This weeks preps check-in

[Maverick]

Adding more supplies to the existing stock

Ordered
12 gamma seal lids
10 food grade 6gal buckets
8 boxes of 6 double doodie plus with bio gel
2 cases of 6 emergency essentials 115hr candles
4 packages of 36 energizer AA
6 packages of 24 energizer AAA
4 packages of 8 energizer D
2 packages of 12 lithium cr123a
1 case of 244 emergency candles
2 boxes of 10 6" 12hr green snaplights
8 8oz propane/isobutane four season blend canisters

 

[Proud Prepper]

Adding more supplies to the existing stock

Ordered
12 gamma seal lids
10 food grade 6gal buckets
8 boxes of 6 double doodie plus with bio gel
2 cases of 6 emergency essentials 115hr candles
4 packages of 36 energizer AA
6 packages of 24 energizer AAA
4 packages of 8 energizer D
2 packages of 12 lithium cr123a
1 case of 244 emergency candles
2 boxes of 10 6" 12hr green snaplights
8 8oz propane/isobutane four season blend canisters

Maverick, I assume alkaline batteries, why so many? Wht not use all rechargeable batteries.

 

[Maverick]

Maverick, I assume alkaline batteries, why so many? Wht not use all rechargeable batteries.

I have quit a few of eneloops with on-grid chargers and solar chargers, I don't like to rely on one standard of batteries, as long as I'm able to use alkaline's and purchase them that's what I use, the eneloops are when I'm no longer able to get alkaline's and when my stock run's out I'll switch to the eneloops. Everyday use, Short term emergencies (alkaline) Long term emergencies (eneloop) anyway that's my working theory?

 

[DrPrepper1]

I have been going to the Junior Police Academy training here locally. I got to learn a lot about narcotics. Basically, dealers are trying to lace everything with Fentanyl. People in Colorado are overdosing on THC candies..because they eat too many. Snap Chat is an excellent online source for kids buying drugs. I also learned there is a new way to make a marijuana wax. Normal marijuana has about 25% THC this new wax has about 95 % THC.

This doesn't have a whole lot to do with long term prepping ( food, water, shelter), but it is good to know what my grand kids will one day be up against. I know that keeping them active and keeping them close to family is important for keeping them out of trouble, but it is helpful to know in advance the dangers that are out there.

My better half has always been one to just call an expert in to fix a problem that goes wrong with the house. I am more willing to try to fix things myself, but I am not great at it. He is a computer guy. He admits to not being mechanically inclined...even though his father has been a mechanic for almost 50 years. Well..... today he got our bathtub unclogged. He bought a snake, Draino,and a plunger. That may not sound like a lot, but we now have extra tools and knowledge for next time. I am sure there will be a next time

Life as an urban prepper is far less exciting that some of you guys I am sure, but I am rocking along until I can buy my land one day (near retirement).

 

[Brent S]

I got the solar panel with controller for the camper, but still haven’t even opened the box. I did strip the tongue on the camper today, grinding off the single battery and gas tank mounts. The battery rack was welded in the bottom of the tongue and was a pain to cut out. I will make and weld the new dual battery rack and dual gas rack soon, then clean, prime and paint the whole tongue when done. It seems like this toy has been more work than fun so far! Honestly I’ve always liked fixing things up and restoring them. Just wish I had more free time to do personal projects now. I’m flying up to NY early in the morning for 4 days, so the camper is on hold fo a bit. I will post Picts of the new battery and gas tank setup when done, as well as the solar system and connections.

 

[Dani]

I have been going to the Junior Police Academy training here locally. I got to learn a lot about narcotics. Basically, dealers are trying to lace everything with Fentanyl. People in Colorado are overdosing on THC candies..because they eat too many. Snap Chat is an excellent online source for kids buying drugs. I also learned there is a new way to make a marijuana wax. Normal marijuana has about 25% THC this new wax has about 95 % THC.

This doesn't have a whole lot to do with long term prepping ( food, water, shelter), but it is good to know what my grand kids will one day be up against. I know that keeping them active and keeping them close to family is important for keeping them out of trouble, but it is helpful to know in advance the dangers that are out there.

My better half has always been one to just call an expert in to fix a problem that goes wrong with the house. I am more willing to try to fix things myself, but I am not great at it. He is a computer guy. He admits to not being mechanically inclined...even though his father has been a mechanic for almost 50 years. Well..... today he got our bathtub unclogged. He bought a snake, Draino,and a plunger. That may not sound like a lot, but we now have extra tools and knowledge for next time. I am sure there will be a next time

Life as an urban prepper is far less exciting that some of you guys I am sure, but I am rocking along until I can buy my land one day (near retirement).

Urban prepping verses homesteading prepping, well it has its trade offs.
Excitement of my day yesterday. . . Sitting under a tallow tree in the drizzly rain for hours on end to make sure calf nursed. This morning was when calf followed momma into the mud and got stuck so I had to go out there to help her. The "mud pit" is about a 25' x 15' section out in the pasture. Thank goodness I grabbed a t post to help me walk thru all that mud cause it is a chore to just take one step when you are literally sinking up to your calves. I thank my turf of a neighbor for hauling in all those dump truck loads of dirt. Our pasture now doesn't drain as well as it used to. I am just hoping for a few days of sunshine.

 

[brandx]

I got the solar panel with controller for the camper, but still haven’t even opened the box. I did strip the tongue on the camper today, grinding off the single battery and gas tank mounts. The battery rack was welded in the bottom of the tongue and was a pain to cut out. I will make and weld the new dual battery rack and dual gas rack soon, then clean, prime and paint the whole tongue when done. It seems like this toy has been more work than fun so far! Honestly I’ve always liked fixing things up and restoring them. Just wish I had more free time to do personal projects now. I’m flying up to NY early in the morning for 4 days, so the camper is on hold fo a bit. I will post Picts of the new battery and gas tank setup when done, as well as the solar system and connections.View attachment 9050

I did that earlier in the summer. Grinding away all the old paint and rust and repainting. Hot sweaty work. It always is harder than you initially think it is going to be, as usual in most cases.

 

[brandx]

Checked out some yard sales, bought a scuffle hoe, some lamp oil and a handheld food saver. Stopped at Lowes and got a couple of gamma lids. Stored up table salt and canning salt. Nothing very interesting.

 

[brandx]

Urban prepping verses homesteading prepping, well it has its trade offs.
Excitement of my day yesterday. . . Sitting under a tallow tree in the drizzly rain for hours on end to make sure calf nursed. This morning was when calf followed momma into the mud and got stuck so I had to go out there to help her. The "mud pit" is about a 25' x 15' section out in the pasture. Thank goodness I grabbed a t post to help me walk thru all that mud cause it is a chore to just take one step when you are literally sinking up to your calves. I thank my turf of a neighbor for hauling in all those dump truck loads of dirt. Our pasture now doesn't drain as well as it used to. I am just hoping for a few days of sunshine.

I had a neighbor do that to me once. Filled his adjoining back yard with multiple dump truck loads of top soil, pushing all his water onto me. I moved and am so happy I no longer live in town. Even on my current land, I can distantly hear the neighbors or their dogs and it just irritates the heck out of me for some reason. I guess I am becoming a curmudgeon.

 

[carhugger_prep]

Well one thing I have started is filling a notebook with various survival things like how to make certain helpful things and survival tips.

 

[brandx]

Well one thing I have started is filling a notebook with various survival things like how to make certain helpful things and survival tips.

It's a prepper skill to be organized, so that is a good idea. I have a recipe box that is not for food but for making laundry soap, shower cleaner, etc.

 

[carhugger_prep]

It's a prepper skill to be organized, so that is a good idea. I have a recipe box that is not for food but for making laundry soap, shower cleaner, etc.

I actually have 3 medium sized notebooks that I am using. One is for survival tips, one is for notes like how to grow or make things, and the last one I want to use for people’s call signs with authenticity code phrases.

 

[Maverick]

Our rainwater harvesting setup is complete and working, we added more catchment surface for a total of 7800 square feet, counting the loss it should yield us 2875 gallons per 1" of rain, filter and transfer pumps are working and no leaks. We got it tied in to the house for toilets, showers and sinks, this should put less stress on the well and pumps. The transfer pumps are 24vdc 28gpm going from holding tank to holding tank, the 24v pumps are for future expansion for going solar, these are long life marine pumps. The creek will keep the holding tanks topped off between rains.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Our garden is about done for this year. The wife had a hen party with a couple of the neighbor lady's and canned tomatoes. The wife's take was 18 quarts of tomatoes and 6 quarts of hot salsa.
Construction on the house is coming along. The trusses, dormers, chimney and all the main beams are up, the front, side and rear decks are framed. Got the windows, doors, cabinets, appliances and granite countertops ordered. Still need to find a wood stove. The flooring and tile guy came out to measure the floors to submit a bid. Probably next week I'll order the redwood for the decking. Tomorrow the gravel trucks will start delivering rock to cover the areas that washed away during last Mays storm.
Yesterday I discovered that I have a leak somewhere in our water lines. I've got over a half mile of buried water lines so it's going to be a challenge to find out where the leak is.

 

[Mountain trapper]

.

 

[Brent S]

Our garden is about done for this year. The wife had a hen party with a couple of the neighbor lady's and canned tomatoes. The wife's take was 18 quarts of tomatoes and 6 quarts of hot salsa.
Construction on the house is coming along. The trusses, dormers, chimney and all the main beams are up, the front, side and rear decks are framed. Got the windows, doors, cabinets, appliances and granite countertops ordered. Still need to find a wood stove. The flooring and tile guy came out to measure the floors to submit a bid. Probably next week I'll order the redwood for the decking. Tomorrow the gravel trucks will start delivering rock to cover the areas that washed away during last Mays storm.
Yesterday I discovered that I have a leak somewhere in our water lines. I've got over a half mile of buried water lines so it's going to be a challenge to find out where the leak is.

There are companies that can find leaks with an electronic detector. They work through concrete slabs so should be easy for a buried line.
Post pictures of the progress on the house!

 

[brandx]

Our garden is about done for this year. The wife had a hen party with a couple of the neighbor lady's and canned tomatoes. The wife's take was 18 quarts of tomatoes and 6 quarts of hot salsa.
Construction on the house is coming along. The trusses, dormers, chimney and all the main beams are up, the front, side and rear decks are framed. Got the windows, doors, cabinets, appliances and granite countertops ordered. Still need to find a wood stove. The flooring and tile guy came out to measure the floors to submit a bid. Probably next week I'll order the redwood for the decking. Tomorrow the gravel trucks will start delivering rock to cover the areas that washed away during last Mays storm.
Yesterday I discovered that I have a leak somewhere in our water lines. I've got over a half mile of buried water lines so it's going to be a challenge to find out where the leak is.

Can you rent a locator?

 

[Maverick]

Purchased 2 boxes of Etekcity CL30 4 Pack Portable LED Lanterns, these be going in each room of the house for backup. I purchased one a year ago to test it for battery drainage in storage for a year, no drainage after a year. They ain't is as well built as my Streamlight 44931 Siege's lanterns but for the house and being stationary they are fine and 8 of the Etekcity Cl30 for a little more than the price of one Streamlight Siege it was doable. The Etekcity will run 16.5 hours on 3AA energizers medium setting, on the low setting 7 days. On high 30L not very bright but makes it comfortable walking around in the living room 20x20' so it will be good for walking in the kitchen and diffidently in the bedrooms and bathrooms.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Can you rent a locator?

Not in this area. Got a backhoe coming out this weekend to start digging holes.

 

[Brent S]

Not in this area. Got a backhoe coming out this weekend to start digging holes.

I’ve never heard of renting one but hiring someone will tell you specifically where to dig.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I’ve never heard of renting one but hiring someone will tell you specifically where to dig.

I'm going to make some calls tomorrow and see if I can get someone from out of the area. I think I have the leak narrowed down to a section of about 600'.

 

[jontte]

as we all prep in various ways,don't forget to take care of your teeth,had one of my molers kinda "explode" yesterday,ate a cookie and heard
a crunching noice..today had the dentist to operate what was left away,in one day there was already an infection,now on antibiotics,some
paine meds and a small fever and stiches..
bad teeth could cause alot of trouble in shtf..and my training weekend went to *****.

 

[Brent S]

as we all prep in various ways,don't forget to take care of your teeth,had one of my molers kinda "explode" yesterday,ate a cookie and heard
a crunching noice..today had the dentist to operate what was left away,in one day there was already an infection,now on antibiotics,some
paine meds and a small fever and stiches..
bad teeth could cause alot of trouble in shtf..and my training weekend went to *****.

That was a long overdue one I finally got caught up with. Between the high costs and pain involved no one wants to go to the dentist. I was finally able to get the major work needed on three teeth done not too long ago. You are certainly right that a tooth infection can get serious quickly. Not only painful but lots of people died from the infections pre antiobiotics.

 

[Brent S]

I’m not sure if this is really a prep, but I got my jeep back today. I had to find a mechanic that would work on a foreign jeep that isn’t in any books here in the US, and had to order parts from japan. Pain in the butt, but I have my bug out toy back. We went ahead and did a lot more than just replace the clutch since I plan to keep this for a long time. I trailered it home today but am looking forwards to taking it out tomorrow. Yeah!

 

[Brent S]

Had a good day. Jeep ran great! Yeah.
I welded the gas tank and battery mounts I made to the camper and got them cleaned, primed and painted today! Even bolted the battery boxes down too. Feels good to make progress. Still need to connect the batteries together, and put in the solar connector with fuses and the charger/controller in a watertight box. It’s coming together anyways.
I also got the heat shields up for the wood burning stove. It is in a tiled area but is closer to the walls than I like so I’m over cautious about burning down the house! Hopefully it won’t be long before I can actually not need the AC for a while.

 

[DrHenley]

Brent, I don't know how big your inverter is, but Harbor Freight now has 2/0 (#00) AWG inverter cables that are rated at 225 amps (2700 watts @ 12 volts). If you run separate cables from each battery to the inverter, you can run 5 kW without any problem.. They used to only have 2 AWG cables. The pair I got seem to be very sturdy with large contact area.

 

[Brent S]

Brent, I don't know how big your inverter is, but Harbor Freight now has 2/0 (#00) AWG inverter cables that are rated at 225 amps (2700 watts @ 12 volts). If you run separate cables from each battery to the inverter, you can run 5 kW without any problem.. They used to only have 2 AWG cables. The pair I got seem to be very sturdy with large contact area.

Darn, I was there Saturday and didn’t even look for that. I just ordered the 24” 2/0 battery cables to connect the batteries together from amazon. I’m planning to mount one more smaller box on the camper by the batteries. I will install the charger/controller in it, along with a 30amp fuse block, which will be connected to a twist lock plug for the solar panel. I’m not sure but thought the camper allready had an inverter in it. I will check that out soon. It would be nice to have at least one 110v outlet live when remote camping. We keep inverters on all the trucks, so I’ll probably just borrow one. I plan to replace all the lights inside with LED also to slow the energy drain.

 

[Brent S]

We have lots of rolls of wire that the business has allready paid for, so I’m considering using some SO cord for the solar panels. They came with about a #10 stranded aluminum wire that looks like 20’ or so, but it looked kind of cheap to me.

 

[DrHenley]

I need to order a set of short heavy duty cables to connect my batteries. Right now I'm just using 18" automotive battery cables and counting on the battery hooked up directly to the inverter to handle the surges. What was the brand?

BTW, I have seen so much misinformation about cable ratings it is enough to drive you mad.

I now rely on this chart to get the straight dope:

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html

 

[Maverick]

I need to order a set of short heavy duty cables to connect my batteries. Right now I'm just using 18" automotive battery cables and counting on the battery hooked up directly to the inverter to handle the surges. What was the brand?

BTW, I have seen so much misinformation about cable ratings it is enough to drive you mad.

I now rely on this chart to get the straight dope:

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html

Or, use the PDF, same thing that Doc posted but a hard copy instead of the link, though oddly it doesn't give current ratings for multi-core wires for 1/0 or larger.