Active New Top (30 days) Compact Card Developing a fireless oven for retained heat baking and roasting Barb LeeContributor - December 21, 2022 The fireless oven is an extension of the haybox concept, except it strives to roast and bake via heat-radiating substances instead of boiling everything in a relatively large quantity of water. In the 1910s, the heat radiating substance was soapstone. Several months ago, I bought two soapstone fire bricks to experiment with but for prepping purposes, I didn’t have a sensible method of heating the bricks. That seems to have changed with the “free energy” rocket stove. This morning with the outdoor temperature at 40F degrees and sunshine, I wrapped a room temperature soapstone brick (about 1 1/4″ thickness) in aluminum foil to prevent soot buildup and placed it on the cold rocket stove. The 1913 book, The Fireless Cook Book by Margaret Jones Mitchell advises to heat new soapstone radiators slowly the first time, after which they are safe to heat more rapidly, so I built my little fire up in the stove accordingly. The test to know when your soapstone brick is ready for baking is to sprinkle a wee bit of flour on the surface. When the flour begins to brown, the brick is hot enough. This occurred in 25 minutes of lighting the first twigs and gradually building the fire. The top surface of the brick registered about 469F degrees. The energy cost to heat the brick was zero. Possible downside is that you have to feed small fuel into the stove fairly continuously. For me, that was amusement, not a downside. Finishing this project won’t be particularly cheap as unlike the haybox or Wonder Bag, the insulation has to be non-combustible. So for that I’ll go with ceramic wool furnace insulation, but it’ll take me awhile to get where I can actually bake with bricks! I must say I am motivated! One last note. We have a cooking option that Ms Mitchell did not – Reynolds Oven Roasting Bags. I put a 3lb chuck roast and veggies in a bag and submerged it in a large quantity of boiling water to make a pot roast in the haybox the other day. The roast cooked in its own undiluted juices and came out perfect. I checked the safety of the bags. No toxic chemicals are released into the food from the nylon Reynolds bags. Read More 4 5 Skills News for week of 2022-12-12 (all current event convos go here) Carlotta SusannaStaff - December 19, 2022 This is the replacement for the twice-weekly news roundups I stopped publishing last week. Instead of all the content coming from me, we’ll instead make a blank forum thread like this every Monday, and then anyone can chip in the news and thoughts they have. We’ll keep this weekly thread going for as long as ya’ll find it useful. Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 6 25 News Smoking some fish. Yum! RedneckContributor - December 19, 2022 Smoking meat is a great way to preserve it. It also is extremely tasty. Today I smoked some sockeye salmon and some black cod (sablefish). Both are high in those healthy fish oils and are really healthy to eat. Both are my favorite fish to eat using all sorts of techniques, but today we are smoking to have as an appetizer for a family get together tomorrow. I’ve had a small electric smoker for many years. It uses very little wood and makes smoking a breeze. First I brined the fish using 2 parts brown sugar to one part kosher salt. I then drizzle on some maple syrup. I brine for about 5 hours or so, rinse off the fish well, pat dry and place on drying racks in the refrigerator overnight. Putting in the refrigerator for a few hours allows the pellicle to form. Pellicle is a thin, sticky film that forms on the surface of the meat. The sweet smoke sticks to this pellicle and gives a much better smoked flavor than cooking without creating it. I smoked for about 4 hours until the internal temp of the thickest part reached 140 degrees. Today I used some alder wood and some apple branches from the orchard. Brining the fish adds some flavor but it mainly pulls moisture out of the fish. This way you don’t end up with mushy smoked fish. Read More 3 3 Skills Invincibility points Adriaan - December 16, 2022 I just read that in Ukraine they have set up what they call “invincibility points” where people can go for hot water, electricity etc. I like the concept. In the winter I often think it would make me feel safer if I had another little building where I could go live for a while if something catastrophic should happen to my house. I was wondering if anyone would like to talk about this and maybe share ideas? It would have to be low-budget 🙂 Read More 2 2 Prepper podcast recommendations, please JBinAZ - December 14, 2022 About to have a three day road-trip. Anyone know of and can recommend some good prepping podcasts to listen to? TIA Read More 2 1 Advice Off-grid cabin/land purchase CouchTomato - December 14, 2022 Hi all! My husband and I are in the research phase before purchasing some land/acreage for an off-grid cabin. Can anyone recommend good resources on how to evaluate the land prior to purchase, or what to know before building a cabin? We’re focusing generally on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, planning on well/septic with solar (and have varying degrees of familiarity with those systems), and do not plan on living in the cabin full-time. We know just enough to suspect there’s a lot we DON’T know, thus the extensive research before a potentially expensive mistake. Those of you who have done this – any words of wisdom? Thanks! Read More 14 33 Advice Testing 8 methods to make the best cotton ball and vaseline fire starter Jay ValenciaContributor - December 13, 2022 Last year I saw a forum post by Matt Black about a new way to combine vaseline and cotton balls to make an even longer lasting fire starter. His post encouraged me to test my own DIY fire starters and I found out that they all were pretty much garbage and useless. Over a year later I finally am going to take the time to get some decent fire starters for my kits. I wanted to test out various methods of creating vaseline cotton balls that I have seen online and find out what would be the best method for my long term strategy. Here’s the various methods I wanted to test. As you read this, place your bets on what method you think will be the best and then read the results and see if you were right. #1- A bare cotton ball straight from the pack. #2- A bare cotton ball that has been unrolled to create more surface area. #3- A cotton ball that had petroleum jelly smeared over ¾ of the ball. The thought process here is that the uncovered ¼ would give you a clean area to grab and a place to catch a spark. #4- A cotton ball that had petroleum jelly smeared over the entire ball. #5- A cotton ball that had petroleum jelly smeared over the entire ball and then was dipped into a bowl of flour to prevent the outside from getting all vaseliney, making it cleaner to handle. #6- A cotton ball that had petroleum jelly smeared over the entire ball and then was dunked under water to see the waterproof ability of this fire starting method. #7- Following the strategy of Matt Black and melting petroleum jelly and then dipping the cotton ball briefly into the jar of melted vaseline. #8- Same as #7, but instead of a quick dunk this one was completely soaked until it could no longer hold any petroleum jelly. I went outside with this tray of cotton balls and used a ferro rod to try and light them. It was a fairly windy day so the cotton balls were really put to the test on their ability. I started a timer once the cotton ball caught flame and then stopped it when the flame was entirely extinguished. + or – 5 seconds to each time below due to human ability of having to strike the fire and then move my hand to my watch to start the timer. Here are the results: #1- Bare cotton ball – took 5 strikes of the ferro rod to catch it on fire. It burned for 30 seconds #2- Unraveled bare cotton ball – took 5 strikes of the ferro rod to catch it on fire. It burned for 30 seconds. #3- ¾ covered ball – took 3 strikes to light and burned for 3 minutes. #4- Fully covered ball – Couldn’t get started after 10 strikes. Opened up the ball and exposed the dry cotton inside which then caught a spark. Burned for 3:45 minutes. #5- Flour covered ball – The flour did help keep from sticking to fingers but after 10 strikes it wouldn’t light. Had to open it up and my fingers got all petroleum jellyish anyways. So flouring your cotton balls didn’t help much after all. The burning flour didn’t smell good, but the cotton ball dipped in flour lasted for 4 minutes. #6- Wet vaseline ball – Poured an entire 12oz water bottle over it. Was too wet and wouldn’t light even when opened up and held over a flame of a lighter for 10 seconds. This shows that the vaseline doesn’t make these waterproof and you need to keep your tinder dry. #7- Ball quickly dipped into melted vaseline – By far the best by a long shot! It wouldn’t catch a spark from a ferro rod until it was opened up and exposed to the dry cotton inside but once it caught, it burned incredibly strongly and brightly for 9 minutes! Even if you don’t need the full 9 minutes of burn time, the force and strength of the flame was 4X that of the #4 fully covered ball. #8- Ball completely soaked into melted vaseline – Vaseline will not light if held to an open flame, making it a very safe fire starting method. #8 was so completely soaked through that it was more petroleum jelly than it was cotton ball. Even being held over the raging flame of cotton ball #7 for 10 seconds, #8 would not light at all. If your cotton balls become too soaked, they will not work. The clear winner was #7, the ball quickly dipped into melted vaseline. To melt the vaseline, I used Matt Black’s double boiler method. I placed a used and cleaned out soup can into a pot of boiling water and scooped a couple spoonfuls of vaseline into it. I placed the quickly dipped cotton balls onto a sheet of wax paper to allow them to dry and harden back to room temperature. Another benefit of this quick dip method is that the cotton balls are actually less sticky than ones where you just smear it on the outside, which is a complaint people have about making these. I used about ⅓ of the 3.75oz container of vaseline to run all of the above tests, with a majority of that third going to the melted vaseline balls #7 and #8. Doing this melting method isn’t the most “fuel efficient” and uses more vaseline, but it does produce significantly better results. The jar of vaseline was $1 and the 400 jumbo cotton balls were $2. This is an extremely cheap fire starting method and I highly recommend taking the extra time to melt the vaseline and quickly dip the cotton balls in it. How do you store your vaseline cotton balls? Many people recommend using old prescription pill bottles but I like using small snack sized ziploc bags. It allows for a lighter, more compressed storage, and even more waterproof than a pill bottle. Another idea I had was to unroll a cotton ball into a strip, like #2, and smear the cotton strip with vaseline. I then cut up a clear drinking straw, crimped the end and sealed it with a lick of a lighter. ½ of a vaseline coated cotton ball is able to fit inside of a ⅓ straw. I thought this method would be nice to throw in an EDC pouch or have a very small fire starter anywhere you want. The straw keeps it waterproof and protected. Hope this all was helpful to someone. Read More 26 34 Gear Decided to keep my bicycle…. - December 13, 2022 It can get me to bayous for fishing. Read More 1 2 Looking for recommendations on an air mattress Bigwig - December 12, 2022 Any recommendations on an air mattress? I wanted to get one or two queen size with an built-in pump to be used for the occasional emergency use or guest. Read More 4 6 Shelf-stable pantry meals for snobs hbic - December 12, 2022 there are lots of lists online of meals that you can make from your emergency or long-term food storage, but a lot of them cover the same, uh, familiar American ground. i thought we could brainstorm some more exciting ideas for eating out of your emergency pantry. I’ll start off with a couple on my list: Meatless mapo tofu — (silken tofu in aseptic packages is shelf stable!) Soondubu jjigae (soft tofu kimchi stew) Masoor (red lentil) dal — red lentils cook so fast what do y’all make out of your pantry? Read More 15 5 What was the catalyst that compelled you to begin prepping? Steve Martin - December 12, 2022 I’m curious about what caused you to begin your journey to being prepared. For me, it really started in 1962….We lived in the Washington DC suburbs and most of our neighbors were government types or military. The trouble brewing in Cuba was only a secret to the rest of the country. Amongst federal employees, they knew something was afoot, maybe just not how serious is was about to become. Washington DC was ringed by Nike & Nike-Hercules missile sites….and the one near our home was 1 of only 2 who had nuclear payloads in those missiles, designed to shoot down incoming Russian missiles. ( although no one knew it then) One afternoon, we were driving home when we passed by the Lorton Nike Missile Site…and all of the missiles were erected and pointed skyward. We had never seen that before. We went on home and my dad turned on the tv and we heard like most others in the US, just how close we were to launch. My dad threw a bunch of our camping gear into the pickup and we headed to our normal camp grounds SW of Washington in the Shenandoah National Park. We stayed there until the trouble was over.(We bugged out!) I don’t remember exactly how long, I was only 8 at the time, but it was several days. I do remember the park being totally full and the new arrivals were sent off to camp in the “overflow area”. Little did we know then that we were camped next to a primary target not far away. The Greenbriar Hotel and Mount Weather…which was still very much a secret. The Cuban Missile Crisis is what spurred me into later becoming a prepper. By 1978, I had 6 weeks of supplies stored away but still living in DC area. The DC area used to have air raid siren tests once a month and the gov. would hold practice evacuations via helicopter a couple times a year….I lived within sight of the Pentagon….and the choppers would come right over the house during the practices. So survival was frequently on my mind as a young man and a couple years in Army Intel didn’t do anything to slow that down. So what’s your excuse? 9/11? Today’s troubles in Ukraine? Banking collapse? Read More 15 34 Meta How do you prioritize gear purchases? Anyone have an organized system? Forager - December 12, 2022 So here’s my problem: While I’m not at all new to prepping, I’m fairly new to the opportunity for online shopping (just got my first credit card during the pandemic) and I’m realizing that my old “system” of making impulse purchases every time I see cool gear I want, is not going to cut it anymore;) I used to mostly buy prepping gear at flea markets, yard sales, second hand stores, so I basically just bought stuff in the order I found it, rather than in order of how likely we were to need it, how life-or-death that need could be, or anything of that nature. Now I keep seeing things I want (mostly on this forum, btw) that are all just a click away, and I’m realizing I need to make some sort of list of things I want and what order to purchase them in. I’m not talking about things like food storage or tools we use in daily life (groceries and homesteading expenses have their own budgets) but all the fun prepping gear I want “just in case” which is coming out of my fairly small “personal hobbies” budget. Do any of you keep such a list? And if so, is it organized purely by how much you want each item, checking things off from the top of the list as you can afford them, regardless of other factors? Or is price factored in somehow? For example I might want a $400 item more than any one $40 item, but if purchasing it first means holding off on ten different $40 items, the decision becomes more complicated. At the same time, I don’t want to endlessly boot the most expensive items to the end of the list, if they’re something really useful or fun. What system do others use? Read More 7 29 Twenty ways to prepare for civil unrest Sanctum - December 12, 2022 Here are 20 ways you can prepare for potential civil unrest: Stay informed about current events and potential threats in your area.Create an emergency plan for you and your family, including a designated meeting place and a way to communicate if you are separated.Build an emergency supply kit with enough food, water, and other essential supplies to last at least three days.Consider storing extra supplies, such as non-perishable food, water, and medical supplies, in case of a prolonged disruption.Consider securing your home by reinforcing doors and windows, and installing security cameras or alarms.Keep your car fueled up and make sure it is in good working order, in case you need to evacuate.Have cash on hand in case ATMs and credit card systems are not functioning.Consider storing important documents, such as identification, insurance policies, and bank account information, in a safe place.Take a first aid and CPR class, so that you can help yourself and others in case of injury.Learn self-defense techniques, so that you can protect yourself and your family if necessary.Consider purchasing a firearm and taking a firearms safety course, if you are legally allowed to do so and feel comfortable using one.Stay calm and avoid panicking, as this can make a difficult situation even worse.Avoid crowds and large gatherings, as they can quickly turn violent.Follow the instructions of law enforcement and emergency personnel, who are trained to handle these situations.Avoid confrontations and stay out of areas where violence is occurring.Be prepared to shelter in place, if necessary, and have a plan for how to do so safely.Have a plan for how to evacuate if necessary, and know the routes to take to avoid areas of unrest.If you see something suspicious, report it to law enforcement immediately.Stay in contact with your friends and family, and check on them regularly to make sure they are safe.Keep a positive attitude and stay strong, even in difficult times. http://www.thesanctumchiangmai.com Read More 0 3 Scenarios Preparedness podcasts? pnwsarahContributor - December 11, 2022 Hi all, I’m curious as to whether any of you have any preparedness podcasts that you enjoy, or even singular podcast episodes — perhaps interviews with preparedness experts talking about what they have and do and why, scientists who have expertise relevant to natural disasters and response thereto, first responders, structural and civil engineers, or people who work in government on disaster readiness and response. I like that The Prepared doesn’t pick sides politically and is focused on providing high quality information, so anything that is similar to this site in those dimensions would be especially appreciated. The one thing I’ve found so far that I like is “Getting Through It” with Dr. Lucy Jones, which is really interesting, but it’s a lot more about the social and natural science of disasters than how we prepare for them. Thanks for any ideas! [Edited to add: I’m asking because I often stay up too late sewing or reading preparedness-related content on the internet. Listening to preparedness-related content while sewing seems like it would be an efficiency gain.] Read More 23 31 Advice What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Robert LarsonContributor - December 11, 2022 I’m sure we have forum users here from every state of the US, from many different countries, and probably every continent. I’d love to see what prepping looks like all over the world. So please introduce yourself and where you live. (can be a specific US state, just general area such as the South East USA, or country) How do you prep in your area that may be different than how someone else may prep? (in Alaska your car has to have a snow shovel and gun at all times, or in Argentina you have to carry extra water and mosquito repellent) What disasters, natural or manmade, have you dealt with or are prepping for in your area? (earthquake, tornado, flood, civil unrest) Areas represented so far below: South East Australia, Colorado USA, Virginia USA, Southern California USA, Pacific Northwest USA, Wisconsin USA, Northern New England, French countryside, South Eastern USA, South Carolina USA, an island in southern South America, London UK, Northern Mississippi USA, Manitoba Central Canada, Manawatu New Zealand, Northern England, West Midlands UK, Caribbean, Italy, South East Queensland Australia, US Eastern seaboard, Salt Lake Valley Utah USA, Nevada USA, mid Wales UK, Read More 28 186 Preliminary review of EcoZoom Versa rocket stove Barb LeeContributor - December 11, 2022 First Impression: I am going to LOVE cooking on this stove! I just got this thing this afternoon and could not WAIT to try it out. It is small enough to fit perfectly on my Dutch oven table, which “lives” on our covered wooden deck. I thought I’d have a lot of safety concerns about burning this device on the deck but now – with all due caution of course – I do not. I think my most important impression is that it seems virtually windproof. The fire is thoroughly protected within the body of the unit. The metal table also has a wind screen. I don’t have another outdoor cooking device that is this likely to survive a windy cooking session. I was nervous about starting with wood, but I wasn’t getting any usable heat out of six charcoal briquettes after 20 minutes (too far below the grate – more briquettes would have done the job, but the the object of this device is to be able to cook with scrounged materials). So I broke down and fed three skinny sticks of fir kindling into the firebox. It smokes quite a bit until it warms up and really starts to draw, after that it was smokeless. After putting the kindling in, it took about 20 minutes to heat a quart of water to boiling. (Oh, it was 40 deg F outside). Closing the lower draft door brought the temperature back down to a simmer, but it took a little while. I’ll be using one of my heat diffusers with it, probably. My three little sticks of softwood kindling burned for 45 minutes. Yes, it does need to be tended. The fire never crept out of the fire box. It did not burn the wood sticking out the door. The cooking surface is pretty neat. There are ridges that hug the bottom of the pot and stabilize it. If I could have anything, it would be some sort of lid to help snuff the fire, along with closing the doors. I absolutely LOVE this stove. My next experiment will be with hardwood kindling, perhaps varying the number of pieces. (The sticks in the picture were about 1″ diameter and a foot long.) Then probably scrounged sticks which are plentiful here. Barbecue tongs and gloves are useful. It will be a little while before I can actually cook on it, but my inner Outdoor Cook says this stove is a winner. Read More 6 8 Gear How do you decide that bad just went to worse? Steve Martin - December 6, 2022 Some of the incidents during and after major disasters like Hurricane Katrina have made me wonder about escalation decisions. How do you decide when an emergency situation becomes a survival situation? For instance, the incident involving a police officer from New Orleans who opened fire on refugees from another nearby small town during Katrina….not going to go into the political or racial discussions on those decisions, but do have to wonder when this and other officers decided the “rule of law” was no longer valid and it became every man for himself. At what point would you consider defending your shelter, family and supplies from “others” be they looters, refugees or just bystanders who happen to be passing near by? Thinking on the classic Twilight Zone episode “The Shelter”. Just food for thought. Read More 5 8 An observation on prepping in 2022 Bill Masen - December 3, 2022 Two years of Covid 19 and the shortages of everything from food to lumber, people basically locked down for months on end, economic chaos that followed, Everything more expensive etc. That event alone seriously stifled the mocking voices who laughed at those of us who were wise enough to get involving with prepping. Then just as Covid 19 started to fade from the news along comes the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the mad panic to rearm by NATO, The conflict itself and the growing wave of sanctions plunged the world back into a situation once again of shortages of energy, food, fuel and raw materials, massive price rises, security threats and risks. OPEN threats of nuclear weapons being used, mass migration from the east have followed. The global economy taking yet another pounding, tax rises are inevitable, already wheat, animal feed, diesel, fertiliser, nickel, titanium etc prices are rocketing and shortages announced. In my country energy prices have risen FOURTEEN times faster than wages already, the combined gas and electricity bill for the average British house has gone up from around £1200 to £1900 and is forecast to get as high as £4500 by October. Petrol has rocketed up in days from £1.45 a litre to £1.70 a litre. All rather grim reading I’m sorry to say, BUT The mocking of preppers has stopped all together, and people enquiring about how to get started in prepping / off gridding and homesteading is increasing every day. Sales of Heritage seeds is UP, people getting Allotments (small food growing plots of land) is UP, people installing WOOD BURNING stoves UP, People caching and stock piling UP, People buying Micro wind turbines and PV panels UP, People selling up and relocating OUT OF TOWN up over 30% according to some UK media sources etc So my oberservation is this ” Why does it take TWO global crises to make people wake to to the vulnerability of society to disruption, and for them to see the benefits of prepping”. A report I read about two years ago estimated that 30 million of you folks in the Americas are into prepping in one form or another. I think that number is likely to rise now. Read More 13 43 Meta Teach me about life insurance Robert LarsonContributor - December 3, 2022 I don’t feel any immediate need to get life insurance because I am relatively healthy, but accidents happen. In addition, with things costing more lately than they have been in previous years, I am seeing how hard keeping up with the bills and cost of living would be for my wife if I were to pass away. I know nothing about life insurance, but might want to consider it. Can you all tell me if you have it, do you know of anyone who has had to cash it in, how do you shop for it, what kinds are there, things like that. Read More 10 15 Advice A prepper’s perspective on gratitude this November Debby Jenkins - December 1, 2022 Hello! I’ve spent the past few days browsing this site since seeing it on 60 Minutes and have to say that so far it’s exactly what I needed in my life right now. Who knew there were AA batteries with a USB port in the side to charge them with!? Well apparently this site! Something that is always on my mind this time of year and something I want to personally work on is gratitude. To make it relevant to this forum though, I want to share my thoughts about how being grateful is important for your mental health and for preparing in general. I have been prepping for the past 4-5 years, so I’m in no way an expert, but can say I have a basic knowledge that hopefully applies. I find it ironic that on Thanksgiving day we sit down and with our loved ones and talk about all the things we are thankful for and then head out the next day and fight people over a coffee maker that is $20 off and we already have one that works. Gratitude is overcoming discontentment of wanting more things. And not necessarily just things, but also wanting more experiences, more success, more recognition, a better job, a better marriage, and more more more more. While those AA batteries that I saw and are so fascinated with are now definitely things I want, I took a moment to realize that I have about 30 disposables still and a handful of rechargeable ones that you plug into a brick to charge. I don’t need any more and need to be content and grateful for what I have. The cool batteries though will be on my mind when it does come time to replace the older rechargeables and if you didn’t have any rechargeable batteries before then that could be a good investment. Take a minute to analyze if you really need something versus just being a want. Look at your unfulfilled desires and be okay with not having everything. “I’ll be happy when I buy that new car.” or “That new camp stove sure will make life easier” There’s always something to strive for and want isn’t there? Take the richest man in the entire world for example. He is still trying to obtain more things, the company Twitter being the latest example. It’s only in our nature to want more things and there is always one more thing you could have, even if you are the richest person in the world. Gratitude is being content with whatever you have, be it only the clothes on your back, what you currently have, or even if you are filthy rich. It is hard to not compare yourself with others. Hearing about that person who just won over 2 billion dollars in the lottery, or someone driving by in their nice sports car, you think about what it would be like to be like that person don’t you? I do. Something that can help you though is to consider that if you are reading this right now, you probably are in the top 5% of wealth in the entire world. There are so many people who have so much less than you. People who may have no home, no food, no job, no legs, no sight, no family, no friends, no hope. There’s always someone above you who has more than you, but there is most likely a lot more people who would do anything to have what you have. Your life might just be that sports car envy of someone else. And just how I think about how I wish all those super wealthy people would just walk up to me and pay off my house, what do I do with my wealth and helping those around me? I don’t want to go too long with this, but just want to remind people that it is important to be grateful for what you have. When we were born, we came into this world with absolutely nothing. You have much more than what you started off with right? Even if you lose it all in an earthquake tomorrow, you have so many past experiences and even the ability to read my ramblings right now. We have so much! Survival is about being resourceful with what you have and making the best out of your current situation. Replacing the old generator with a new one would be nice, but you have a functioning one now that you can tune up and get more life out of and even if you didn’t have that, you probably could get by like so many people did before the generator was even invented. Gratefully yours, Debby Read More 15 14 Advice Check your gasoline supply Steve Martin - December 1, 2022 Rail strike is a remote possibility on December 9th. I doubt it will be allowed to go that far but if the commenting Im hearing from railroaders is to be believed, they’re ready to force the issue….and that could make for a gas shortage in some areas of the country. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/28/freight-rail-shutdown-fuel-supply-00070980 Read More 6 8 < Prev 1 2 3 … 13 14 15 … 59 60 61 Next > Recently Active News for the Week 2025-4-14 - 2 days agoNews for the Week 2025-4-7 - 2 weeks agoNews for the Week 2025-3-31 - 3 weeks agoNews for the Week 2025-3-24 - 4 weeks agoNews for the Week 2025-3-17 - 1 month ago RULES This forum is heavily moderated to keep things valuable to as many people as possible. Full community policies are here. The basics: 1. Be nice to each other. 2. Stay focused on prepping. 3. Avoid politics, religion, and other arguments. 4. No unfounded conspiracies, fake news, etc. 5. Debate ideas, not people. FILTER Show all Advice Gear Meta News Scenarios Skills

Developing a fireless oven for retained heat baking and roasting

Barb LeeContributor - December 21, 2022

The fireless oven is an extension of the haybox concept, except it strives to roast and bake via heat-radiating substances instead of boiling everything in a relatively large quantity of water.  In the 1910s, the heat radiating substance was soapstone.

Several months ago, I bought two soapstone fire bricks to experiment with but for prepping purposes, I didn’t have a sensible method of heating the bricks. That seems to have changed with the “free energy” rocket stove.

This morning with the outdoor temperature at 40F degrees and sunshine, I wrapped a room temperature soapstone brick (about 1 1/4″ thickness) in aluminum foil to prevent soot buildup and placed it on the cold rocket stove.

The 1913 book, The Fireless Cook Book by Margaret Jones Mitchell advises to heat new soapstone radiators slowly the first time, after which they are safe to heat more rapidly, so I built my little fire up in the stove accordingly.

The test to know when your soapstone brick is ready for baking is to sprinkle a wee bit of flour on the surface.  When the flour begins to brown, the brick is hot enough.

This occurred in 25 minutes of lighting the first twigs and gradually building the fire.  The top surface of the brick registered about 469F degrees.

The energy cost to heat the brick was zero. Possible downside is that you have to feed small fuel into the stove fairly continuously.  For me, that was amusement, not a downside.

Finishing this project won’t be particularly cheap as unlike the haybox or Wonder Bag, the insulation has to be non-combustible.  So for that I’ll go with ceramic wool furnace insulation, but it’ll take me awhile to get where I can actually bake with bricks!  I must say I am motivated!

One last note.  We have a cooking option that Ms Mitchell did not – Reynolds Oven Roasting Bags.  I put a 3lb chuck roast and veggies in a bag and submerged it in a large quantity of boiling water to make a pot roast in the haybox the other day.  The roast cooked in its own undiluted juices and came out perfect.

I checked the safety of the bags.  No toxic chemicals are released into the food from the nylon Reynolds bags.

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News for week of 2022-12-12 (all current event convos go here)

Carlotta SusannaStaff - December 19, 2022

This is the replacement for the twice-weekly news roundups I stopped publishing last week. Instead of all the content coming from me, we’ll instead make a blank forum thread like this every Monday, and then anyone can chip in the news and thoughts they have. We’ll keep this weekly thread going for as long as ya’ll find it useful.

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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Smoking some fish. Yum!

RedneckContributor - December 19, 2022

Smoking meat is a great way to preserve it.  It also is extremely tasty.  Today I smoked some sockeye salmon and some black cod (sablefish).  Both are high in those healthy fish oils and are really healthy to eat.  Both are my favorite fish to eat using all sorts of techniques, but today we are smoking to have as an appetizer for a family get together tomorrow.

I’ve had a small electric smoker for many years.  It uses very little wood and makes smoking a breeze.  First I brined the fish using 2 parts brown sugar to one part kosher salt.  I then drizzle on some maple syrup.  I brine for about 5 hours or so, rinse off the fish well, pat dry and place on drying racks in the refrigerator overnight.  Putting in the refrigerator for a few hours allows the pellicle to form.  Pellicle is a thin, sticky film that forms on the surface of the meat.  The sweet smoke sticks to this pellicle and gives a much better smoked flavor than cooking without creating it.  I smoked for about 4 hours until the internal temp of the thickest part reached 140 degrees.  Today I used some alder wood and some apple branches from the orchard.

Brining the fish adds some flavor but it mainly pulls moisture out of the fish.  This way you don’t end up with mushy smoked fish.

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Skills

Invincibility points

Adriaan - December 16, 2022

I just read that in Ukraine they have set up what they call “invincibility points” where people can go for hot water, electricity etc. I like the concept. In the winter I often think it would make me feel safer if I had another little building where I could go live for a while if something catastrophic should happen to my house. I was wondering if anyone would like to talk about this and maybe share ideas? It would have to be low-budget 🙂

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Prepper podcast recommendations, please

JBinAZ - December 14, 2022

About to have a three day road-trip. Anyone know of and can recommend some good prepping podcasts to listen to? TIA

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Advice

Off-grid cabin/land purchase

CouchTomato - December 14, 2022

Hi all!  My husband and I are in the research phase before purchasing some land/acreage for an off-grid cabin.  Can anyone recommend good resources on how to evaluate the land prior to purchase, or what to know before building a cabin? We’re focusing generally on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, planning on well/septic with solar (and have varying degrees of familiarity with those systems), and do not plan on living in the cabin full-time. We know just enough to suspect there’s a lot we DON’T know, thus the extensive research before a potentially expensive mistake.  Those of you who have done this – any words of wisdom?  Thanks!  

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Advice

Testing 8 methods to make the best cotton ball and vaseline fire starter

Jay ValenciaContributor - December 13, 2022

Last year I saw a forum post by Matt Black about a new way to combine vaseline and cotton balls to make an even longer lasting fire starter. His post encouraged me to test my own DIY fire starters and I found out that they all were pretty much garbage and useless. Over a year later I finally am going to take the time to get some decent fire starters for my kits. 

I wanted to test out various methods of creating vaseline cotton balls that I have seen online and find out what would be the best method for my long term strategy.

Here’s the various methods I wanted to test. As you read this, place your bets on what method you think will be the best and then read the results and see if you were right.

#1- A bare cotton ball straight from the pack.

#2- A bare cotton ball that has been unrolled to create more surface area.

#3- A cotton ball that had petroleum jelly smeared over ¾ of the ball. The thought process here is that the uncovered ¼ would give you a clean area to grab and a place to catch a spark.

#4- A cotton ball that had petroleum jelly smeared over the entire ball.

#5- A cotton ball that had petroleum jelly smeared over the entire ball and then was dipped into a bowl of flour to prevent the outside from getting all vaseliney, making it cleaner to handle.

#6- A cotton ball that had petroleum jelly smeared over the entire ball and then was dunked under water to see the waterproof ability of this fire starting method.

#7- Following the strategy of Matt Black and melting petroleum jelly and then dipping the cotton ball briefly into the jar of melted vaseline.

#8- Same as #7, but instead of a quick dunk this one was completely soaked until it could no longer hold any petroleum jelly.

I went outside with this tray of cotton balls and used a ferro rod to try and light them. It was a fairly windy day so the cotton balls were really put to the test on their ability. I started a timer once the cotton ball caught flame and then stopped it when the flame was entirely extinguished. + or – 5 seconds to each time below due to human ability of having to strike the fire and then move my hand to my watch to start the timer. 

Here are the results:

#1- Bare cotton ball – took 5 strikes of the ferro rod to catch it on fire. It burned for 30 seconds

#2- Unraveled bare cotton ball – took 5 strikes of the ferro rod to catch it on fire. It burned for 30 seconds.

#3- ¾ covered ball – took 3 strikes to light and burned for 3 minutes.

#4- Fully covered ball – Couldn’t get started after 10 strikes. Opened up the ball and exposed the dry cotton inside which then caught a spark. Burned for 3:45 minutes.

#5- Flour covered ball – The flour did help keep from sticking to fingers but after 10 strikes it wouldn’t light. Had to open it up and my fingers got all petroleum jellyish anyways. So flouring your cotton balls didn’t help much after all. The burning flour didn’t smell good, but the cotton ball dipped in flour lasted for 4 minutes.

#6- Wet vaseline ball – Poured an entire 12oz water bottle over it. Was too wet and wouldn’t light even when opened up and held over a flame of a lighter for 10 seconds. This shows that the vaseline doesn’t make these waterproof and you need to keep your tinder dry.

#7- Ball quickly dipped into melted vaseline – By far the best by a long shot! It wouldn’t catch a spark from a ferro rod until it was opened up and exposed to the dry cotton inside but once it caught, it burned incredibly strongly and brightly for 9 minutes! Even if you don’t need the full 9 minutes of burn time, the force and strength of the flame was 4X that of the #4 fully covered ball.

#8- Ball completely soaked into melted vaseline – Vaseline will not light if held to an open flame, making it a very safe fire starting method. #8 was so completely soaked through that it was more petroleum jelly than it was cotton ball. Even being held over the raging flame of cotton ball #7 for 10 seconds, #8 would not light at all. If your cotton balls become too soaked, they will not work.

The clear winner was #7, the ball quickly dipped into melted vaseline. 

To melt the vaseline, I used Matt Black’s double boiler method. I placed a used and cleaned out soup can into a pot of boiling water and scooped a couple spoonfuls of vaseline into it. I placed the quickly dipped cotton balls onto a sheet of wax paper to allow them to dry and harden back to room temperature. Another benefit of this quick dip method is that the cotton balls are actually less sticky than ones where you just smear it on the outside, which is a complaint people have about making these.

 I used about ⅓ of the 3.75oz container of vaseline to run all of the above tests, with a majority of that third going to the melted vaseline balls #7 and #8. Doing this melting method isn’t the most “fuel efficient” and uses more vaseline, but it does produce significantly better results. The jar of vaseline was $1 and the 400 jumbo cotton balls were $2. This is an extremely cheap fire starting method and I highly recommend taking the extra time to melt the vaseline and quickly dip the cotton balls in it.

How do you store your vaseline cotton balls?

Many people recommend using old prescription pill bottles but I like using small snack sized ziploc bags. It allows for a lighter, more compressed storage, and even more waterproof than a pill bottle.

Another idea I had was to unroll a cotton ball into a strip, like #2, and smear the cotton strip with vaseline. I then cut up a clear drinking straw, crimped the end and sealed it with a lick of a lighter. ½ of a vaseline coated cotton ball is able to fit inside of a ⅓ straw. I thought this method would be nice to throw in an EDC pouch or have a very small fire starter anywhere you want. The straw keeps it waterproof and protected.

Hope this all was helpful to someone.

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Gear

Decided to keep my bicycle….

- December 13, 2022

It can get me to bayous for fishing.

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Looking for recommendations on an air mattress

Bigwig - December 12, 2022

Any recommendations on an air mattress?  I wanted to get one or two queen size with an built-in pump to be used for the occasional emergency use or guest.

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Shelf-stable pantry meals for snobs

hbic - December 12, 2022

there are lots of lists online of meals that you can make from your emergency or long-term food storage, but a lot of them cover the same, uh, familiar American ground. i thought we could brainstorm some more exciting ideas for eating out of your emergency pantry. I’ll start off with a couple on my list:

Meatless mapo tofu — (silken tofu in aseptic packages is shelf stable!)

Soondubu jjigae (soft tofu kimchi stew)

Masoor (red lentil) dal — red lentils cook so fast

what do y’all make out of your pantry?

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What was the catalyst that compelled you to begin prepping?

Steve Martin - December 12, 2022

I’m curious about what caused you to begin your journey to being prepared. For me, it really started in 1962….We lived in the Washington DC suburbs and most of our neighbors were government types or military. The trouble brewing in Cuba was only a secret to the rest of the country. Amongst federal employees, they knew something was afoot, maybe just not how serious is was about to become. Washington DC was ringed by Nike & Nike-Hercules missile sites….and the one near our home was 1 of only 2 who had nuclear payloads in those missiles, designed to shoot down incoming Russian missiles. ( although no one knew it then) One afternoon, we were driving home when we passed by the Lorton Nike Missile Site…and all of the missiles were erected and pointed skyward. We had never seen that before. We went on home and my dad turned on the tv and we heard like most others in the US, just how close we were to launch. My dad threw a bunch of our camping gear into the pickup and we headed to our normal camp grounds SW of Washington in the Shenandoah National Park. We stayed there until the trouble was over.(We bugged out!) I don’t remember exactly how long, I was only 8 at the time, but it was several days. I do remember the park being totally full and the new arrivals were sent off to camp in the “overflow area”. Little did we know then that we were camped next to a primary target not far away. The Greenbriar Hotel and Mount Weather…which was still very much a secret. The Cuban Missile Crisis is what spurred me into later becoming a prepper. By 1978, I had 6 weeks of supplies stored away but still living in DC area. The DC area used to have air raid siren tests once a month and the gov. would hold practice evacuations via helicopter a couple times a year….I lived within sight of the Pentagon….and the choppers would come right over the house during the practices. So survival was frequently on my mind as a young man and a couple years in Army Intel didn’t do anything to slow that down. So what’s your excuse? 9/11? Today’s troubles in Ukraine? Banking collapse? 

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Meta

How do you prioritize gear purchases? Anyone have an organized system?

Forager - December 12, 2022

So here’s my problem:  While I’m not at all new to prepping, I’m fairly new to the opportunity for online shopping (just got my first credit card during the pandemic) and I’m realizing that my old “system” of making impulse purchases every time I see cool gear I want, is not going to cut it anymore;)

I used to mostly buy prepping gear at flea markets, yard sales, second hand stores, so I basically just bought stuff in the order I found it, rather than in order of how likely we were to need it, how life-or-death that need could be, or anything of that nature. 

Now I keep seeing things I want (mostly on this forum, btw) that are all just a click away, and I’m realizing I need to make some sort of list of things I want and what order to purchase them in.  I’m not talking about things like food storage or tools we use in daily life (groceries and homesteading expenses have their own budgets) but all the fun prepping gear I want “just in case” which is coming out of my fairly small “personal hobbies” budget.

Do any of you keep such a list?  And if so, is it organized purely by how much you want each item, checking things off from the top of the list as you can afford them, regardless of other factors?  Or is price factored in somehow?  For example I might want a $400 item more than any one $40 item, but if purchasing it first means holding off on ten different $40 items, the decision becomes more complicated.  At the same time, I don’t want to endlessly boot the most expensive items to the end of the list, if they’re something really useful or fun. 

What system do others use?

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Twenty ways to prepare for civil unrest

Sanctum - December 12, 2022

Here are 20 ways you can prepare for potential civil unrest:

Stay informed about current events and potential threats in your area.Create an emergency plan for you and your family, including a designated meeting place and a way to communicate if you are separated.Build an emergency supply kit with enough food, water, and other essential supplies to last at least three days.Consider storing extra supplies, such as non-perishable food, water, and medical supplies, in case of a prolonged disruption.Consider securing your home by reinforcing doors and windows, and installing security cameras or alarms.Keep your car fueled up and make sure it is in good working order, in case you need to evacuate.Have cash on hand in case ATMs and credit card systems are not functioning.Consider storing important documents, such as identification, insurance policies, and bank account information, in a safe place.Take a first aid and CPR class, so that you can help yourself and others in case of injury.Learn self-defense techniques, so that you can protect yourself and your family if necessary.Consider purchasing a firearm and taking a firearms safety course, if you are legally allowed to do so and feel comfortable using one.Stay calm and avoid panicking, as this can make a difficult situation even worse.Avoid crowds and large gatherings, as they can quickly turn violent.Follow the instructions of law enforcement and emergency personnel, who are trained to handle these situations.Avoid confrontations and stay out of areas where violence is occurring.Be prepared to shelter in place, if necessary, and have a plan for how to do so safely.Have a plan for how to evacuate if necessary, and know the routes to take to avoid areas of unrest.If you see something suspicious, report it to law enforcement immediately.Stay in contact with your friends and family, and check on them regularly to make sure they are safe.Keep a positive attitude and stay strong, even in difficult times.

http://www.thesanctumchiangmai.com

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Scenarios

Preparedness podcasts?

pnwsarahContributor - December 11, 2022

Hi all,

I’m curious as to whether any of you have any preparedness podcasts that you enjoy, or even singular podcast episodes — perhaps interviews with preparedness experts talking about what they have and do and why, scientists who have expertise relevant to natural disasters and response thereto, first responders, structural and civil engineers, or people who work in government on disaster readiness and response.

I like that The Prepared doesn’t pick sides politically and is focused on providing high quality information, so anything that is similar to this site in those dimensions would be especially appreciated. The one thing I’ve found so far that I like is “Getting Through It” with Dr. Lucy Jones, which is really interesting, but it’s a lot more about the social and natural science of disasters than how we prepare for them.

Thanks for any ideas!

[Edited to add: I’m asking because I often stay up too late sewing or reading preparedness-related content on the internet. Listening to preparedness-related content while sewing seems like it would be an efficiency gain.] Read More

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Advice

What does prepping look like in your area of the world?

Robert LarsonContributor - December 11, 2022

I’m sure we have forum users here from every state of the US, from many different countries, and probably every continent. I’d love to see what prepping looks like all over the world.

So please introduce yourself and where you live. (can be a specific US state,  just general area such as the South East USA, or country)

How do you prep in your area that may be different than how someone else may prep? (in Alaska your car has to have a snow shovel and gun at all times, or in Argentina you have to carry extra water and mosquito repellent)

What disasters, natural or manmade, have you dealt with or are prepping for in your area? (earthquake, tornado, flood, civil unrest)

Areas represented so far below: South East Australia, Colorado USA, Virginia USA, Southern California USA, Pacific Northwest USA, Wisconsin USA, Northern New England, French countryside, South Eastern USA, South Carolina USA, an island in southern South America, London UK, Northern Mississippi USA, Manitoba Central Canada, Manawatu New Zealand, Northern England, West Midlands UK, Caribbean, Italy, South East Queensland Australia, US Eastern seaboard, Salt Lake Valley Utah USA, Nevada USA, mid Wales UK, 

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Preliminary review of EcoZoom Versa rocket stove

Barb LeeContributor - December 11, 2022

First Impression:  I am going to LOVE cooking on this stove!

I just got this thing this afternoon and could not WAIT to try it out.

It is small enough to fit perfectly on my Dutch oven table, which “lives” on our covered wooden deck.  I thought I’d have a lot of safety concerns about burning this device on the deck but now – with all due caution of course – I do not.  I think my most important impression is that it seems virtually windproof.  The fire is thoroughly protected within the body of the unit.  The metal table also has a wind screen.  I don’t have another outdoor cooking device that is this likely to survive a windy cooking session.

I was nervous about starting with wood, but I wasn’t getting any usable heat out of six charcoal briquettes after 20 minutes (too far below the grate – more briquettes would have done the job, but the the object of this device is to be able to cook with scrounged materials).  So I broke down and fed three skinny sticks of fir kindling into the firebox. 

It smokes quite a bit until it warms up and really starts to draw, after that it was smokeless.

After putting the kindling in, it took about 20 minutes to heat a quart of water to boiling. (Oh, it was 40 deg F outside). Closing the lower draft door brought the temperature back down to a simmer, but it took a little while.  I’ll be using one of my heat diffusers with it, probably.

My three little sticks of softwood kindling burned for 45 minutes. Yes, it does need to be tended.

The fire never crept out of the fire box.  It did not burn the wood sticking out the door.

The cooking surface is pretty neat.  There are ridges that hug the bottom of the pot and stabilize it.

If I could have anything, it would be some sort of lid to help snuff the fire, along with closing the doors.

I absolutely LOVE this stove.  My next experiment will be with hardwood kindling, perhaps varying the number of pieces.  (The sticks in the picture were about 1″ diameter and a foot long.) Then probably scrounged sticks which are plentiful here.

Barbecue tongs and gloves are useful.  It will be a little while before I can actually cook on it, but my inner Outdoor Cook says this stove is a winner.

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Gear

How do you decide that bad just went to worse?

Steve Martin - December 6, 2022

Some of the incidents during and after major disasters like Hurricane Katrina have made me wonder about escalation decisions. How do you decide when an emergency situation becomes a survival situation? For instance, the incident involving a police officer from New Orleans who opened fire on refugees from another nearby small town during Katrina….not going to go into the political or racial discussions on those decisions, but do have to wonder when this and other officers decided the “rule of law” was no longer valid and it became every man for himself. At what point would you consider defending your shelter, family and supplies from “others” be they looters, refugees or just bystanders who happen to be passing near by? Thinking on the classic Twilight Zone episode “The Shelter”. Just food for thought.   

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An observation on prepping in 2022

Bill Masen - December 3, 2022

Two years of Covid 19 and the shortages of everything from food to lumber, people basically locked down for months on end, economic chaos that followed, Everything more expensive etc.

That event alone seriously stifled the mocking voices who laughed at those of us who were wise enough to get involving with prepping.

Then just as Covid 19 started to fade from the news along comes the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the mad panic to rearm by NATO, The conflict itself and the growing wave of sanctions plunged the world back into a situation once again of shortages of energy, food, fuel and raw materials, massive price rises, security threats and risks. 

OPEN threats of nuclear weapons being used, mass migration from the east have followed.  The global economy taking yet another pounding, tax rises are inevitable, already wheat, animal feed, diesel, fertiliser, nickel, titanium etc prices are rocketing and shortages announced.

In my country energy prices have risen FOURTEEN times faster than wages already, the combined gas and electricity bill for the average British house has gone up from around £1200 to £1900 and is forecast to get as high as £4500 by October.    Petrol has rocketed up in days from £1.45 a litre to £1.70 a litre.

All rather grim reading I’m sorry to say, BUT  The mocking of preppers has stopped all together, and people enquiring about how to get started in prepping / off gridding and homesteading is increasing every day.

Sales of Heritage seeds is UP, people getting Allotments (small food growing plots of land) is UP, people installing WOOD BURNING stoves UP, People caching and stock piling UP, People buying Micro wind turbines and PV panels UP, People selling up and relocating OUT OF TOWN up over 30% according to some UK media sources etc

So my oberservation is this

” Why does it take TWO global crises to make people wake to to the vulnerability of society to disruption, and for them to see the benefits of prepping”.

A report I read about two years ago estimated that 30 million of you folks in the Americas are into prepping in one form or another. I think that number is likely to rise now.

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Meta

Teach me about life insurance

Robert LarsonContributor - December 3, 2022

I don’t feel any immediate need to get life insurance because I am relatively healthy, but accidents happen. In addition, with things costing more lately than they have been in previous years, I am seeing how hard keeping up with the bills and cost of living would be for my wife if I were to pass away.

I know nothing about life insurance, but might want to consider it. Can you all tell me if you have it, do you know of anyone who has had to cash it in, how do you shop for it, what kinds are there, things like that.

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Advice

A prepper’s perspective on gratitude this November

Debby Jenkins - December 1, 2022

Hello! I’ve spent the past few days browsing this site since seeing it on 60 Minutes and have to say that so far it’s exactly what I needed in my life right now. Who knew there were AA batteries with a USB port in the side to charge them with!? Well apparently this site!

Something that is always on my mind this time of year and something I want to personally work on is gratitude. To make it relevant to this forum though, I want to share my thoughts about how being grateful is important for your mental health and for preparing in general. I have been prepping for the past 4-5 years, so I’m in no way an expert, but can say I have a basic knowledge that hopefully applies.

I find it ironic that on Thanksgiving day we sit down and with our loved ones and talk about all the things we are thankful for and then head out the next day and fight people over a coffee maker that is $20 off and we already have one that works.

Gratitude is overcoming discontentment of wanting more things. And not necessarily just things, but also wanting more experiences, more success, more recognition, a better job, a better marriage, and more more more more.

While those AA batteries that I saw and are so fascinated with are now definitely things I want, I took a moment to realize that I have about 30 disposables still and a handful of rechargeable ones that you plug into a brick to charge. I don’t need any more and need to be content and grateful for what I have. The cool batteries though will be on my mind when it does come time to replace the older rechargeables and if you didn’t have any rechargeable batteries before then that could be a good investment. Take a minute to analyze if you really need something versus just being a want.

Look at your unfulfilled desires and be okay with not having everything. “I’ll be happy when I buy that new car.” or “That new camp stove sure will make life easier” There’s always something to strive for and want isn’t there? Take the richest man in the entire world for example. He is still trying to obtain more things, the company Twitter being the latest example. It’s only in our nature to want more things and there is always one more thing you could have, even if you are the richest person in the world. Gratitude is being content with whatever you have, be it only the clothes on your back, what you currently have, or even if you are filthy rich.

It is hard to not compare yourself with others. Hearing about that person who just won over 2 billion dollars in the lottery, or someone driving by in their nice sports car, you think about what it would be like to be like that person don’t you? I do. Something that can help you though is to consider that if you are reading this right now, you probably are in the top 5% of wealth in the entire world. There are so many people who have so much less than you. People who may have no home, no food, no job, no legs, no sight, no family, no friends, no hope. There’s always someone above you who has more than you, but there is most likely a lot more people who would do anything to have what you have. Your life might just be that sports car envy of someone else. And just how I think about how I wish all those super wealthy people would just walk up to me and pay off my house, what do I do with my wealth and helping those around me?

I don’t want to go too long with this, but just want to remind people that it is important to be grateful for what you have. When we were born, we came into this world with absolutely nothing. You have much more than what you started off with right? Even if you lose it all in an earthquake tomorrow, you have so many past experiences and even the ability to read my ramblings right now. We have so much!

Survival is about being resourceful with what you have and making the best out of your current situation. Replacing the old generator with a new one would be nice, but you have a functioning one now that you can tune up and get more life out of and even if you didn’t have that, you probably could get by like so many people did before the generator was even invented.

Gratefully yours,

Debby

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Advice

Check your gasoline supply

Steve Martin - December 1, 2022

Rail strike is a remote possibility on December 9th. I doubt it will be allowed to go that far but if the commenting Im hearing from railroaders is to be believed, they’re ready to force the issue….and that could make for a gas shortage in some areas of the country.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/28/freight-rail-shutdown-fuel-supply-00070980

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