Preparations Update

[musketjim]

Received my concealed carry permit, while not required in AK, it's something I've wanted for awhile. I've been able to find ammo here and there for my next goal. A company up here offers defensive handgun I and II. It takes a lot of ammo to gain skills though. We stopped in today to fill our boat and give it a quick look over and hopefully in a couple weeks make our first boat trip to bol. I was able to get the wife in 2x this winter with our machine. It's the first time she's been in 2x in one winter. My next goal is my HAM radio license.

 

[LadyLocust]

We don't do tons of grains, but when we do, it has to be organic so Hubby can eat it. Since I heard grains are on the same track as so many things and have been climbing in price and scarcity, I ordered some organic pasta and brown rice which arrived today. I have it partially "put up." I am putting it in jars and vacuum sealing it.

 

[kd4ulw]

Installed a 30 Watt solar panel to my CRV. Will keep the main battery or any added ones topped off if using the Ham radios or whatever and not running the engine. Looks like I’m getting around 1.5 amps max, doesn’t take too long to go to float charge.

 

[Neb]

Installed a 30 Watt solar panel to my CRV. Will keep the main battery or any added ones topped off if using the Ham radios or whatever and not running the engine. Looks like I’m getting around 1.5 amps max, doesn’t take too long to go to float charge.

View attachment 65972

Nice.

Installing it in the luggage rack obscures the panel from a casual eye.

Can you still use that part of the rack?

Ben

 

[Caribou]

Excellent setup with the light bars and all.

 

[Meerkat]

Excellent setup with the light bars and all.

Car I'd like those on my van,but its a 1995 so it may retire on us anyday now so guess not.

 

[Caribou]

Car I'd like those on my van,but its a 1995 so it may retire on us anyday now so guess not.

You might consider a prep of another vehicle. I don't like the new cars so I'd personally go with a major rebuild of a vehicle I liked. A remanufactured engine, transmission, and rear end and the drive train is new. Redo the brakes and you are good to go. You don't need to do everything at once.

 

[Meerkat]

You might consider a prep of another vehicle. I don't like the new cars so I'd personally go with a major rebuild of a vehicle I liked. A remanufactured engine, transmission, and rear end and the drive train is new. Redo the brakes and you are good to go. You don't need to do everything at once.

Your right Car,we don't need another vehivle with the bells and whistles ,just more things to fix when it goes out. Plus Ilike my van.
Won't have to worry about getting robbed,thats for sure,.We put a bed in and always had a potty so no stopping on trips. We get 400 miles per tank of gas.We can even make coffee going down the road with out propane burner.A motor or trans would be cheaper than a new old van for sure.Plus no telling whats wrong with it,Hubby knows this one inside and out.

 

[Meerkat]

You might consider a prep of another vehicle. I don't like the new cars so I'd personally go with a major rebuild of a vehicle I liked. A remanufactured engine, transmission, and rear end and the drive train is new. Redo the brakes and you are good to go. You don't need to do everything at once.

@Car @Supervisor42 What do yall think of RoadMaster roll over prevention? I fast forwarded video to place showing how they work.

 

[Supervisor42]

@Car @Supervisor42 What do yall think of RoadMaster roll over prevention? I fast forwarded video to place showing how they work.

Inherent nature of the beast.
These are not sports cars.
You just need someone that knows how to drive a van (especially with a load).
I destroyed one laying it over in a ditch to save the lives of 2 idiots.
If I hadn't, someone would have died that day. Nobody was hurt but the van. It died.
The last one I had, (which I did not destroy ), had a rolling weight of 8300 lbs.
On topic: Far more important in my book (and less expensive), is a top air-vent/escape-hatch on the roof.
You see them on every school bus today.
If a van lays over on the right side, how do you get out?
Open the driver's door by pushing it straight up?
Hope you aren't injured because you ain't.
Now, think about the growing pool of gasoline underneath you and have the correct answer fast.
(hint: No, you aren't kicking out the windshield, and the back doors are blocked by everything you are carrying)

 

[kd4ulw]

Nice.

Installing it in the luggage rack obscures the panel from a casual eye.

Can you still use that part of the rack?

Not really unless it lays across the top of the frame, but the rack is long so there is room for ‘stuff’ in the other area. I did get a supposedly waterproof nylon cargo bag just in case I needed extra storage on a trip and I guess lightweight items could go on top of the panel if need be.

 

[Neb]

Not really unless it lays across the top of the frame, but the rack is long so there is room for ‘stuff’ in the other area. I did get a supposedly waterproof nylon cargo bag just in case I needed extra storage on a trip and I guess lightweight items could go on top of the panel if need be.

Just a thought...

A piece of plywood to cover the solar panel if you ever choose to put anything on top of it to reduce the possibilites of cracking. The cells in a solar panel are often wired in series which means the current output of the panel is limited by the the weakest cell. One crack in one cell could diminish the power of the entire panel.

Ben

 

[viking]

Inherent nature of the beast.
These are not sports cars.
You just need someone that knows how to drive a van (especially with a load).
I destroyed one laying it over in a ditch to save the lives of 2 idiots.
If I hadn't, someone would have died that day. Nobody was hurt but the van. It died.
The last one I had, (which I did not destroy ), had a rolling weight of 8300 lbs.
On topic: Far more important in my book (and less expensive), is a top air-vent/escape-hatch on the roof.
You see them on every school bus today.
If a van lays over on the right side, how do you get out?
Open the driver's door by pushing it straight up?
Hope you aren't injured because you ain't.
Now, think about the growing pool of gasoline underneath you and have the correct answer fast.
(hint: No, you aren't kicking out the windshield, and the back doors are blocked by everything you are carrying)

Excellent advice, how many people think about this?

 

[Sourdough]

Well........I am back building my "Mother" of All Meat Poles. I think I have settled on having it 17 feet above ground level so my 14 foot tall Grizzly Bears have to reach for a free snack.

 

[Supervisor42]

Excellent advice, how many people think about this?

The ones that are fried extra-crispy don't think about it for very long .
Did you guess the correct answer in less than 4 minutes?

 

[Caribou]

Well........I am back building my "Mother" of All Meat Poles. I think I have settled on having it 17 feet above ground level so my 14 foot tall Grizzly Bears have to reach for a free snack.

When you say 14', how are you measuring that. I'm 6' but I can reach 8' without jumping.

 

[Meerkat]

Inherent nature of the beast.
These are not sports cars.
You just need someone that knows how to drive a van (especially with a load).
I destroyed one laying it over in a ditch to save the lives of 2 idiots.
If I hadn't, someone would have died that day. Nobody was hurt but the van. It died.
The last one I had, (which I did not destroy ), had a rolling weight of 8300 lbs.
On topic: Far more important in my book (and less expensive), is a top air-vent/escape-hatch on the roof.
You see them on every school bus today.
If a van lays over on the right side, how do you get out?
Open the driver's door by pushing it straight up?
Hope you aren't injured because you ain't.
Now, think about the growing pool of gasoline underneath you and have the correct answer fast.
(hint: No, you aren't kicking out the windshield, and the back doors are blocked by everything you are carrying)

Just wondering what you thought about the Road Master to help control the rollover.
If it was a boat I'd ask Caribou but since your a mechanic I ask you.

 

[Bacpacker]

Installed a 30 Watt solar panel to my CRV. Will keep the main battery or any added ones topped off if using the Ham radios or whatever and not running the engine. Looks like I’m getting around 1.5 amps max, doesn’t take too long to go to float charge.

View attachment 65972

This post got me thinking. I see a lot of trucks around here that have roof racks for storage and such, that would be goo for mounting a Solar panel and radio antennas. Storage wouldn't be a major deal for me with a PU. But I really like the antenna mount and solar possibilities.

 

[Supervisor42]

Just wondering what you thought about the Road Master to help control the rollover.
If it was a boat I'd ask Caribou but since your a mechanic I ask you.

I don't want to be negative. If an active stability system would help, we would have had them on ours by 2004.
Vans are tall and inherently top-heavy. If you are going 50+mph and yank the wheel, they are going to lay over.
It has to do with the tires. (notice how close the rim on the rear tire is to the ground in the picture for the video). Suspension cannot correct for this.
You didn't make a guess how you would get out in my scenario?
If you don't think of it in 4 minutes, maybe the van should have one of these on the roof:

Not trapped anymore.

 

[kd4ulw]

But I really like the antenna mount and solar possibilities.

One of the things I had to keep in mind was if it would fit in the garage! Other than that it’s a great place to mount an antenna, would also check that it is well grounded to the body of the vehicle.

 

[Bacpacker]

One of the things I had to keep in mind was if it would fit in the garage! Other than that it’s a great place to mount an antenna, would also check that it is well grounded to the body of the vehicle.

Fold over antennas are great for getting around that. Comet has some good products for that.

Dual-Band | Comet Antenna

 

[Hardcalibres]

This post got me thinking. I see a lot of trucks around here that have roof racks for storage and such, that would be goo for mounting a Solar panel and radio antennas. Storage wouldn't be a major deal for me with a PU. But I really like the antenna mount and solar possibilities.

Yep - all homesteaders and prepared people should either mount solar panels on vehicles (that they can) or have solar panels inside that can be (setup outside when needed and) used to recharge a flat battery or run gear.

Bear in mind that flat mounted panels will perform at lower output than their rating almost all the time due to suboptimal orientation to the incoming sunlight. Ground mount portable panels can be used to track the sun and get the most the panels can provide.

All my offroad vehicles have panels.

The camper trailer I am setting up has 680W of solar on the roof, 460W of ground mount panels and 600W on the roof of the tow vehicle. Combine that with 500Ah of LiPO4 batteries, a 3000W inverter and a good management system, and it is an offgrid cabin on wheels.

 

[angie_nrs]

We spent a lot of time and money getting our want list organized and taken care of. I have several orders out and received several more. I even ordered fireworks since most (if not all) of those things come from China. I'm thinking those things will soon dry up and become unavailable. I wouldn't be surprised if trade to and from China soon come to a screeching halt. I found a good price, so I stocked up for a few years.

We bought a new genie for the camper and stocked up on oils and maintenance products for it too. We will use the old genie for a shed we have that can accomodate overnight visitors. I have been stocking up on things to make the 'she shed' more comfortable. We still have a lot to do to make it a home, but it is coming along nicely. Hopefully it will be completed to the point of accomodating visitors by mid summer.

I went shopping to pick up some more sale items. Over the counter meds were BOGO, so I added to my stock of headache meds and PM meds. I don't really need them, but they would be great barter items even if they were out dated. I also bought 10 more tubs of coffee. The sale was just too good to pass up, and they were just sitting on the shelf begging me to take them home.

My new berkey should be delivered any day now. I'm thinking I should probably go ahead and buy another one for the 'she shed' since the one I just bought will go for a Christmas gift. Or maybe it would be good just to have one as a backup.

We topped off the gas cans since we don't see fuel prices going anywhere but up.

I have another trip scheduled to town this week to stock up on more sales.

 

[Tank-Girl]

I just culled one of the noisiest of the duck-ups.
I breasted her out and kept the legs and thighs whole and the rest are dog food.

Yeah I'm bitter about this whole experience.
All that money, time, food and water and lack of sleep because these creatures never sleep and go off like a bomb at 3 in the morning spent on these resource black holes.
And to top it all off.....I got next to no flesh off the breast, legs or thighs.
All of this for....THAT!!!
NEVER AGAIN.

 

[Tootsie]

Tank Girl, you may have gotten some ‘bad’ ones, or maybe it was the breed. We had ducks for years as pets and bug control, and they were a joy. Muscovy, Runners, and others. But then, we got ‘that one’.... 3 actually, Rhoens, and they were loud, nasty, and mean. Killed chickens and the other ducks. We thanked the fox that got them, in time. No more for us, either, after that.

 

[LadyLocust]

Just thought of one more thing I am hoping to order tonight- candle wicking. I have some since I dip my own candles, but will get more to have on hand. Doesn’t go bad.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Stocked up on 1lb jugs of spices.
Bought two 1lb jugs of Mrs dash
Also got 100 packets each of No Sodium chicken and beef bouillon. You can't find it here in my area. Low Sodium yes but not the No Sodium. Now I can have the flavor without the salt.
Added 100 lbs of dry dog food. Those are in a metal barrel with a tight lid
Considering buying more sugar(s). I could use some more brown and powdered sugars
Also more salt. Plain and Iodized and Sea Salt
Added extra vitamins and supplements that I take
Big can of olive oil. I use it a lot so it won't have a chance to go bad

 

[LadyLocust]

Stocked up on 1lb jugs of spices.
Bought two 1lb jugs of Mrs dash
Also got 100 packets each of No Sodium chicken and beef bouillon. You can't find it here in my area. Low Sodium yes but not the No Sodium. Now I can have the flavor without the salt.
Added 100 lbs of dry dog food. Those are in a metal barrel with a tight lid
Considering buying more sugar(s). I could use some more brown and powdered sugars
Also more salt. Plain and Iodized and Sea Salt
Added extra vitamins and supplements that I take
Big can of olive oil. I use it a lot so it won't have a chance to go bad

Sugars last indefinitely if properly stored and can't have too much salt - might add Epsom and pickling salt also. Good list!

I got my wicks ordered today.

 

[angie_nrs]

Hubs was looking for something to do today and was outdoors while I was having a lazy Sunday inside on the computer and doing dishes and cleaning up. When I went out to see what he was doing, he was half way through making a raised bed for a small garden. We have tomato plants that need a permanent home that we bought last weekend. They were starting to wilt and look sad in their containers. He got the bed done with the dirt in while I worked on some other chores. When he was done, I raked and weeded the bed and planted the tomatoes. I may have to cover them a few times since it's kinda early to plant, but that's OK. Oh, how I LOVE that man! I wasn't really planning on doing that today so it was a nice surprise. We've never tried a raised bed garden before, so I hope it works out.

While I was tinkering on the computer, I bought a spare Berkey and filters too. I also bought some more generator supplies b/c they won't go bad and we'll eventually need them so I figured I might as well get them now.

Last week I was able to nab some deals on vitamins and supplements and got those put away. I also found a couple pairs of hikers for me that were on sale. They are super comfy. I don't wear hikers often, but we are in the woods quite a bit in the spring and fall so they will come in handy and help protect my ankles from injury.

 

[Meerkat]

Fold over antennas are great for getting around that. Comet has some good products for that.

Dual-Band | Comet Antenna

BacP we have thought about solar on van roof but that means more weight for extra weight for battery bank.We don't travel enough now anyway. We still have our solar packed away yall helped me with at Prepared Society. Never set it up.Been packed away for several years now.