but I understand you'd rather go as solo as possible. To each their own!

Yep, the original topic was indeed “Anyone had group of 100+ for more than 10 years?”
and I have enjoyed hearing about Clair’s amazing work underground in a frickin sinkhole!!! as well as Disturbed1970’s fantastic rural community.

I don’t expect it, but it would be nice to also hear from some of the big money operations like Vivos Group, Mar-a-Lago, or xPoint.

Hell, it would be cool if there was a former employee of government facilities like Greenbrier, Raven Rock, or Mount Weather that would chime in about some of their specifics that might apply to the rest of us – large and small groups alike! But as I said, I don’t really expect it.

What I expect is, we’ll all just keep plugging on, each at our own rate and improve as much as we can. If we never have to deploy long term, we’ll still be better people for the skills we had to learn and for the relationships we developed along the way.

Heck yea it would...

 

[lonewolf]

I dont know if its just Britain, but I have tried organising prepper meets and I've tried organising prepper groups, and it dosent work, not over here anyway, oh you get the promises of turning up, they dont, then you get all the excuses afterwards, its just not worth the time and hassle.
I am sure that in Britain it will be family "units" post SHTF and more lone wolf's or lone wolfs +1, large groups arent going to work over here, too many ego's at work, too much chatter and too little work, and too many sheeple that believe "nothing bad will happen" or just have too busy a life to care.
a group of 100 just wouldnt work here, for a lot of reasons.

 

[Disturbed1970]

I base that statement on personal experience and human nature, , might be okay in the here and now but a group of 100 in a post SHTF world is going to be something else, without the supply chain any group that size is going to be hard pressed to grow and harvest enough food also a group of that size will draw attention from anyone outside the group, no way you can hide a group that size.

There are very few places CONUS where you will be able to hide for long. Once you're found, you can try to defend yourself with that tiny group, or do it with a much larger one.

That small group means that everyone has a job they have to be doing constantly, which means fatigue, and deprivation if they have to stop for any period of time.

My group spent a huge amount of time at the BOL, this past year. Minimum for anyone was 2 months, some were there for the entire year. Outside of internet signal, phone service, and a habdful of luxury items (candy for the kids, mass-produced booze, etc), EVERYTHING consumed was produced on our property. Our stores weren't even touched.

The closest town of any size to us is over 5 miles away, the closest major road is the same distance. We've spent over 20 years building a 100% self-sufficient community, and have tested our sustainability numerous times. I promise you, we aren't the only group who can say that. I can also promise you, there are groups larger than ours, who are even better at it than we are.

 

[lonewolf]

There are very few places CONUS where you will be able to hide for long. Once you're found, you can try to defend yourself with that tiny group, or do it with a much larger one.

That small group means that everyone has a job they have to be doing constantly, which means fatigue, and deprivation if they have to stop for any period of time.

My group spent a huge amount of time at the BOL, this past year. Minimum for anyone was 2 months, some were there for the entire year. Outside of internet signal, phone service, and a habdful of luxury items (candy for the kids, mass-produced booze, etc), EVERYTHING consumed was produced on our property. Our stores weren't even touched.

The closest town of any size to us is over 5 miles away, the closest major road is the same distance. We've spent over 20 years building a 100% self-sufficient community, and have tested our sustainability numerous times. I promise you, we aren't the only group who can say that. I can also promise you, there are groups larger than ours, who are even better at it than we are.

please see my previous post #129.

 

[wheresclair]

I have the good news. We now have all the water liquid out but still the water mud is at bottom. it is to much to use the bucket to remove and we will need wait for bottom to dry some with big fans. I think the water mud can not stay. We will need to remove. Too deep for small machine to carry down. Do anyone have ideas for remove the water mud?

 

[Proud Prepper]

I have the good news. We now have all the water liquid out but still the water mud is at bottom. it is to much to use the bucket to remove and we will need wait for bottom to dry some with big fans. I think the water mud can not stay. We will need to remove. Too deep for small machine to carry down. Do anyone have ideas for remove the water mud?

A sludge pump. They make bigger ones for high solids.

https://www.amazon.com/Allegro-Indu...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932713254060&psc=1

 

[wheresclair]

Serious?! That is real thing??Wow, it is!
https://www.machinio.com/mud-pumps/germany?page=2#resultsThe Bentec would be very nice but to much.
Maybe the Warman? We can find the motor.

 

[wheresclair]

Engineer friend says 21 meter may be to much high to pump sludge unless add back liquid. That would be hurtful after we work so hard to remove liquid but maybe it is the way we must do this?

 

[Dave V]

Clair,
Maybe the water is added inside the pump to maintain suction?
Here's the Warman manual in English. If you download it, you can drag it into Google translate. Maybe show it to your engineer before you consider buying it?
https://www.pumpfundamentals.com/slurry/Warman_slurry_pumping.pdf

 

[wheresclair]

Thanks to all for the idea but we are going to use our lift platform to bring up the buckets. The machines could be very good but they are to much money right now. We have 18 guys with shovels and me to, so it may take a lot of time, but we are hard workers and we will get it all out the hard way. My hands are not feeling so well. I need gooder gloves!

 

[tmttactical]

Engineer friend says 21 meter may be to much high to pump sludge unless add back liquid. That would be hurtful after we work so hard to remove liquid but maybe it is the way we must do this?

Form a bucket brigade with the pumps. Pump up 7 meters into a small holding tank. then using a second pump and another small holding tank, pump the sludge up another 7 meters. using a third pump, pump up the sludge the final distance. Using three pumps and two small holding tanks, you can over come the high head pressure.

 

[Dave V]

Clair,
I was responding to your email, but I realized I think you were trying to post to the forum (probably answering
tmttactical,) not email me. Look carefully!

 

[wheresclair]

Yes, very stupid! I was sending to wrong place! Here is from email - I am not usual this stupid - sorry!
Thank you tmttactical, it is a good idea but and it will be to much money for even 1 big pump that can do the sludge. We can already see the progress just a lot of hard work can do. It is good we have motor for lift because I could not do the lifting of that many buckets of mud up the stairs! Thank you again.

 

[Dave V]

Yes, very stupid! I was sending to wrong place! Here is from email - I am not usual this stupid - sorry!
Thank you tmttactical, it is a good idea but and it will be to much money for even 1 big pump that can do the sludge. We can already see the progress just a lot of hard work can do. It is good we have motor for lift because I could not do the lifting of that many buckets of mud up the stairs! Thank you again.

Sometimes the best answer is hard work!

 

[wheresclair]

Yes, if we work hard we will be done in couple more days!

 

[Dave V]

Clair,
How is the sludge doing, are you halfway done yet?!
How are your hands doing? Did you get some gloves?

 

[Dave V]

Dear Diary,
September 29 of 2021,
Solar Storms could really tear our post-pandemic world a sizeable new a-hole it seems? Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse
- DM

DM, great article !
We just recently updated our entire solar farm across multiple rooftops. It was a very expensive upgrade but we went ahead and purchased one entire extra rooftop array that we have in storage inside our Faraday-caged facility.
We also purchased extra inverters, a ton of solar connector cables, and some extra controllers since those are most likely what will get fried by a CME or EMP. I can't claim we're "ready" yet, but we're a lot better off now than we were a year ago.

 

[wheresclair]

Dave, yes I got the really padded gloves! Much much better!
Also, I can not count number of solar cells on your roof - it is so much you can give the electricity to all a small city! Maybe you can send to me your extra rooftop array - just kid I know you can not! If you have 9 rooftops with all those solar, you must have million US dollars? Yes?

 

[Dave V]

Nope, can't send you our spares, but it is going to be a while before you could use that much solar anyway, right?
To sort of address your question about cost, yes it is all very expensive and probably more than you imagine. Fortunately, some of our full-time staff are stock market professionals and also programmers. They are charged with investing about a third of our funds. This has been such a fantastic stock market year and between their manual trades and their algorithmic trades using a program they've developed that makes trades automatically, they have made enough to pay for our HVAC and solar upgrades with cash to spare. The next big/expensive project will be an overhaul of our fresh/gray/waste water systems. That will include adding a lot more capacity and will require a lot of excavation. Expensive but necessary.

 

[wheresclair]

Darn, is that OK to say on here?
You are correct, we can not do much solar right now for many of the reasons.
We have one big tank plastic for the water and we filter rain so it is very full now.
Still not done with the sludges but soon!
Maybe if I send you computer you can make it into money machine and send back?!
Then we can do many projects! Yes?

 

[Dave V]

Darn, is that OK to say on here?
Maybe if I send you computer you can make it into money machine and send back?!

Clair,
I don't think we can do that.
If you are familiar with any old US TV programs...
as Al would say: "I don't think so Tim!"
And then of course there's that good one from "2001: A Space Odyssey"
HAL 9000: "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"
I'm pretty sure Jayson can provide us with awesome animated gifs of the above!

We currently have 2 blade servers dedicated only to trading and each has 4 VMs with different versions of their programs running. The 2 servers compete for profit. Currently, one is about 530K in front of the other, but they jockey back and forth as the different programmers tweak their programs. One of the 8 programs has a clear lead, but several are catching it.

Great you already have a big tank for water! If that's your drinking water, you may eventually want to add a waste water tank and another for gray water. Having 3 separate systems will save you a lot of grief in the future!

 

[Dave V]

I guess there's a reason I have water on my mind. Today was really exciting for me, I felt like it was Christmas!

Until now we've dealt with clusters of mismatched 500 and 1000 gallon tanks inside the 6000 psi trench that runs the front-most width of the parking deck. The concrete trench is wide, almost 20 feet deep, and was built for the purpose of carrying the huge weight of our drinking water, gray water, and waste water tanks. The trench is capped at ground level with steel road plates.

Today the first nine of our order of 75 vertical water tanks arrived!
The new tanks are 5000 gallon behemoths that are each almost 9 feet wide and almost 15 feet high. As we remove the remaining old 1000 gallon tanks, the new tanks are being placed in rows of three.
Eventually there will be 25 rows of three tanks extending away from the parking deck, each with access rows of about 3 feet running between tanks.

We have to be super careful with lowering the tanks…they are quite heavy, leveling them, and then connecting the new plumbing. We are slated to complete the work before Halloween if there are no serious delays. The steel plates are only removed as needed, and once each set of plates is replaced, we start filling the tanks directly below if they are tanks designated for fresh water. This way, we never have a diminished capacity in case Murphy's Law decided that the day we had less water, was the day the SHTF! From the lower level access entrances, we’ve been working on cleaning up the trench and adding new LED lighting for about a month, so hopefully we won’t be working in the dark at any point?!

Clair, just thinking about your long term water problem, I don’t recall if I ever asked you about the PSI (Pounds per Square inch) of your poured concrete. I believe you need to use a PSI exceeding 4400 PSI to have non‐permeable (waterproof) concrete. I know there are probably lots of ways to waterproof the floor of your sinkhole, but if you can afford it and the water is really mostly coming from below, that might be one of your easiest options. Pour, float, pour, float and eventually you'll have a good floor. But I could be wrong, I'll check with one of the engineers and see what they think. I've seen a lot of concrete poured, but I don't want to steer you wrong!

 

[Proud Prepper]

I guess there's a reason I have water on my mind. Today was really exciting for me, I felt like it was Christmas!

Until now we've dealt with clusters of mismatched 500 and 1000 gallon tanks inside the 6000 psi trench that runs the front-most width of the parking deck. The concrete trench is wide, almost 20 feet deep, and was built for the purpose of carrying the huge weight of our drinking water, gray water, and waste water tanks. The trench is capped at ground level with steel road plates.

Today the first nine of our order of 75 vertical water tanks arrived!
The new tanks are 5000 gallon behemoths that are each almost 9 feet wide and almost 15 feet high. As we remove the remaining old 1000 gallon tanks, the new tanks are being placed in rows of three.
Eventually there will be 25 rows of three tanks extending away from the parking deck, each with access rows of about 3 feet running between tanks.

We have to be super careful with lowering the tanks…they are quite heavy, leveling them, and then connecting the new plumbing. We are slated to complete the work before Halloween if there are no serious delays. The steel plates are only removed as needed, and once each set of plates is replaced, we start filling the tanks directly below if they are tanks designated for fresh water. This way, we never have a diminished capacity in case Murphy's Law decided that the day we had less water, was the day the SHTF! From the lower level access entrances, we’ve been working on cleaning up the trench and adding new LED lighting for about a month, so hopefully we won’t be working in the dark at any point?!

Clair, just thinking about your long term water problem, I don’t recall if I ever asked you about the PSI (Pounds per Square inch) of your poured concrete. I believe you need to use a PSI exceeding 4400 PSI to have non‐permeable (waterproof) concrete. I know there are probably lots of ways to waterproof the floor of your sinkhole, but if you can afford it and the water is really mostly coming from below, that might be one of your easiest options. Pour, float, pour, float and eventually you'll have a good floor. But I could be wrong, I'll check with one of the engineers and see what they think. I've seen a lot of concrete poured, but I don't want to steer you wrong!

Wow, I'd like to see that setup. Its massive.