What have you done recently to prepare? Please include How-To's also

Mrs Twigg and I peeled, cored and sliced a bag full of apples. Then we mixed 6 cup portions with sugar, a little flour and good dose of cinnamon and filled four vacuume sealed bags. We stashed our "instant apple pie kits" in the freezer for use in the depths of winter when want apple pie.
 
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Hiltonizer said:
Just picked up one of these as a backup to my stand-alone generator. Should be adequate to keep the freezers frozen and the well tank full for several weeks between our 3 vehicles. Based on how little our Ford Focus sips at idle, I wouldn't be surprised to get multiple weeks out of a that alone on a full tank.

Amazon.com: Duracell 813-0807 800 Watt DC to AC Digital Power Inverter: Patio, Lawn & Garden
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Nice, but remember, if your pulling that kind of power, your not really running the vehicle at idle.
 
Andy in NH said:
My suggestion with the magnesium fire starters is to "pre-shave" the magnesium and store it in a container ready for use.

Take a rasp file or a hacksaw blade and scrape off tiny / fine shavings onto a sheet of paper and then funnel it into a suitable container.

(35mm film canisters are getting harder and harder to find - maybe a small prescription medicine bottle would work.)

I have one of those small key-chain pill containers that holds about 2-3 portions of fire starting magnesium shavings.

This technique also works well when your mag block gets shaved down to a really small size. A size when it is too small to work as intended.

Even a thumb size mag block can be shaved down (in the comfort of your own home) and put int a container.

I've seen people in cold, wet and windy conditions really struggle with trying to shave magnesium off a block with cold, shivering hands. Getting the shavings to land in a leaf or on a piece of bark in windy conditions only added to their grief.

Dumping a bit of shaved magnesium into a pile and hitting it with sparks from a ferro rod seemed to be a much better solution.!
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Pre-shaving the magnesium might not work so well if you can't keep it dry and in an air tight container. The magnesium will oxidize and then it is much harder to light.

What you are looking for is a vixen file (might be called a nib file in the auto body shop). It will make short work of soft metals like magnesium or aluminum and makes nice shavings which are easy to light. Much better than the little broken bit of hacksaw blade some blocks come with. If you have to use the broken bit of blade, scrape from the corners. Don't try to keep the block square. You need little spirals, not dust.

When trying to light the pile of shavings, holding the flint stationary and running the steel towards the pile will result in a mess. Holding the steel stationary and drawing the flint away will make a nice shower of sparks onto the pile and not knock the thing all over the place.

Harbor Freight has the little magnesium blocks on sale regularly for a couple of bucks (and well less than half what you pay in the camping stores). It is worth it to spend the $3 and practice with one until you can reliably start a fire. It doesn't take long to figure out the trick.
 
Bought all the required electrical parts for my security light project. Eight, dual head flood light kits and 1000' of 12/2 to get the power up and around the attic (plus extra for storage and future projects). So I'll be able to light up all sides of my house with 2 switches, centrally located in the house; I have the front half on one switch and the back half on the other.

I'll start the project on Wednesday.

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ON EDIT ***********
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Finished on Monday - also did a project for my wife, put in a switched plug circuit with plugs on the soffets and behind the shrubs on the house. No more extension cords for Christmas lights :).

I ended up using 490 feet of 12/2 from the roll and used about 50 feet from a remnant I had in the basement. I also used 80' of 12/3 for the dual switched run to the attic for the lights.
 
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GET YOUR DENTAL WORK DONE

I just had a couple cavities fixed today. I have 1 molar on each side on the bottom and two on the top on each side left (besides the rest all there) - the offenders were top, right between the teeth - some serious drilling was done - thought the Dentist worked for BP for awhile there.

Anyway, no pain, some dull 'ache' if you can call it that now - but no meds required, just feel it some.

If you don't when SHTF you'll be at home with a pair of pliers and some Jack or in the woods with some 20lb fishing line and a sapling.

After the Dentist, I picked up a spare Pressure Switch for my well pump, some Tru-Fuel 40:1, and = 144 std rolls of TP, in addition to my regular shopping.
 
GM-GUY said:
GET YOUR DENTAL WORK DONE

I just had a couple cavities fixed today. I have 1 molar on each side on the bottom and two on the top on each side left (besides the rest all there) - the offenders were top, right between the teeth - some serious drilling was done - thought the Dentist worked for BP for awhile there.

Anyway, no pain, some dull 'ache' if you can call it that now - but no meds required, just feel it some.

If you don't when SHTF you'll be at home with a pair of pliers and some Jack or in the woods with some 20lb fishing line and a sapling.

After the Dentist, I picked up a spare Pressure Switch for my well pump, some Tru-Fuel 40:1, and = 144 std rolls of TP, in addition to my regular shopping.
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A tooth "frist-aid" kit is a solid prep too. Tools, dentek, etc.

In other news, my basement cistern kit came in today.

Augason-Farms-55-gallon-Plastic-Emergency-Water-Storage-Barrel-Kit-P14105417.jpg
 
This past week I bought a wool blanket (see my prev. post), a Swedish 'Light My Fire' fire starter, and a MagLite xl50. The MagLite takes reg. batteries and got really good reviews. It'll take some of the present day workload off of my SureFire.
 
Today seeing as how I had to take it off from work, I'm building a "beer can solar heater" Just to try it out. Have the solar panels, fan, and no shortage of empty beer cans. So right now the cans are soaking in soapy water. And the box is built. Headed to Ace here shortly to get some caulk, dryer vent, and 3" dryer vent pipe. Seems to be a straight up easy project. And I've been reading people getting 100 degree output air with it. If it works, cool, if not, meh, I just spraypainted a bunch of beer cans.

I will post up some pics of how it's going.
 
Here's an update so far.
5a3evu8y.jpg

Box is built. Painted a little

hupy7u6u.jpg

Another view

rujasy7a.jpg

Jig to hold can tubes

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I want to restrict airflow here a bit to give it a better chance to warm up the air.

5y3y8y3u.jpg

Stacks are sort of a pain. I was having an issue caulking them together.

Then I realized the duct tape on my bench was mocking me. Problem solved.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
On another note. Me and the oldest kiddo tried out a single cell earth battery. Got 1.5v but don't see a practical use for it yet. I stuck my 600W pure sine inverter to the wall over my work bench. (to feed my electronic play jig.) And powered that from the 8 batteries I just don't know how to get rid of. So now since I've been to lazy to hog out a trench, and punch holes in concrete, I now have lighting in my garage, but seriously need to feed power to my garage.
 
GM-GUY said:
$100 cash
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Id buy something of value. if something were to happen real bad that might get you a water bottle. Stock up on some booze or something. stuff like that will be worth a ton in a situation like that. just my .02 cents
 
widnerkj said:
Today seeing as how I had to take it off from work, I'm building a "beer can solar heater" Just to try it out. Have the solar panels, fan, and no shortage of empty beer cans. So right now the cans are soaking in soapy water. And the box is built. Headed to Ace here shortly to get some caulk, dryer vent, and 3" dryer vent pipe. Seems to be a straight up easy project. And I've been reading people getting 100 degree output air with it. If it works, cool, if not, meh, I just spraypainted a bunch of beer cans.

I will post up some pics of how it's going.
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OK, that is some crazy stuff. I had to look that up and from the videos I have found that idea works very well. Interesting stuff indeed.
 
I finally got around to installing a tri-fuel kit on my Honda EU2000i a few days ago. Yesterday, I put together an LPG hose with a quick disconnect and today I fired it up using the tank from my barbeque . It took a bit of fiddling with the load block to get it going smoothly, but it runs just fine now. Next, I want to get a plumber to tap into my natural gas line so that I can use it as my primary fuel. Afterward, I'll keep a couple of full propane tanks and a couple of 5 gal. gas cans around for backup. You can't be too prepared [grin].
 
Took care of the callus on my feet. Can't use em to strike matches with anymore but in a survival situation the last thing you need are f'ed up feet slowing you down.

How To: Get utility knife. Cut callous off feet. Don't go anywhere for at least a day.
 
Toilet paper cannot be said enough. No such thing as too much. Barter item that is way better than having gold.

Campbells chunky soup is a $1 per can at Market Basket. I bought a few more flats.
 
Coyote33 said:
http://westernmassready.org/url]

Http://www.mass.gov/eopss/agencies/mema/ready-massachusetts/[/url]

http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/emergency-prep/personal-prep/

http://www.ready.gov/massachusetts

http://www.mass.gov/portal/health-safety/be-ready-for-emergencies-and-disasters.html
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"Shelter in place"

[laugh2] [rofl]

One of the first items of "advice" is to listen for reverse 9-1-1 calls or local notifications from public safety vehicles public address announcements or door to door notifications .

Oh look here comes the door to door notification team now !
BostonStrong4_zps40b1c9b9.png


If I still lived in Ma, the last people I'd listen to in an emergency are the damm gubbermint !
 
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Door to door target practice for making sure your gun is sighted in? Middle of the street leaves a long way to crawl while under fire when you get shot in the legs.
 

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