Active New Top (30 days) Compact Card Article about “Best Before” dates Barb LeeContributor - October 11, 2022 I hope it’s appropriate to post here, but I think that as preppers, we probably pay particular attention to those “use by” dates – I know I do. I review my inventory according to “use by” or “best by” dates, but I’ll certainly be more reluctant to toss foods that are beyond those dates. best-before-labels-scrutinized-food-waste-concerns Read More 10 4 I just love watching Canadian geese fly over! RedneckContributor - October 9, 2022 It seems out house is on the local Canadian geese flock’s flyway between a neighbor’s lake and maybe their feeding grounds. Every day, the geese fly directly over our house on the way to the lake. I assume they use our house as a beacon to locate the lake. They fly over all during the day, from morning to evening. I find the Canadian geese to be beautiful & graceful in flight. I love listening to them honk. This morning, while working in the garden, a larger than normal flock flew over. Made my day! I took a picture of part of the lake that they head to, which is just a couple of hundred yards from our house, on our lane. Read More 6 9 Switch replacement amperage adrianalindgren - October 7, 2022 I have a nilight lightbar which I have wired to my starter battery. The rocker switch that it came with is a 12v 20amp switch but that switch does not fit in the dash- and I don’t want to custom install it. I found a switch that fits perfectly in the blank spaces but it is a 12v 16amp switch. My question is how do I determine if the 16amp switch is sufficient for the application? Read More 6 1 Skills 10/4/22 Great price for Life Straws Sharon - October 7, 2022 Costco has LIFESTRAWS on super sale now – 4 pack for 40 bucks!!That’s cheaper than the price we got for them as a retailer…….A great stocking stuffer or party favor?? 😉 Read More 9 11 Why all the bottled water? hikermor - October 5, 2022 I am seeing news stories, featuring people buying cases of bottled water – in my opinion, an unnecessary expense…. Granted, potable water in THE basic necessity, but I have never had problems with tap water, properly stored and at times, I have used raw water, properly treated ( usually boiled). Commercial water is a waste of resources. Right now, I have about 17-25 gallons of jugged tap water, ready for thee next earthquake or whatever. Read More 9 9 Can you just use bleach for safe long-term water storage? Kole Montanna - October 5, 2022 I have a question, I have a few water totes and barrels. Can a guy just use bleach for long-term water storage, keep it out of the elements, and how long will that last? Do you have to use aquamira? Read More 9 2 Iphone case with camera cover? doorwild36 - October 4, 2022 Hey Folks, Has anyone come across a decent phone case that has built in sliding front and rear camera covers? I now there are a few on amazon but the reviews don’t look so good and it seems that the covers break rather quickly with limited use? The little sliding stick on covers are okay for the front but suck for the rear cameras. thanks, Jesse Read More 5 8 Gear How long would white flour last? Cancheprepper - October 3, 2022 Hi y’all. I live in a country where it costs a ton to get cool prepping stuff (like oxygen absorbers and vacuum sealed bags and such) so I’m trying to think through extending the shelf life of white flour using what I have. Let’s say I fill a food-grade bucket and lid with 5-pound bags of flour, each sealed inside a gallon ziplock bag and then closed the bucket with the lid and kept it at room temperature out of direct sunlight. The expiration date of the flour is 6 months from its production date, but how long do you reckon it’d last in the situation I just described? Thanks! Read More 7 16 Advice Complications an HOA brings to prepping Mike Hill - October 1, 2022 Where I am looking to buy a house either has areas without a Home Owners Association and the neighborhood is pretty run down or houses in an HOA that are nice and well kept. Looks like HOAs attract certain people and do their job at keeping up the curb appeal. Now I am a person who will keep up their house. It will always be sharp and clean looking, HOA or not. And I want to live in a neighborhood with like minded people who feel the same way. BUT…. from what I am seeing, HOA’s also bring with them some not so friendly rules that would make me feel restrictive and also not allow me to prepare how I would like. I asked my realtor to pull the HOA rules for two properties I was looking at. And just for an example, both site that only domesticated animals were permitted, which means I cannot have backyard chickens. And one said you cannot erect a tent on the property. I get it, no having loud and messy animals or turning your house into a dump with bunches of tents and temporary shelters. I see why they said those things, but at the same time that means I cannot even go practice camping in my backyard? For those who live in an HOA, do you find it restrictive to your normal life and also to your prepping life? Read More 8 9 Advice Backyard fitness activities for weight loss Lena - September 30, 2022 Aerobic gardening Aerobic exercise is considered the most effective way to lose weight, and aerobic exercise for half an hour to an hour a day is very effective for fat loss. People rarely associate aerobic exercise with gardening, but the truth is that the role of gardening is not limited to beautifying the backyard, there is much more. According to authorities, being active in the backyard for 30-45 minutes can burn up to 300 calories. Digging. Digging up dirt in a garden or greenhouse tent is one of the most common tasks for every gardener. But it’s hard to think that sustaining half an hour of digging will cost you 186 calories, roughly equivalent to the calories spent on skateboarding or cycling. Weeding. When you do weeding tasks, you can add some strength training, such as doing proper squats and lunge exercises to exercise your core. You can also exercise your triceps by the way. For every half hour of weeding, you’ll burn 172 calories, which is the same number of calories you burn for doing aerobics. Backyard Trampoline If you think a solo backyard workout seems too boring, invite your family to join you! Trampolines are great for exercisers of almost all ages, and they’re so popular that no one can resist a sport that makes people look cool. The beauty of trampolining is that you won’t find it boring, and, well, you’ll grow to love it! Even if you’re just having fun on a trampoline, you can still burn a lot of calories. If you jump on a trampoline for ten minutes, you burn roughly the same number of calories as if you were running for 30 minutes. A person can burn 500 calories in one hour of jumping on a trampoline, which is more efficient compared to walking and running. Read More 7 2 How to prepare for jury duty Mike Hill - September 30, 2022 I just went through the jury duty process and wanted to share my experience and the things I wish I had known before that would have made it a much smoother process. This is all based off of my experience for the court that I went to and things may be different for you in your area. Getting your summons. When you get your jury duty summons in the mail, look at the date and make sure you are able to attend. If you have a trip to Europe booked or a surgery scheduled around that time you may want to request a postponement. In my state, you can submit a request to postpone jury duty for another time period within the next 6 months, but you do have to show up that day and can’t postpone again. After that, inform your employer of your scheduled jury duty date so they have proper coverage during that time. The night before. In my area, you are supposed to call the courthouse the night before your scheduled appearance and an automated system will then inform you if you are to come in or not. One time I called in and it was canceled, so I didn’t have to go after all. Get to bed early and lay out your clothes, breakfast, and a lunch you can bring. In the picture up above, everyone is nicely dressed, but in the jury duty I went to people were in normal casual street clothes. My recommendation is to dress nice, but comfortably. The day of jury duty. When you arrive you will show your jury duty summons (your ticket to get in), and go through metal detectors. Make sure you left your knives, pepper spray, guns, and whatever else at home. Bring a book to read. After I arrived they had us wait for about three hours before they got started. You could dabble on your phone, but in general they don’t like phones on in courts because they are distracting, you could be looking up information on the case, or you could be recording the proceedings. All of these could get you in trouble and the judge can give you a contempt of court charge or the entire case might go into mistrial. Turn your phone off and bring a book or newspaper to read. Also bring a jacket. Even though it was in the 90’s outside, they cranked up the air conditioning inside and everyone was freezing, including myself. In the courtroom I went to I was permitted a closed water bottle, but no food. So leave your food in your car and have that during the lunch break, and only sip on the water, because they do give you bathroom breaks, but if you really have to go, you don’t want to hold up the entire court if they are in the middle of something. Jury selection. There were about 100 of us selected and eventually that gets whittled down to 12 jurors and 3 alternative backups. They will ask you a series of questions to see if you are going to be a good choice to be on the jury and will be fair and impartial. If the upcoming trial is only going to be a day or two, they probably won’t ask a lot of questions but the trial I was scheduled for was going to go on for three weeks because it was a pretty serious crime. So voice any issues you may have of sitting in on a jury during that time period. Things such as being a member of law enforcement, being a victim of a similar crime, or even being a single mother of five children with no options for child care could get you excused. Pros and cons of serving on a jury. Most likely if you are reading this you are a citizen of the United States and are subject to receiving a jury summons. The Constitution gives us this great privilege to be judged by our peers and not just a judge. So being able to serve my community in this way was something I was looking forward to. There are some hardships that come with it however. In my state, your employer is supposed to pay you for the first three days of jury duty, but after that the court will give you $50 a day. If I had been selected for that three week trial then that would have put some serious hardship on my family if I only made $50 a day. Have some emergency savings that you can live off of if you have to go through a trial like this. If you are a business owner, set procedures in place to have various shifts covered if one of your employees has to go through this. One poor lady there had previously served on a federal jury for 18 months! I don’t know how if payment was different for her, but could you live on $50/day for 18 months? That’s when tapping into savings and food storage would be helpful. Read More 10 13 AdviceScenarios Any ideas for how to fit solar panels for solar generators in a small back yard? Jonnie PekelnyContributor - September 28, 2022 Hello, everybody. I’m back on TP after a LONG absence. I just bought solar panels for solar generators. They arrived today. Kind of exciting. This is my first venture into trying to recharge my sogens from the sun. I got these two panels: Now I have my next problem. I didn’t realize the solar panels would be so big. Each of the two Allpowers is 7 ft long. The only place I have to put them is my back yard, but my back yard is small and there is some obstruction from trees and other plants. I don’t know if I can fit two of these things side to side. I’m wondering if there’s a way to arrange them in a more compact way? Perhaps one set of panels on some card tables and the other one on the ground underneath? Are there any frames or something out there I might get to stack these so they both get sun? Another problem is security. My back yard has a chain link gate that’s a little under 5 ft tall. Even with a lock someone in good physical shape could climb it pretty easily. And the fences on two sides of the yard are pretty see through. Now, I’ve never had theft on my property, despite it being a very urban neighborhood, and my back yard is removed from the street. But if someone spots two large solar panel arrays, plus a generator sitting out there, what’s to keep them from hopping my fence and stealing them? These are some of the most expensive items I own! Read More 9 10 Flood preps & emergency raft recommendations brekke - September 25, 2022 Seeing all of the flooding over the last week has moved prepping for floods to the top of my list of missing items. We are in a flood zone and have insurance. Our house was also built with the first floor 8 feet above the 500 year flood maps and flood vents in the foundation. We have a large stack of pre-prepped sand bags too. Along with power outage, food and fresh water supplies. However, our location is surrounded by roads below flood level and they are they only exit from our area. High ground is several miles away as the crow flies. We have an axe for the attic and life vests for the kids. (Life vests for us are on our list.) One thing I know we’re missing is an emergency raft and paddles. Any recommendations for that? Preferably in the under $200 range? Any other items specific to flooding, especially flash flooding, that you can think of? We live in the vicinity of two powerful rivers (one of them dam fed approximately 80 miles upstream) multiple creeks and holding ponds. Good chance for significant debris, chemical, and sewage in flood waters. With enough notice we would evacuate pre-flood. If our home is habitable, we would shelter-in-place. So, for the raft and attic supplies, they would be last resort/caught by surprise/no other options. Read More 12 13 Gear Late summer means it is muscadine picking time! RedneckContributor - September 25, 2022 I love this time of year. It is still hot and for some reason, the past month has been exceptionally wet. My gourds and pumpkins are growing nicely, the rattlesnakes pole beans are finally producing now that those extremely hot days are gone, the okra needs picking every 2 days… and the muscadines are ripening. Oh, the flavor & sweetness packed into those grapes is almost beyond belief. My wife is gonna make a batch of jelly with the ones I picked today. Muscadines are a great crop for warm, humid climates. It requires no spray and disease isn’t an issue. You do need to prune each winter, as grapes are born on new growth. I have around 100 row feet of muscadine trellises and they bear lots of huge, juicy grapes. About half are the bronze variety, called scuppernongs which I actually prefer a bit more than the black (very dark red), but my wife prefers the dark red in making jelly because it makes a nice red jelly. Read More 9 16 Potential large scale nation-wide Railroad Strike this coming week TraceContributor - September 23, 2022 I just found out from a close friend—who works for the railroad—that there is a scheduled nation wide union strike beginning September 16 if their demands aren’t met. They are asking for a much needed pay raise, and to change the draconian work laws that only guarantee them 4 days off every 3 months (otherwise they are constantly on call and required to go when called). If it’s transported on land, it’s probably transported by railways — trucks typically only do the shorter hauls. Think about what you may need and maybe prioritize it early this week. We’ll be grocery shopping, topping off fuel tanks/cans, and restocking animal feed. Historically these strikes are quickly ended by Congress, but even a delay of several hours impacts thousands of trains and the supply lines are already struggling. (An analogy would be if all the nations airports closed for several hours or longer — how long would it take to catch back up?) I did some research and found this article (there are more): https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2022/09/rail-strike-could-cause-supply-chain (I also posted this on Discord — but I’m not “Discord fluent” yet and it seems like things get lost or quickly passed over there if you’re not staying on top of them. Probably just me.) Read More 13 7 Advice Lightweight and cheap hand saw for your bug out bag Gideon ParkerStaff - September 23, 2022 In a forum post that I can’t seem to find now, a member shared the World’s Lightest Backpacking Saw. Coming in at only 3.95 oz (112g) this minimalist collapsible saw would be a great addition to throw in a bug out bag. However, this commercial product is no longer being made. So if I wanted one, I was going to have to make one myself. I am going to share two designs that I came up with so this type of saw will be accessible to those on a tight budget with no tools to work with or if you want some additional features, you can take it to the next level. Video of completed product at the end of this post. Design #1 – Cheap, quick, and minimal. For this first model, you will need to get a 9” or 12” sawzall blade from the hardware store ($4-$8), a 9.25” long ½” diameter PVC pipe ($3) (they can help you cut it at the hardware store or you can use your saw blade), a piece of paracord, and a small stick the length and diameter of your finger. This is really easy. Thread the paracord through the hole in the saw blade, stick the paracord through the pipe, tie a knot at the end, thread the stick through the hole of the paracord knot and twist until the blade is firm in there. That’s it! Design #2 – Slightly more expensive, requires more tools, but has more features This design does require a bit more work, but is far superior in my opinion. One of the things I didn’t like about the commercial product and Design #1 is that you had to store your blade next to the handle and it had potential for cutting up other gear in your pack. I wanted a larger diameter tube in Design #2 to be more comfortable in the hand, and offer a storage space for the saw blade inside. With the larger diameter tube however, the saw blade would just slip through. To fix this, take a ½ inch diameter 1” long piece of PVC pipe, sanding down the outside until it fits snuggly inside the ¾” pipe, and apply some PVC glue to keep it secure. By doing this, it creates the necessary diameter for the saw to sit in while still maintaining the ability to store the saw inside the handle. An additional modification that I did with Design #2 is to cut slits in the ½ inch pipe so that the blade has a secure slot to sit in and won’t spin around when you are tightening down the rope. You can just stick with threading the paracord through the hole in the blade, or go with the cotter pin attachment that the commercial version uses. I don’t really see the benefit of the cotter pin besides being able to remove the rope without having to untie the knot, or maybe distributing the tension between two points instead of one. I probably wouldn’t bother buying the cotter pins again, but if you want to I’ll show you how to bend and use them. Get some ⅛” X 1” cotter pins ($1.25/pack of 5) in the nail and screw aisle of the hardware store, thread it through the hole of the saw blade, pinch slightly up on the cotter pin with some pliers and bend the legs of the cotter pin over the pliers teeth. The finished product will look like this. Another modification I made with Design #2 is to sand little ridges in the base to lock in the stick better than a smooth surface. The commercial product gets around doing this by just really cranking the line until it won’t move and holding the stick while you saw, but I like the grooves better. You can recreate this by wrapping a pencil in sand paper and running it back and forth over the end of the pipe. Comparing the DIY version with the commercial product. To be honest, I like the PVC pipe version much more than the commercial product because of the low cost, and additional features. Comparing Design #2 to the top recommended hand saw in The Prepared’s Best survival handsaw article, the Silky Gomboy costs and weighs three times as much and doesn’t have cheap easily replaceable blades. The commercial product uses a better rope called Zing-it that is lighter weight, stronger, and doesn’t have any stretch. I couldn’t find Zing-it anywhere cheaper than $27 for a roll and the paracord works perfectly for me, so I am sticking with that. For $1 more, I could have gone with the superior saw blade that the commercial product uses, the Diablo carbide teeth blades. The reason I went with the Milwaukee blade is because that fits inside the ¾” PVC whereas the Diablo blade was just slightly too wide. In the future, I would like to get the Diablo blade and grind down the wide spine so that it will fit inside the handle. The commercial product also went with a long 12” blade which is much faster at cutting with its longer draw length, but for this compact version I stuck with a 9” blade. Here’s a short video showing what the Diablo blade can do compared to a similar sized Fiskers saw. There is enough room inside the handle of Design #2 where you could have both a wood and metal saw blade. Perhaps you have this in your bug out bag and use the wood blade to cut firewood or build a shelter with, and the metal blade could be used to cut a chain link fence or padlock if you are stuck somewhere and need to get through during SHTF. Video of completed Design #2 https://youtu.be/ltvS1SPyACc Read More 11 16 Gear Brushfire information resources Alicia - September 22, 2022 A brushfire started very near my home this afternoon while I was at work. Luckily, a neighbor was home and alerted me. I am fortunate enough to have the flexibility to return home, work from there and monitor the situation. I have Fire Department alerts to email but don’t check my personal email often during the workday. No other alert was raised as evacuations have not been declared yet. So I have some work to get better alerts. In a couple hours the fire went from 5 to 107 acres and had the wind stayed in its original direction, an evacuation would have been more likely for my neighborhood. But luck was on our side today, and the wind changed to away from homes. There are 4 helicopters and I don’t know how many firefighters. It’s looking like they’re succeeding in containment based on the reduction in smoke and frequency of helicopter flyovers. These resources were quite helpful in assessing the fire as it had not yet made the news: Local Fire Department alerts – once I heard, I could check my email and see a map pin that was near (but also from experience not ON) the fire location. Satellite map of potential fires – zoom to your location. The squares grew over time. Live tracking of aircraft website. If you click on a helicopter it will show the recent flight path. That showed the water pickup to dump location loop. Quite helpful. Live tracking of wind direction website – indicates the direction the fire may move. MyRadar phone app. @eric has shared this for fires. For this event, it’s not showing this fire, or it’s in the wrong spot. This appears to have been a near miss for me so far. And an opportunity to learn how to be better prepared for next time. Read More 14 9 Scenarios Review of Juan Pablo’s book THRIVE Carla Almaraz - September 22, 2022 Holy mole! Talk about a comprehensive book! I learned something about survival on virtually every single page. I have dozens of books on survival but this one takes the cake for every topic. If you are considering staying in the wild, this is the book for you. Read More 7 2 Low-bandwith website recommendations for when you have poor service Adriaan - September 22, 2022 Looongtime internet user here. I have pretty bad service at my house, any text-only sites that you recommend? Read More 12 7 FAQ: Apple AirTags for prepping Josh CentersContributor - September 22, 2022 Of all of the products Apple released in 2021, perhaps the one that’s received the most press — for good and ill — is the AirTag, a small, cheap (for Apple), tracking device. The idea is that you slip it into a bag or attach it to your keys and you can easily track down the AirTag’s location with your iPhone. The other side of the coin is it’s feared to be a potent tool for stalking and auto theft. What makes the AirTag different from Tile and other trackers? The concept of a small, portable tracking device isn’t new. Ham radio operators have been using APRS for such devices for decades, and object tracking entered the mainstream with the Tile trackers. But what makes AirTag different is the power of Apple’s extensive Find My network. Tile trackers aren’t very useful because most of the time, it’s limited by the transmit distance of Bluetooth, about 30 feet. The AirTag also works by transmitting a Bluetooth signal, but it uses every nearby iPhone, iPad, and Mac with the right system requirements to relay the signal, and there are a lot of those out there in the wild — millions and millions. Tile has a similar networking technology, but the network isn’t anywhere close to as extensive. To clear up some confusion: there is the Find My app on iPhones that you use to see the locations of devices, friends, and AirTags, and then there is the Find My network, which relays signals from AirTags and other devices. The Find My network works silently in the background. If you have an Apple device, you won’t notice it being used. And the Find My network uses encryption and other technologies to protect your privacy from the devices relaying the signal. How extensive is the Find My network? Kirk McElhearn mailed one to a friend and discovered that he could track it practically in real time. Every time the AirTag gets near a compatible Apple device, it relays its location to Apple’s servers. How does an AirTag help me track objects? The AirTag has three mechanisms to help you pin down its location: It displays its approximate location on the map in the Find My appIt supports radar-like precision tracking on the iPhone 11 and laterIt features a small speaker that can be triggered from the Find My app to help you audibly track the AirTag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckqvG0Rj35I Do I need an iPhone to use an AirTag? For all practical purposes, yes. You can view an AirTag on the map with the Mac and iPad versions of Find My (not the web version on iCloud.com), but you need an iPhone 11 or later for the precision tracking that helps you find the AirTag once you’re in the general proximity. You need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to set up the AirTag. Apple has considered what happens if a good samaritan without an iPhone finds your AirTagged item. There is an NFC chip built in that can be scanned with an Android phone, displaying your name, phone number, address, or whatever information you decided to share on the AirTag. What can I use the AirTag to track? Apple envisions you tracking things like backpacks, keychains, purses, and bicycles. In terms of preparedness, you can expand this a bit to things like: Go-bags Individual First-Aid Kits Tool boxes Ammunition boxes Keeping an AirTag with your kits can help you find them when you need them and can’t remember where you put them. It may also help if your bag or other kit is stolen, assuming you’ve hidden the AirTag well and the thief isn’t actively looking for one. There are creative uses for AirTag as well. An Army wife stuck one in her family’s stuff so they could track a moving truck. When the driver kept delaying and making excuses, she tracked the AirTag location to quickly figure out that he was full of it. Can an AirTag be used for stalking? There have been a number of media and police warnings about AirTags being used by criminals, including a model finding one in her pocket and people finding them attached to their vehicles. Apple shipped the AirTag with a number of anti-stalking protections. Most notably, you’re alerted if an AirTag not registered to your iPhone is found nearby. It can lead to false alarms, like if you’re on a bus with someone who has an AirTag in their backpack. And it only works if you use an iPhone. To help address this concern, Apple has shipped an Android app, called Tracker Detector, which doesn’t automatically detect foreign AirTags but lets you manually scan for them. Oddly, you can’t manually scan for AirTags with an iPhone and you can’t be automatically alerted of them with an Android phone. Expect Apple to do more soon to address criminal usage of AirTags (and the bad press). Can I share an AirTag with a family member? Find My lets you track the locations of members of your Family Sharing group, as well as their registered Apple devices. That’s really helpful when, say, your spouse has lost their iPhone. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way with an AirTag. An AirTag is tied to a single Apple ID and isn’t shared. That can be really annoying if you borrow your spouse’s keys with an attached AirTag and get stalking warnings. How long does the AirTag battery last? Apple says the AirTag battery should last about a year. Amazingly for an Apple product, the AirTag takes a standard CR2032 battery that you can easily replace yourself. How do I attach an AirTag to stuff? The AirTag is a smooth disk without any holes or other ways to attach it to things. It’s easy enough to slip one inside a bag or box, but you need some sort of case to attach it to things like keys. Apple would like for you to buy one of their high-dollar designer AirTag cases, but there are cheap and perfectly serviceable AirTag cases on Amazon. Read More 21 9 Advice Can a carport help me protect my car from the heat? Lena - September 21, 2022 I always park my car in my backyard. But summer coming, and the temperature gradually increases. Now, it is hot. I found online that a carport can help me protect my car in the summer. It is true? And how should I pick a carport? Read More 7 13 Klean Strip/Klean Heat kerosene alternative for oil burning lanterns and lamps Barb LeeContributor - September 20, 2022 Klean Heat kerosene alternative is about as pure as kerosene gets, and is recommended on one of my favorite lantern websites. It’s taken me a long time to find it (buried in the Home Depot labyrinth) but I found it last week. Just now refitted my two antique lanterns with new wicks and filled them with the new product, then lit them. It is unquestionably a far superior product in the old lanterns than either K-1 kerosene or lamp oil! My two lanterns, a 19th century railroad lantern and a 1920s Dietz cold blast contractor’s lantern, just reeked when burned inside with K-1. There is almost no kerosene smell at all with the new fuel. The Dietz burns far cleaner than the railroad lantern and I couldn’t smell anything from it. Most of the smell came from the other one. From the Klean Strip website: Klean-Strip® Klean Heat® My understanding is that the alternative produces slightly less light and heat, but probably imperceptible. Consider the kerosene alternative if you use kerosene in any of your heating/lighting equipment. It’s spendy but seems to be a better option if forced to use such fuels indoors in an emergency. Read More 10 1 Gear ⛺ Springbar, aka Kirkham Tent? JBinAZ - September 20, 2022 We’re thinking about splurging on a Springbar tent and would like to hear real-world feedback on them. Our reasons for wanting to get one are: 1. Heavy duty: we live in the Arizona desert and everything here is rocky. 99% of our plants and trees have thorns and thorns. Our desert eats up tents 2. 4 season: we hit high temps (like 115) in the summer and can hit in the 30s in the winter. We need something that “breathes” in hot temps but can insulate in cold 3. Storms: We have a monsoon season, and that means wind gusts up to 80 mph and rain that lashes sideways 4. We’d like to be able to “hot tent,” i.e. use a small wood stove in the winter inside the tent, as you can do with canvas tents. 5. Durability: We’d like this tent to last more than a year (or, sometimes, a trip) 6. Color: We like that they have a color (“Suntan”) that really blends into our desert7. Critters: We need to sleep “zipped up” or mostly zipped up as we have rattlesnakes and scorpions…we’ve been stung by scorpions and our dog took a rattlesnake bite, last year. 8. Usage: For a car bug-out situation to our “base camp” as well as enjoying it throughout the year on our adventures. Anyway, it doesn’t seem like anyone has written about this brand, yet, according to my searching on here. Would love to hear your feedback and experiences, or suggestion for an alternate option. ⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺ Read More 9 1 Gear Hikers caught in a wildfire Kira - September 19, 2022 Hi all, Came across this article about how two hikers that got caught in a wildfire survived (no pay wall) and thought some of y’all might be interested: https://www.khq.com/news/hikers-stranded-atop-mountain-by-bolt-creek-fire/article_d6cc054e-322e-11ed-9165-231473ca123d.html They assumed the smoke was coming from the other side of the mountains. They weren’t able to be evacuated by first responders, came close to the fire several times, ran out of water, and nearly fell of a cliff, but were ultimately able to find their car and evacuate. I’m curious what, if any, different choices or preparations you might have made? I’d have avoided going outside in smoke full stop (it’s thick enough to coat my yard in ash, and I’m several towns over!) and would have checked the fire map (again, thick smoke). Read More 11 21 News Will you choose a portable greenhouse in the fall? Lena - September 19, 2022 Now is the best season of the year to start your backyard gardening. Will you begin greenhouse gardening this fall? It seems that many gardening enthusiasts love hobby greenhouses, especially portable ones. Will you choose a portable greenhouse? tunnel greenhouse, mini greenhouse, walk-in greenhouse…..what kind of portable greenhouse would you prefer? Read More 5 1 < Prev 1 2 3 … 16 17 18 … 59 60 61 Next > Recently Active News for the Week 2024-11-18 - 2 weeks agoNews for the Week 2024-11-4 - 2 weeks ago(Official discussion) Rainy day funds and cash on hand - 4 weeks agoNews for the Week 2024-10-28 - 1 month agoNews for the Week 2024-10-21 - 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

Article about “Best Before” dates

Barb LeeContributor - October 11, 2022

I hope it’s appropriate to post here, but I think that as preppers, we probably pay particular attention to those “use by” dates – I know I do.  I review my inventory according to “use by” or “best by” dates, but I’ll certainly be more reluctant to toss foods that are beyond those dates.  best-before-labels-scrutinized-food-waste-concerns

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I just love watching Canadian geese fly over!

RedneckContributor - October 9, 2022

It seems out house is on the local Canadian geese flock’s flyway between a neighbor’s lake and maybe their feeding grounds.  Every day, the geese fly directly over our house on the way to the lake.  I assume they use our house as a beacon to locate the lake.  They fly over all during the day, from morning to evening.

I find the Canadian geese to be beautiful & graceful in flight.  I love listening to them honk.  This morning, while working in the garden, a larger than normal flock flew over.  Made my day!  I took a picture of part of the lake that they head to, which is just a couple of hundred yards from our house, on our lane.

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Switch replacement amperage

adrianalindgren - October 7, 2022

I have a nilight lightbar which I have wired to my starter battery. The rocker switch that it came with is a 12v 20amp switch but that switch does not fit in the dash- and I don’t want to custom install it. I found a switch that fits perfectly in the blank spaces but it is a 12v 16amp switch. My question is how do I determine if the 16amp switch is sufficient for the application?

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Skills

10/4/22 Great price for Life Straws

Sharon - October 7, 2022

Costco has LIFESTRAWS on super sale now – 4 pack for 40 bucks!!
That’s cheaper than the price we got for them as a retailer…….
A great stocking stuffer or party favor??  😉

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Why all the bottled water?

hikermor - October 5, 2022

I am seeing news stories, featuring people buying cases of bottled water – in my opinion, an unnecessary expense….

Granted, potable water in THE basic necessity, but I have never had problems with tap water, properly stored and at times, I have used raw water, properly treated ( usually boiled).  Commercial water is a waste of resources.

Right now, I have about 17-25 gallons of jugged tap water, ready for thee next earthquake or whatever.

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Can you just use bleach for safe long-term water storage?

Kole Montanna - October 5, 2022

I have a question,

I have a few water totes and barrels. Can a guy just use bleach for long-term water storage, keep it out of the elements, and how long will that last? Do you have to use aquamira?

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Iphone case with camera cover?

doorwild36 - October 4, 2022

Hey Folks,

Has anyone come across a decent phone case that has built in sliding front and rear camera covers?  I now there are a few on amazon but the reviews don’t look so good and it seems that the covers break rather quickly with limited use?  The little sliding stick on covers are okay for the front but suck for the rear cameras.

thanks,

Jesse

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Gear

How long would white flour last?

Cancheprepper - October 3, 2022

Hi y’all. I live in a country where it costs a ton to get cool prepping stuff (like oxygen absorbers and vacuum sealed bags and such) so I’m trying to think through extending the shelf life of white flour using what I have. Let’s say I fill a food-grade bucket and lid with 5-pound bags of flour, each sealed inside a gallon ziplock bag and then closed the bucket with the lid and kept it at room temperature out of direct sunlight. The expiration date of the flour is 6 months from its production date, but how long do you reckon it’d last in the situation I just described? Thanks!

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Advice

Complications an HOA brings to prepping

Mike Hill - October 1, 2022

Where I am looking to buy a house either has areas without a Home Owners Association and the neighborhood is pretty run down or houses in an HOA that are nice and well kept. Looks like HOAs attract certain people and do their job at keeping up the curb appeal.

Now I am a person who will keep up their house. It will always be sharp and clean looking, HOA or not. And I want to live in a neighborhood with like minded people who feel the same way. BUT…. from what I am seeing, HOA’s also bring with them some not so friendly rules that would make me feel restrictive and also not allow me to prepare how I would like.

I asked my realtor to pull the HOA rules for two properties I was looking at. And just for an example, both site that only domesticated animals were permitted, which means I cannot have backyard chickens. And one said you cannot erect a tent on the property. I get it, no having loud and messy animals or turning your house into a dump with bunches of tents and temporary shelters. I see why they said those things, but at the same time that means I cannot even go practice camping in my backyard?

For those who live in an HOA, do you find it restrictive to your normal life and also to your prepping life?

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Advice

Backyard fitness activities for weight loss

Lena - September 30, 2022

Aerobic gardening

Aerobic exercise is considered the most effective way to lose weight, and aerobic exercise for half an hour to an hour a day is very effective for fat loss. People rarely associate aerobic exercise with gardening, but the truth is that the role of gardening is not limited to beautifying the backyard, there is much more. According to authorities, being active in the backyard for 30-45 minutes can burn up to 300 calories.

Digging. Digging up dirt in a garden or greenhouse tent is one of the most common tasks for every gardener. But it’s hard to think that sustaining half an hour of digging will cost you 186 calories, roughly equivalent to the calories spent on skateboarding or cycling.

Weeding. When you do weeding tasks, you can add some strength training, such as doing proper squats and lunge exercises to exercise your core. You can also exercise your triceps by the way. For every half hour of weeding, you’ll burn 172 calories, which is the same number of calories you burn for doing aerobics.

Backyard Trampoline

If you think a solo backyard workout seems too boring, invite your family to join you! Trampolines are great for exercisers of almost all ages, and they’re so popular that no one can resist a sport that makes people look cool.

The beauty of trampolining is that you won’t find it boring, and, well, you’ll grow to love it!

Even if you’re just having fun on a trampoline, you can still burn a lot of calories. If you jump on a trampoline for ten minutes, you burn roughly the same number of calories as if you were running for 30 minutes.

A person can burn 500 calories in one hour of jumping on a trampoline, which is more efficient compared to walking and running.

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How to prepare for jury duty

Mike Hill - September 30, 2022

I just went through the jury duty process and wanted to share my experience and the things I wish I had known before that would have made it a much smoother process. This is all based off of my experience for the court that I went to and things may be different for you in your area.

Getting your summons. When you get your jury duty summons in the mail, look at the date and make sure you are able to attend. If you have a trip to Europe booked or a surgery scheduled around that time you may want to request a postponement. In my state, you can submit a request to postpone jury duty for another time period within the next 6 months, but you do have to show up that day and can’t postpone again. After that, inform your employer of your scheduled jury duty date so they have proper coverage during that time.

The night before. In my area, you are supposed to call the courthouse the night before your scheduled appearance and an automated system will then inform you if you are to come in or not. One time I called in and it was canceled, so I didn’t have to go after all. Get to bed early and lay out your clothes, breakfast, and a lunch you can bring. In the picture up above, everyone is nicely dressed, but in the jury duty I went to people were in normal casual street clothes. My recommendation is to dress nice, but comfortably.

The day of jury duty. When you arrive you will show your jury duty summons (your ticket to get in), and go through metal detectors. Make sure you left your knives, pepper spray, guns, and whatever else at home. Bring a book to read. After I arrived they had us wait for about three hours before they got started. You could dabble on your phone, but in general they don’t like phones on in courts because they are distracting, you could be looking up information on the case, or you could be recording the proceedings. All of these could get you in trouble and the judge can give you a contempt of court charge or the entire case might go into mistrial. Turn your phone off and bring a book or newspaper to read. Also bring a jacket. Even though it was in the 90’s outside, they cranked up the air conditioning inside and everyone was freezing, including myself. In the courtroom I went to I was permitted a closed water bottle, but no food. So leave your food in your car and have that during the lunch break, and only sip on the water, because they do give you bathroom breaks, but if you really have to go, you don’t want to hold up the entire court if they are in the middle of something.

Jury selection. There were about 100 of us selected and eventually that gets whittled down to 12 jurors and 3 alternative backups. They will ask you a series of questions to see if you are going to be a good choice to be on the jury and will be fair and impartial. If the upcoming trial is only going to be a day or two, they probably won’t ask a lot of questions but the trial I was scheduled for was going to go on for three weeks because it was a pretty serious crime. So voice any issues you may have of sitting in on a jury during that time period. Things such as being a member of law enforcement, being a victim of a similar crime, or even being a single mother of five children with no options for child care could get you excused.

Pros and cons of serving on a jury. Most likely if you are reading this you are a citizen of the United States and are subject to receiving a jury summons. The Constitution gives us this great privilege to be judged by our peers and not just a judge. So being able to serve my community in this way was something I was looking forward to. There are some hardships that come with it however. In my state, your employer is supposed to pay you for the first three days of jury duty, but after that the court will give you $50 a day. If I had been selected for that three week trial then that would have put some serious hardship on my family if I only made $50 a day. Have some emergency savings that you can live off of if you have to go through a trial like this. If you are a business owner, set procedures in place to have various shifts covered if one of your employees has to go through this. One poor lady there had previously served on a federal jury for 18 months! I don’t know how if payment was different for her, but could you live on $50/day for 18 months? That’s when tapping into savings and food storage would be helpful.

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AdviceScenarios

Any ideas for how to fit solar panels for solar generators in a small back yard?

Jonnie PekelnyContributor - September 28, 2022

Hello, everybody. I’m back on TP after a LONG absence. I just bought solar panels for solar generators. They arrived today. Kind of exciting. This is my first venture into trying to recharge my sogens from the sun. I got these two panels:

Now I have my next problem. I didn’t realize the solar panels would be so big. Each of the two Allpowers is 7 ft long. The only place I have to put them is my back yard, but my back yard is small and there is some obstruction from trees and other plants. I don’t know if I can fit two of these things side to side. I’m wondering if there’s a way to arrange them in a more compact way? Perhaps one set of panels on some card tables and the other one on the ground underneath? Are there any frames or something out there I might get to stack these so they both get sun?

Another problem is security. My back yard has a chain link gate that’s a little under 5 ft tall. Even with a lock someone in good physical shape could climb it pretty easily. And the fences on two sides of the yard are pretty see through. Now, I’ve never had theft on my property, despite it being a very urban neighborhood, and my back yard is removed from the street. But if someone spots two large solar panel arrays, plus a generator sitting out there, what’s to keep them from hopping my fence and stealing them? These are some of the most expensive items I own!

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Flood preps & emergency raft recommendations

brekke - September 25, 2022

Seeing all of the flooding over the last week has moved prepping for floods to the top of my list of missing items. We are in a flood zone and have insurance. Our house was also built with the first floor 8 feet above the 500 year flood maps and flood vents in the foundation. We have a large stack of pre-prepped sand bags too. Along with power outage, food and fresh water supplies.

However, our location is surrounded by roads below flood level and they are they only exit from our area. High ground is several miles away as the crow flies.

We have an axe for the attic and life vests for the kids. (Life vests for us are on our list.)

One thing I know we’re missing is an emergency raft and paddles. Any recommendations for that? Preferably in the under $200 range?

Any other items specific to flooding, especially flash flooding, that you can think of?

We live in the vicinity of two powerful rivers (one of them dam fed approximately 80 miles upstream) multiple creeks and holding ponds. Good chance for significant debris, chemical, and sewage in flood waters. With enough notice we would evacuate pre-flood. If our home is habitable, we would shelter-in-place. So, for the raft and attic supplies, they would be last resort/caught by surprise/no other options.

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Gear

Late summer means it is muscadine picking time!

RedneckContributor - September 25, 2022

I love this time of year.  It is still hot and for some reason, the past month has been exceptionally wet.  My gourds and pumpkins are growing nicely, the rattlesnakes pole beans are finally producing now that those extremely hot days are gone, the okra needs picking every 2 days… and the muscadines are ripening. Oh, the flavor & sweetness packed into those grapes is almost beyond belief.  My wife is gonna make a batch of jelly with the ones I picked today.

Muscadines are a great crop for warm, humid climates.  It requires no spray and disease isn’t an issue.  You do need to prune each winter, as grapes are born on new growth.  I have around 100 row feet of muscadine trellises and they bear lots of huge, juicy grapes.  About half are the bronze variety, called scuppernongs which I actually prefer a bit more than the black (very dark red), but my wife prefers the dark red in making jelly because it makes a nice red jelly.

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Potential large scale nation-wide Railroad Strike this coming week

TraceContributor - September 23, 2022

I just found out from a close friend—who works for the railroad—that there is a scheduled nation wide union strike beginning September 16 if  their demands aren’t met. They are asking for a much needed pay raise, and to change the draconian work laws that only guarantee them 4 days off every 3 months (otherwise they are constantly on call and required to go when called). 

If it’s transported on land, it’s probably transported by railways — trucks typically only do the shorter hauls. Think about what you may need and maybe prioritize it early this week. We’ll be grocery shopping, topping off fuel tanks/cans, and restocking animal feed. Historically these strikes are quickly ended by Congress, but even a delay of several hours impacts thousands of trains and the supply lines are already struggling. (An analogy would be if all the nations airports closed for several hours or longer — how long would it take to catch back up?) 

I did some research and found this article (there are more):

https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2022/09/rail-strike-could-cause-supply-chain

(I also posted this on Discord — but I’m not “Discord fluent” yet and it seems like things get lost or quickly passed over there if you’re not staying on top of them. Probably just me.)

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Advice

Lightweight and cheap hand saw for your bug out bag

Gideon ParkerStaff - September 23, 2022

In a forum post that I can’t seem to find now, a member shared the World’s Lightest Backpacking Saw. Coming in at only 3.95 oz (112g) this minimalist collapsible saw would be a great addition to throw in a bug out bag. However, this commercial product is no longer being made. So if I wanted one, I was going to have to make one myself. 

I am going to share two designs that I came up with so this type of saw will be accessible to those on a tight budget with no tools to work with or if you want some additional features, you can take it to the next level. Video of completed product at the end of this post.

Design #1 – Cheap, quick, and minimal.

For this first model, you will need to get a 9” or 12” sawzall blade from the hardware store ($4-$8), a 9.25” long ½” diameter PVC pipe ($3) (they can help you cut it at the hardware store or you can use your saw blade), a piece of paracord, and a small stick the length and diameter of your finger.

This is really easy. Thread the paracord through the hole in the saw blade, stick the paracord through the pipe, tie a knot at the end, thread the stick through the hole of the paracord knot and twist until the blade is firm in there.

That’s it!

Design #2 – Slightly more expensive, requires more tools, but has more features

This design does require a bit more work, but is far superior in my opinion. One of the things I didn’t like about the commercial product and Design #1 is that you had to store your blade next to the handle and it had potential for cutting up other gear in your pack. I wanted a larger diameter tube in Design #2 to be more comfortable in the hand, and offer a storage space for the saw blade inside. 

With the larger diameter tube however, the saw blade would just slip through. To fix this, take a ½ inch diameter 1” long piece of PVC pipe, sanding down the outside until it fits snuggly inside the ¾” pipe, and apply some PVC glue to keep it secure. By doing this, it creates the necessary diameter for the saw to sit in while still maintaining the ability to store the saw inside the handle. An additional modification that I did with Design #2 is to cut slits in the ½ inch pipe so that the blade has a secure slot to sit in and won’t spin around when you are tightening down the rope.

You can just stick with threading the paracord through the hole in the blade, or go with the cotter pin attachment that the commercial version uses. I don’t really see the benefit of the cotter pin besides being able to remove the rope without having to untie the knot, or maybe distributing the tension between two points instead of one. I probably wouldn’t bother buying the cotter pins again, but if you want to I’ll show you how to bend and use them.

Get some ⅛” X 1” cotter pins ($1.25/pack of 5) in the nail and screw aisle of the hardware store, thread it through the hole of the saw blade, pinch slightly up on the cotter pin with some pliers and bend the legs of the cotter pin over the pliers teeth.

The finished product will look like this.

Another modification I made with Design #2 is to sand little ridges in the base to lock in the stick better than a smooth surface. The commercial product gets around doing this by just really cranking the line until it won’t move and holding the stick while you saw, but I like the grooves better. You can recreate this by wrapping a pencil in sand paper and running it back and forth over the end of the pipe.

Comparing the DIY version with the commercial product.

To be honest, I like the PVC pipe version much more than the commercial product because of the low cost, and additional features.

Comparing Design #2 to the top recommended hand saw in The Prepared’s Best survival handsaw article, the Silky Gomboy costs and weighs three times as much and doesn’t have cheap easily replaceable blades.

The commercial product uses a better rope called Zing-it that is lighter weight, stronger, and doesn’t have any stretch. I couldn’t find Zing-it anywhere cheaper than $27 for a roll and the paracord works perfectly for me, so I am sticking with that.

For $1 more, I could have gone with the superior saw blade that the commercial product uses, the Diablo carbide teeth blades. The reason I went with the Milwaukee blade is because that fits inside the ¾” PVC whereas the Diablo blade was just slightly too wide. In the future, I would like to get the Diablo blade and grind down the wide spine so that it will fit inside the handle. The commercial product also went with a long 12” blade which is much faster at cutting with its longer draw length, but for this compact version I stuck with a 9” blade. Here’s a short video showing what the Diablo blade can do compared to a similar sized Fiskers saw.

There is enough room inside the handle of Design #2 where you could have both a wood and metal saw blade. Perhaps you have this in your bug out bag and use the wood blade to cut firewood or build a shelter with, and the metal blade could be used to cut a chain link fence or padlock if you are stuck somewhere and need to get through during SHTF.

Video of completed Design #2

https://youtu.be/ltvS1SPyACc

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Gear

Brushfire information resources

Alicia - September 22, 2022

A brushfire started very near my home this afternoon while I was at work. Luckily, a neighbor was home and alerted me.  I am fortunate enough to have the flexibility to return home, work from there and monitor the situation.  I have Fire Department alerts to email but don’t check my personal email often during the workday.  No other alert was raised as evacuations have not been declared yet. So I have some work to get better alerts. In a couple hours the fire went from 5 to 107 acres and had the wind stayed in its original direction, an evacuation would have been more likely for my neighborhood.  But luck was on our side today, and the wind changed to away from homes.  There are 4 helicopters and I don’t know how many firefighters. It’s looking like they’re succeeding in containment based on the reduction in smoke and frequency of helicopter flyovers.

These resources were quite helpful in assessing the fire as it had not yet made the news:

Local Fire Department alerts – once I heard, I could check my email and see a map pin that was near (but also from experience not ON) the fire location. Satellite map of potential fires – zoom to your location.  The squares grew over time. Live tracking of aircraft website. If you click on a helicopter it will show the recent flight path. That showed the water pickup to dump location loop. Quite helpful. Live tracking of wind direction website – indicates the direction the fire may move. MyRadar phone app.  @eric has shared this for fires.  For this event, it’s not showing this fire, or it’s in the wrong spot.

This appears to have been a near miss for me so far.  And an opportunity to learn how to be better prepared for next time.

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Scenarios

Review of Juan Pablo’s book THRIVE

Carla Almaraz - September 22, 2022

Holy mole! Talk about a comprehensive book! I learned something about survival on virtually every single page. I have dozens of books on survival but this one takes the cake for every topic. If you are considering staying in the wild, this is the book for you.

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Low-bandwith website recommendations for when you have poor service

Adriaan - September 22, 2022

Looongtime internet user here. I have pretty bad service at my house, any text-only sites that you recommend?

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FAQ: Apple AirTags for prepping

Josh CentersContributor - September 22, 2022

Of all of the products Apple released in 2021, perhaps the one that’s received the most press — for good and ill — is the AirTag, a small, cheap (for Apple), tracking device. The idea is that you slip it into a bag or attach it to your keys and you can easily track down the AirTag’s location with your iPhone. The other side of the coin is it’s feared to be a potent tool for stalking and auto theft.

What makes the AirTag different from Tile and other trackers?

The concept of a small, portable tracking device isn’t new. Ham radio operators have been using APRS for such devices for decades, and object tracking entered the mainstream with the Tile trackers. But what makes AirTag different is the power of Apple’s extensive Find My network. Tile trackers aren’t very useful because most of the time, it’s limited by the transmit distance of Bluetooth, about 30 feet. The AirTag also works by transmitting a Bluetooth signal, but it uses every nearby iPhone, iPad, and Mac with the right system requirements to relay the signal, and there are a lot of those out there in the wild — millions and millions. Tile has a similar networking technology, but the network isn’t anywhere close to as extensive.

To clear up some confusion: there is the Find My app on iPhones that you use to see the locations of devices, friends, and AirTags, and then there is the Find My network, which relays signals from AirTags and other devices.

The Find My network works silently in the background. If you have an Apple device, you won’t notice it being used. And the Find My network uses encryption and other technologies to protect your privacy from the devices relaying the signal.

How extensive is the Find My network? Kirk McElhearn mailed one to a friend and discovered that he could track it practically in real time. Every time the AirTag gets near a compatible Apple device, it relays its location to Apple’s servers.

How does an AirTag help me track objects?

The AirTag has three mechanisms to help you pin down its location:

It displays its approximate location on the map in the Find My appIt supports radar-like precision tracking on the iPhone 11 and laterIt features a small speaker that can be triggered from the Find My app to help you audibly track the AirTag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckqvG0Rj35I

Do I need an iPhone to use an AirTag?

For all practical purposes, yes. You can view an AirTag on the map with the Mac and iPad versions of Find My (not the web version on iCloud.com), but you need an iPhone 11 or later for the precision tracking that helps you find the AirTag once you’re in the general proximity. You need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to set up the AirTag.

Apple has considered what happens if a good samaritan without an iPhone finds your AirTagged item. There is an NFC chip built in that can be scanned with an Android phone, displaying your name, phone number, address, or whatever information you decided to share on the AirTag.

What can I use the AirTag to track?

Apple envisions you tracking things like backpacks, keychains, purses, and bicycles. In terms of preparedness, you can expand this a bit to things like:

Go-bags Individual First-Aid Kits Tool boxes Ammunition boxes

Keeping an AirTag with your kits can help you find them when you need them and can’t remember where you put them. It may also help if your bag or other kit is stolen, assuming you’ve hidden the AirTag well and the thief isn’t actively looking for one.

There are creative uses for AirTag as well. An Army wife stuck one in her family’s stuff so they could track a moving truck. When the driver kept delaying and making excuses, she tracked the AirTag location to quickly figure out that he was full of it.

Can an AirTag be used for stalking?

There have been a number of media and police warnings about AirTags being used by criminals, including a model finding one in her pocket and people finding them attached to their vehicles.

Apple shipped the AirTag with a number of anti-stalking protections. Most notably, you’re alerted if an AirTag not registered to your iPhone is found nearby. It can lead to false alarms, like if you’re on a bus with someone who has an AirTag in their backpack. And it only works if you use an iPhone.

To help address this concern, Apple has shipped an Android app, called Tracker Detector, which doesn’t automatically detect foreign AirTags but lets you manually scan for them. Oddly, you can’t manually scan for AirTags with an iPhone and you can’t be automatically alerted of them with an Android phone.

Expect Apple to do more soon to address criminal usage of AirTags (and the bad press).

Can I share an AirTag with a family member?

Find My lets you track the locations of members of your Family Sharing group, as well as their registered Apple devices. That’s really helpful when, say, your spouse has lost their iPhone. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way with an AirTag. An AirTag is tied to a single Apple ID and isn’t shared. That can be really annoying if you borrow your spouse’s keys with an attached AirTag and get stalking warnings.

How long does the AirTag battery last?

Apple says the AirTag battery should last about a year. Amazingly for an Apple product, the AirTag takes a standard CR2032 battery that you can easily replace yourself.

How do I attach an AirTag to stuff?

The AirTag is a smooth disk without any holes or other ways to attach it to things. It’s easy enough to slip one inside a bag or box, but you need some sort of case to attach it to things like keys. Apple would like for you to buy one of their high-dollar designer AirTag cases, but there are cheap and perfectly serviceable AirTag cases on Amazon.

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Advice

Can a carport help me protect my car from the heat?

Lena - September 21, 2022

I always park my car in my backyard. But summer coming, and the temperature gradually increases. Now, it is hot. I found online that a carport can help me protect my car in the summer. It is true? And how should I pick a carport?

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Klean Strip/Klean Heat kerosene alternative for oil burning lanterns and lamps

Barb LeeContributor - September 20, 2022

Klean Heat kerosene alternative is about as pure as kerosene gets, and is recommended on one of my favorite lantern websites.  It’s taken me a long time to find it (buried in the Home Depot labyrinth) but I found it last week.  Just now refitted my two antique lanterns with new wicks and filled them with the new product, then lit them.

It is unquestionably a far superior product in the old lanterns than either K-1 kerosene or lamp oil!  My two lanterns, a 19th century railroad lantern and a 1920s Dietz cold blast contractor’s lantern, just reeked when burned inside with K-1.  There is almost no kerosene smell at all with the new fuel.  The Dietz burns far cleaner than the railroad lantern and I couldn’t smell anything from it.  Most of the smell came from the other one.

From the Klean Strip website: Klean-Strip® Klean Heat® My understanding is that the alternative produces slightly less light and heat, but probably imperceptible.

Consider the kerosene alternative if you use kerosene in any of your heating/lighting equipment.  It’s spendy but seems to be a better option if forced to use such fuels indoors in an emergency.

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Gear

⛺ Springbar, aka Kirkham Tent?

JBinAZ - September 20, 2022

We’re thinking about splurging on a Springbar tent and would like to hear real-world feedback on them.  Our reasons for wanting to get one are:

1. Heavy duty: we live in the Arizona desert and everything here is rocky. 99% of our plants and trees have thorns and thorns. Our desert eats up tents

2. 4 season:  we hit high temps (like 115) in the summer and can hit in the 30s in the winter. We need something that “breathes” in hot temps but can insulate in cold 

3. Storms:  We have a monsoon season, and that means wind gusts up to 80 mph and rain that lashes sideways

4. We’d like to be able to “hot tent,” i.e. use a small wood stove in the winter inside the tent, as you can do with canvas tents.

5. Durability: We’d like this tent to last more than a year (or, sometimes, a trip)

6. Color: We like that they have a color (“Suntan”) that really blends into our desert7. Critters: We need to sleep “zipped up” or mostly zipped up as we have rattlesnakes and scorpions…we’ve been stung by scorpions and our dog took a rattlesnake bite, last year.

8. Usage: For a car bug-out situation to our “base camp” as well as enjoying it throughout the year on our adventures.

Anyway, it doesn’t seem like anyone has written about this brand, yet, according to my searching on here. Would love to hear your feedback and experiences, or suggestion for an alternate option. ⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺⛺

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Gear

Hikers caught in a wildfire

Kira - September 19, 2022

Hi all,

Came across this article about how two hikers that got caught in a wildfire survived (no pay wall) and thought some of y’all might be interested:  https://www.khq.com/news/hikers-stranded-atop-mountain-by-bolt-creek-fire/article_d6cc054e-322e-11ed-9165-231473ca123d.html

They assumed the smoke was coming from the other side of the mountains. They weren’t able to be evacuated by first responders, came close to the fire several times, ran out of water, and nearly fell of a cliff, but were ultimately able to find their car and evacuate. I’m curious what, if any, different choices or preparations you might have made? I’d have avoided going outside in smoke full stop (it’s thick enough to coat my yard in ash, and I’m several towns over!) and would have checked the fire map (again, thick smoke).

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News

Will you choose a portable greenhouse in the fall?

Lena - September 19, 2022

Now is the best season of the year to start your backyard gardening.  Will you begin greenhouse gardening this fall? It seems that many gardening enthusiasts love hobby greenhouses, especially portable ones. Will you choose a portable greenhouse? tunnel greenhouse, mini greenhouse, walk-in greenhouse…..what kind of portable greenhouse would you prefer?

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