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What have you done recently to prepare? Please include How-To's also
- Thread starter GM-GUY
- Start date
cockpitbob
NES Member
Not manly but very useful.
![[thumbsup]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/044.gif "Thumbs Up [thumbsup]")
Back in the 1970s and 80s there was a company, Frostline Kits, that sold sewing kits for camping gear. I made a down vest, a ton of stuff sacks, a backpack and some rain pants. There's this narrow age group of outdoors men that know how to sew. If the SHTF and you can sew, that box of rags suddenly looks like diamonds in the rough.
RubiconLJ
NES Member
Learned how from my grandmother a very long time ago. Been relearning the skill and making webbing rifle slings and stuff for the Jeep so far.
I needed to replace some cushions and repair canvas on my new boat. It was going to cost me around $1000 to have someone assemble $100 in materials.
If anyone is interested in learning, I learned with the help from http://www.sailrite.com
The machine I bought was$50 and weighs about 40 lbs. It will do as many layers of marine vinyl that will fit under the presser foot.
I've already made a few duffle bags from used sails and old biminis.
If anyone is interested in learning, I learned with the help from http://www.sailrite.com
The machine I bought was$50 and weighs about 40 lbs. It will do as many layers of marine vinyl that will fit under the presser foot.
I've already made a few duffle bags from used sails and old biminis.
That box of rags suddenly looks like diamonds in the rough.
Yep! I'm inherently cheap (waay too many hobbies so the money has to stretch), and I also like repurposing things. I have harvested/cannibalized parts of old gear and materials to make new stuff instead of either tossing it or leaving it around to collect dust.
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ChevyGuy91
NES Member
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A tri-band UV-5? Well that is interesting.
P-14
NES Member
mikelawtown
NES Member
I have the 1575 Cobra Inverter and for 6 years has been perfect. I bought 12 of them for work in the Vans and they run Saws, shop Vacs and corded spot lights. well worth it
Jason m
NES Member
Mounted a tread mill motor to a stationary bike. At a slow to medium speed I can pull 50DC volts, I haven't hooked it up to a battery yet but I was happy how it turned out so I made another on a older stationary bike.
Jason
Jason
Jason m
NES Member
Ok after installing a Diode on the Neg side, I found out the 50volts DC current im making that im over charging the Batt. I knew this going in but it actually can damage a Batt life and can cause the cells to over charge, is guess.
So the way I have them installed I need to add the old 7" flywheels back on and remount them. I know this will lower the output voltage as I tried it before removing the flywheels. But being a man I said well more power is better, not in this case lol,
Jason.
So the way I have them installed I need to add the old 7" flywheels back on and remount them. I know this will lower the output voltage as I tried it before removing the flywheels. But being a man I said well more power is better, not in this case lol,
Jason.
cockpitbob
NES Member
Still cool.
Instead of stray puppies, my brings home stray stuff. We have treadle sewing machine base in the garage that she's been saying she'll do something with for 4 years. I'm about to but a bicycle generator on it and turn it into a SHTF desk with charging station![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
. No really, I'm serious.
Instead of stray puppies, my brings home stray stuff. We have treadle sewing machine base in the garage that she's been saying she'll do something with for 4 years. I'm about to but a bicycle generator on it and turn it into a SHTF desk with charging station
. No really, I'm serious.
JayMcB
NES Member
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Mounted a tread mill motor to a stationary bike. At a slow to medium speed I can pull 50DC volts, I haven't hooked it up to a battery yet but I was happy how it turned out so I made another on a older stationary bike.
Jason
Isn't the input source from a solar array into the charge controller 48v? Could this be used to charge the source side of a battery bank from the charge controller if your bank was depleted or there was rain, etc for a few days in a row?
Jason m
NES Member
I don't know much about solar, but after messing around and finding a sweet spot rpm wise I can keep an even charge of about 20DC volts. And if you add up the number of Batt I have for my Batt bank 20 volts or even higher doesn't seem like it will do any damage at all.
Next is working on a my wind mill project, its based off a Barn fan that will be stationary on my roof using a washer machine DC motor and wired into the Batt bank. It will look like a Barn circle fan or a attic fan, very discreet and should have enough power to keep a mild to even charge.
All this is so I can run my chest freezer and keep it off the grid. I figure yes winter is around the corner and that means plenty of Ice, but if the grid fails and its spring/summer/fall then I can still use a refrigeration system for storage of meats. And before you say "wont the freezer get knocked out if the grid go's down" well its an old school freezer. No electronics and very simple easy to fix system.
Jason.
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Jason m
NES Member
Oh I will add that if anybody needs something like this built, you get the bike and the DC motor and I will gladly glue it together for ya. Nearly free of charge......ammo is always a nice donation, LOL.
Jason.
Jason.
Stryker
NES Member
Where is everyone getting their bulk food supplies?
Rice is easy, can grab 25lb bags pretty much anywhere. How about other stuff? Beans, oats, dehydrated veggies, etc. I am thinking mostly of items that you would want to mylar bag and seal.
I know the LDS in Worcester has some of these available but wondering if anyone had other options
Rice is easy, can grab 25lb bags pretty much anywhere. How about other stuff? Beans, oats, dehydrated veggies, etc. I am thinking mostly of items that you would want to mylar bag and seal.
I know the LDS in Worcester has some of these available but wondering if anyone had other options
xtry51
NES Member
Amazon. Keep an eye out there are deals.
Bulkfoods.com and rainydayfoods.com are two good ones to start at for pricing.
For physical pickup, nothing really beats getting a BJs membership just to do bulk buying.
Bulkfoods.com and rainydayfoods.com are two good ones to start at for pricing.
For physical pickup, nothing really beats getting a BJs membership just to do bulk buying.
headednorth
NES Member
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Any big difference between BJ's and Costco?
Lots of good info in this thread, thanks everyone.
Just moved to a new home. So far bough a generator & installed a Gentran and wired all important circuits to it (including the well pump). Built a chicken pen & coop for our eight chickens, pulling in 7-9 eggs per day, pretty cool. Building shelves in the garage and basement now to start on additional food storage.
I'm not a prepper by any means, but I cannot believe people only have supplies to last a few weeks at best!
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I think Cosco, BJ's, and Sams Club are all the same? Only a BJ's next to me though.
Just moved to a new home. So far bough a generator & installed a Gentran and wired all important circuits to it (including the well pump). Built a chicken pen & coop for our eight chickens, pulling in 7-9 eggs per day, pretty cool. Building shelves in the garage and basement now to start on additional food storage.
I'm not a prepper by any means, but I cannot believe people only have supplies to last a few weeks at best!
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I think Cosco, BJ's, and Sams Club are all the same? Only a BJ's next to me though.
MaxStravinsky
NES Member
The canned chicken at Sam's Club seems to get the best reviews. That, and it's the closest to me is why I joined Sam's.
As for the chicken....all canned chicken tastes like tunafish to me. But I buy it for when TSHTF, I'll mix it in with other stuff (like soup) for protein.
headednorth
NES Member
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Same here, tastes like tuna. Tried Market Basket shredded pork (?) in a can and it wasnt bad. A little too salty for me, but not horrendous.
cockpitbob
NES Member
The blue cans of Trader Joe's chicken are really good IMO. Not terribly cheap, but better than average canned chunk chicken.
MaxStravinsky
NES Member
OK, on your recommendation I'm going to pick some up next week and give it a test
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
Will report back.
Hmm.. As long as we're on canned chicken I like BJ's brand. If I want to reduce the salt I just rinse it a little. The good thing is that it doesn't have a lot of water in the can and has nice chunks of chicken. I haven't tried Trader Joe's. I'll pick some up the next time I go too.
I'm surprised at the number of people that don't keep more than a few days worth of food because they just run to the store as they need things or decide daily what to have for dinner. Then they panic at the mere hint of a winter storm because they have nothing at home.
Duxprep
NES Member
I've tried a lot of canned chicken. Most have other ingredients such as modified food starch which is an issue if you need to be gluten free. They also can have broth and seasonings. I go for those that are chicken water and salt. The only brands I've found that that are like that are Sam's club, Walmart Premium with the blue label and most recently I found big Y brand. In addition that 12oz on the can refers to the entire contents of the can. There's about 4-5 oz of water in the can so plan accordingly
Decided I needed to increase my water storage, so I picked up 10 -5 gallon food grade buckets. I was thinking about buying the coleman style water jugs, but for the price, the buckets worked out to be more cost effective and they are stackable (although I only go two high.)
Learned a couple of things recently. I got in on the Patriot Pantry $17.76 deal and bought four weeks worth. I wanted to have them in a bucket for ease of storage and to be able to add some additional oxygen absorbers. Bought three 10 packs of absorbers (2000cc) on amazon and two 5gal buckets with lids from Home Depot. The lids have a gasket or o-ring on them, but honestly I wasn't expecting too much for just a few bucks. After dividing the food into the buckets, I had a decent amount of room left in each, so I opened one of the packs of absorbers and threw 5 into each bucket... yeah, that was overkill. So the things I learned: I don't need that many oxygen absorber packs for a 5 gal bucket; the absorbers work, as indicated by the collapsed sides of the buckets; the seals on the lids have held for over a month now, even with the deformed buckets.
