Finding the holes in our preps

[Meerkat]

I'm sure she is a nice person....but if the power is out long enough for insulin to be a problem in that location there probably isn't a lot of point in heavily investing in backups.

I do understand what your saying. She is actually closer to Helen than Atlanta but still most of Georgia is not a good place to be in a shtf event. Still we don't have as cold of winters 'most of the time' as Georgia use to either.

 

[Neb]

Well, in engineering terms, safety is something that is built safe and is INHERENTLY safe rather than safe only if you remember to be safe.

So the proper order is "Build a system that does not allow you to use it unsafely" as the first step.

The human brain is little more than a coked up rabid monkey banging the drums. Never count on it for safety. It will let you down.

"Nothing is fool proof to a clever fool"

Ben

 

[Neb]

A root cellar can be designed to stay at 55-65F year around, if you have a mountain spring even cooler.

" If refrigeration is not possible, it can be kept at room temperature [15-25 degrees C] for 28 days. The in use vial may be kept at room temperature [15-25 degrees C] for 28 days. In use cartridges should be kept at room temperature and SHOULD NOT be kept in the refrigerator."

I can verify cold spring water. When cleaning out the spings before the backfill clearing the debris using my hand I had to stop and unfreeze my hand it was so cold.

Ben

 

[joel]

55-65F year around, world wide, earth Geothermal heating & cooling.
At the very least it is better than, no cooling at all, because of lost of power.
I agree off grid power is best, but what if that fails over time, the 55-65 is stable at eight feet.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=geothermal+cooling

 

[Supervisor42]

So the proper order is "Build a system that does not allow you to use it unsafely" as the first step.
.

That is not safe; that is what's called "fool-proof".
Dedicated testers in Alabama work tirelessly to determine the difference.
If you want a gun that is safe, you better make sure that the bullet cannot ever come out of the barrel.

 

[joel]

That is not safe; that is what's called "fool-proof".
Dedicated testers in Alabama work tirelessly to determine the difference.
If you want a gun that is safe, you better make sure that the bullet cannot ever come out of the barrel.

I agree, BUT...... a trigger lock works well.
Amazon.com No I have not bought one, yet. BUT ....... I do not have children in my home at all.

 

[SheepDog]

Guns are expensive clubs if they are disabled in any way.
Keep them loaded, keep them accessible, but most of all KEEP THEM!

 

[joel]

Gunmen are like Guard dogs:
They should be alert,observant,in control,fearless, responsive to training.
Unlike guard dogs, gunmen can put their teeth away, you own 50 guns, you do not need them all loaded.
I know persons who have guns hidden all over the house, loaded like Mrs.Smith.
That a movie theme, not real life, no one need more than one load gun per person.
My Father had eight people in the house & two loaded guns, one you needed a step ladder to reach.
So in sixty years, I have never slept with a gun, nor did I need to.
Plus it is bad for the Magazine spring to keep it to full capacity.
"expensive clubs if they are disabled in any way"
Expensive clubs can be loaded when the time comes, if you live right, you will know when it is time to load the extra guns, God help you if & when the time comes.

 

[The Lazy L]

...Plus it is bad for the Magazine spring to keep it to full capacity...

I respectfully disagree.

Marine Sniper/Engineer: Should You Keep Your Magazines Loaded? - YouTube

 

[SheepDog]

Having made springs for years there are only three things that destroy springs:
1. rust
2. heat
3. over compression or extension

keeping a magazine loaded to its maximum capacity does not over compress the spring.
As to loaded guns... There you are sitting with your wife on the couch watching her favorite movie when three thugs break into your home with guns ready. You have to get to your gun, load the magazine and then put the magazine into the gun and finally rack the slide to put a round in the chamber. Compare the time it takes you to do that to the time it takes three thugs to shoot you and your wife.

Sorry, not sorry I keep my guns accessible and loaded. Bad guys with guns are not going to give you time to do anything.

 

[joel]

Having made springs for years there are only three things that destroy springs
3. over compression or extension
Over Compression is what I am saying, we made springs in eighty.

There you are sitting with your wife on the couch watching her favorite movie when three thugs break into your home with guns ready.

First, I said more than one gun per person.
second, if any Thugs break into your home, you do not need a gun, you need a better door, in a better
neighborhood.

Sorry, not sorry I keep my guns accessible and loaded. Bad guys with guns are not going to give you time to do anything.

I was only in the SCNG for six years & I learned the rifle was your last defense, the unit, the foxhole & brain had to work first, then the rifle was used.
I never had a thug in my yard or house & a few gang members lived on my street.
They knew of my reputation & left me alone. I am sure being the redneck on the street, lead them to believe I was always armed & many saw my gi as I returned from training.
In 30 years here I never had a break in of any kind.

 

[SheepDog]

I believe I understand your view but I believe it is short sighted. I have carried a gun every day for 48 years and I have never had to use it. I also know that tomorrow I may be forced to use it. You have lived 30 years without a break-in, are you willing to accept that you might have one in the near future? How are you prepared for that?

By-the-way, I don't own 50 guns or even half that many. The guns I do own I train with constantly.

 

[Aerindel]

I respectfully disagree.

Thats very polite of you.

Nicer than I would have put it.

 

[hiwall]

Gunmen are like Guard dogs:
They should be alert,observant,in control,fearless, responsive to training.
Unlike guard dogs, gunmen can put their teeth away, you own 50 guns, you do not need them all loaded.
I know persons who have guns hidden all over the house, loaded like Mrs.Smith.
That a movie theme, not real life, no one need more than one load gun per person.
My Father had eight people in the house & two loaded guns, one you needed a step ladder to reach.
So in sixty years, I have never slept with a gun, nor did I need to.
Plus it is bad for the Magazine spring to keep it to full capacity.
"expensive clubs if they are disabled in any way"
Expensive clubs can be loaded when the time comes, if you live right, you will know when it is time to load the extra guns, God help you if & when the time comes.

I disagree with most of what you said. But that's okay. What is good for one might not be good for another.
As to springs being compressed; almost all guns have the main spring fully compressed from the time it is manufactured throughout its whole life.

 

[Neb]

I respectfully disagree.

Marine Sniper/Engineer: Should You Keep Your Magazines Loaded? - YouTube

My reaction as well.

Ben

 

[Neb]

Having made springs for years there are only three things that destroy springs:
1. rust
2. heat
3. over compression or extension

keeping a magazine loaded to its maximum capacity does not over compress the spring.
As to loaded guns... There you are sitting with your wife on the couch watching her favorite movie when three thugs break into your home with guns ready. You have to get to your gun, load the magazine and then put the magazine into the gun and finally rack the slide to put a round in the chamber. Compare the time it takes you to do that to the time it takes three thugs to shoot you and your wife.

Sorry, not sorry I keep my guns accessible and loaded. Bad guys with guns are not going to give you time to do anything.

Ditto springs

I studied metalurgy ( Material Science Engineering) and the material property that makes a spring can be changed by chemical change (rust) structural change (heat enough to anneal or temper) and exceeding the yield point (over compression).

Ben

 

[LadyLocust]

well first it was the covid scare/lockdown, then we had to quarantine, and now we had the most brutal winter storm to hit Texas in decades. so far we have came through it all relatively unscathed. the winter storm with lows of -4°f AND the rolling black outs was scary for sure. we are all electric and I never got around to prepping much for no power or heat. luckily we never lost power, just drinking water for a couple days and I was prepped for that.


if I was gonna have another heart attack it would have been then. with 4 kids in bed and super crazy temps coming and the threat of no power...I was on edge to say the least. every kid had 5 blankets on the bed and I was checking on things hourly. the house dropped to 60 degrees but that's ok. much better than 0 or -4. anyway I said never again . and now I'm filling the gaps.

picked up a 6500 watt generator used for a couple hundred bucks. runs like a champ and I'm gonna set it up to plug in the house electric system soon. it won't run heat or the oven but it will keep the icebox and deep freezer going and a few lights. we picked up a few more gas cans and filled them with stabilized fuel. then I ordered a 30000 btu propane heater and an adapter hose to ru it off a propane bottle. we picked up a buddy heater, a 1 lb bottle adapter to refill 1 lb bottles with a 20lb bottle and we have some cook tops and lanterns. it's a start.

We had that set up at our place up the river. Be sure to flip the main before firing up the generator or like @angie_nrs said, could be bad. Our power went out on a semi regular basis so it was very handy. We also had wood heat like @hashbrown mentioned. (Our power went out all seasons). On the generator, if moving it or have it in the back of a rig traveling, be sure the carb. has no fuel in it. Someone mentioned running it out of gas each time - guess I'm agreeing.
I have a question about refilling the small propane tanks though. I see the pix of the regulator - is that what you are using to refill them? Can you (or someone) share more on that please?
As far as holes in preps: where can I pick up some spare sanity? Dealing with stupidity is evidently not my forte. A few frustrations in that we are only renting this house until we find property to purchase so our hands are tied as far as the structure is concerned. I can't tell you how much I miss wood heat and being able to cook on it also. That's a big hole.

 

[JamesY]

We had that set up at our place up the river. Be sure to flip the main before firing up the generator or like @angie_nrs said, could be bad. Our power went out on a semi regular basis so it was very handy. We also had wood heat like @hashbrown mentioned. (Our power went out all seasons). On the generator, if moving it or have it in the back of a rig traveling, be sure the carb. has no fuel in it. Someone mentioned running it out of gas each time - guess I'm agreeing.
I have a question about refilling the small propane tanks though. I see the pix of the regulator - is that what you are using to refill them? Can you (or someone) share more on that please?
As far as holes in preps: where can I pick up some spare sanity? Dealing with stupidity is evidently not my forte. A few frustrations in that we are only renting this house until we find property to purchase so our hands are tied as far as the structure is concerned. I can't tell you how much I miss wood heat and being able to cook on it also. That's a big hole.

 

[JamesY]

got this in. now just waiting for the regulator and hose to come in. the ones I had were too high of a pressure. needed one that would provide 12 inches of water column

 

[kd4ulw]

I have a question about refilling the small propane tanks though. I see the pix of the regulator - is that what you are using to refill them? Can you (or someone) share more on that please?

There is a small adapter that you can hook up to your 20 pound propane tank that will attach to the 1 pound bottles to refill them.
Not the hose with the regulator.

 

[LadyLocust]

There is a small adapter that you can hook up to your 20 pound propane tank that will attach to the 1 pound bottles to refill them.
Not the hose with the regulator.
View attachment 60404

Thanks! You guys are awesome! I knew there had to be a way (legal or otherwise )

 

[dademoss]

There is a small adapter that you can hook up to your 20 pound propane tank that will attach to the 1 pound bottles to refill them.
Not the hose with the regulator.
View attachment 60404

 

[LadyLocust]

View attachment 60408

Awesome! Thanks.

 

[joel]

My two portable cook stoves are using one pound bottles.
Thanks.

 

[Neb]

got this in. now just waiting for the regulator and hose to come in. the ones I had were too high of a pressure. needed one that would provide 12 inches of water columnView attachment 60403

That looks like my propane heater. I call it my little buddy that follows me around with that nice warm grin

Ben

 

[LadyLocust]

One other tidbit that kinda fits here: in the book "The Good Life Lab" the fella is electrically inclined and told how to do things like add a thermostat to a crockpot so you can control the temp and how to recharge mostly dead batteries (like car batteries) to bring them back to life etc. I read the book via the library but didn't purchase it so can't tell you what he did.

 

[hiwall]

I don't refill my one pound bottles because they are the exact correct size to shoot out of my largest cannon. They look great flying through the air.

 

[SheepDog]

One thing I want to correct. There should never be any air in a propane tank!
They are tested using dry nitrogen which is purged when the tanks are full. The stuff bleeding out of those tanks is vaporized propane.
If you have air in a propane tank it is a bomb looking for an ignition source.
The pressure in the tank keeps the propane a liquid. When you open the valve it escapes as a gas unless the liquid covers the outage valve or it has a tube that sits just off the bottom of a tank. Tanks with tubes are for liquid withdrawal (usually DOT tanks) but most RV tanks don't have tubes (vapor withdrawal). Most of the tanks I worked with were liquid withdrawal for use in engines and they use a separate vaporizer (heated by the engine coolant) and regulator. I am relegated to using vapor withdrawal tanks now so if you want to transfer between tanks the full tank is turned upside down and the tank to be filled is upside up but placed below the full tank. I use a hose adapter but there is no regulator on the hose.
I can use a 5 gallon tank with my torches without issue or I can fill the smaller tanks and use them with my torches.

 

[Caribou]

After a number of refills the seal on the 1lb tank will go bad. I keep a torch head handy and screw it on when that happens to save the fuel. It's not frequent but it does happen.

 

[LadyLocust]

I don't refill my one pound bottles because they are the exact correct size to shoot out of my largest cannon. They look great flying through the air.

Eh, hem! And you lost the invitation for me to attend the Big Bang. That would be sooo fun!