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Reply to: Dehydrating food at home Posted January 17, 2022

thank you, very helpful. I love that you were inspired by Little House on the Prairie!

Reply to: Dehydrating food at home Posted January 17, 2022

thanks! of the many dehydrator cook-books and/or websites, are there any that you particularly recommend?

Dehydrating food at home

Advice 11

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Posted January 16, 2022

Reply to: (Official Discussion) Survival Clothing 101 Posted August 5, 2021

I’d like to suggest Duluth Trading Company be added to the list of good options for work and/or heritage wear. They also have excellent options for women, which some of the other brands mention fail miserably at.

Reply to: Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse Posted July 6, 2021

Any chance someone with these window tinting systems could take a picture and post it? I’d really like to see what it looks like.

Reply to: Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse Posted July 6, 2021

Thanks, I’ll check out the Solar Screen Outlet.

Reply to: Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse Posted July 6, 2021

FYI most soaps and detergents these days are formulated to work just fine in cold water. Warm water used to be needed to breakdown the various components in the soaps, but new technology has alleviated that need. And yes to sun-brewed beverages!!!!

Reply to: Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse Posted July 6, 2021

Samurai, thanks for the great tip/reminder about pulling the fridge away from the wall and giving it a good cleaning. I try to keep in in good shape but hadn’t thought about doing either of those during the heatwave. One nice thing about the heatwave is that it has made the dryer completely unnecessary. We’re simply hanging things throughout the house and letting them air dry- it helps cool things down a bit while saving electricity, and it’s amazing how quickly things dry out. I hope Elsa doesn’t cause too much trouble for you!

Reply to: Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse Posted July 2, 2021

Thanks Bill. The weather in the UK and the Pacific Northwest are similar in may ways, which is exactly why this is such a challenge; nobody, from individuals to government organizations, are prepared to deal with this kind of heat. That is the horrifying reality of climate change- the infrastructure and systems we’ve built over generations are simply not designed for this, and the update they will need to meet the challenge is staggering. We had been experimenting with various ice-bucket/cold-water remedies, but we decided to stop once it became clear that our refrigerator/freezer was struggling we pulled back, not wanting to add any additional stress to it by repeatedly cooling and freezing water. If this fridge makes it through this heatwave it will deserve a medal. I have been periodically dosing the roof with our garden hose, but we’re also in an extreme drought so that too is unsustainable. It really is a dangerous and miserable situation we are in.

Reply to: Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse Posted July 2, 2021

It indeed is miserable, lucky you to be away. Things finally cooled down a bit last night here in Spokane, which has brought some reprieve, but the high is still supposed to reach 98 today. I keep laughing at myself thinking about how all of a sudden 98 degrees doesn’t sound all that bad. If I recall you are in Portland, which is my hometown and where my folks live. As I’m sure you’ve kept up on, they had a brutal couple of days with 115+ degree days, but it seems to have cooled off considerably since then. The jet stream has pushed the heat dome east of the Cascades, so you west-siders are looking pretty good (again, comparatively speaking – it’s still way hotter than it should be).

Reply to: Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse Posted July 2, 2021

I believe these disasters are very much a new phenomena. That is not to suggest we haven’t had extreme weather in the past, but the past five years we can easily track a far more extreme trend across the American West (and really the entire world) that is undeniable. I have zero doubt the climate is changing at a freighting pace, and not in ways that are beneficial to human life. We’ve got a complex system of window box fans pushing and pulling air through the house. Fans on the ‘cool’ side of the house are drawing air in, while fans on the hot side pull it out. Under normal circumstances this system works great, problem now is there really isn’t any cool air to pull in. It has been miserable, especially for my 10 year old dog who has a cold-weather coat!

Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse

Meta 34

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Posted July 1, 2021

Reply to: What is some bad prepping advice? Posted May 21, 2021

There is a plethora of bad prepping advice circulating around, and in my opinion much of it boils down to too many preppers focusing on, and offering advice for, a zombie-apocalypse style societal collapse while overlooking the far more likely scenarios like natural disasters and such. Some of the bad advice, or simply overlooked topics in my opinion include: Focusing on guns and ammo at the expense of potentially more important and useful items. For instance, if you keep a gun by your bed, but not a fire-extinguisher, then you need to re-evaluate how you research and analyse threats. Same if you have a larger stockpile of ammo than you do food and water. Now I’m not saying guns and ammo are not important, but it’s clear that many use prepping as an excuse to indulge their gun hobby. The idea to avoid roads in anything other than a war-zone is ludicrous. Anyone offering that advice has clearly never done much off-trail hiking or trekking. Walking or riding a bike on an unkept surface is at best exhausting and at worst dangerous. If your goal is to move your body as fast and as far as possible, then stay on roads and paths unless you honestly fear you may be murdered. And speaking of bikes, far too many preppers fixate on bug-out-vehicles and fuel storage while completely overlooking bicycles. While the masses sit in traffic jams or run out of fuel, those with bikes will zip on by. Corporeal transportation is a neglected topic in the prepping community, in my opinion. Not enough emphasis on physical and mental health, with extra emphasis on mental health because it is clear that the prepping community is rife with folks who struggle with stress and anxiety (obviously all of us do to a degree or we wouldn’t be here!). While we all know we need to keep a cool head in a time of crisis, we very rarely discuss the challenges of mental health or ways we can care for ourselves and others.

Reply to: Which roads are safest for travel? Posted March 1, 2021

“If you are going by Foot or Bicycle you need to avoid ALL of the primary and secondary roads and where possible go cross country ( route needying reccying again to ensure you dont trespass someplace and get shot) . it is better to PARALLEL roads rather than walk on them, IE walk parallel to the road about 100 or 200 yards away from it…” I’m sorry but I believe this to be bad advice. Any thru-hiker or long-distance-runner will tell you that the surface on which you are walking or running plays a significant role in determining how fast and far you can travel. The differences between concrete, asphalt, dirt, or sod significantly impact speed, distance, and wear and tear on the walker or runner’s body and equipment. If you throw in unkept/uneven ground with roots, holes, bushes, rocks, and downed trees into the mix, you are now talking about a situation in which you will be moving much more slowly while simultaneously tearing up your equipment and body at a faster rate. For example, in the road-running community, we measure ourselves by the distance we run, knowing the surface is predictably consistent. In the trail-running community, we measure ourselves by the amount of time we run, understanding that it is the wear-and-tear on one’s body that is the hard limiter. Hiking and distance-walking are the same- even and smooth surfaces require less mental and physical energy, while uneven and rough surfaces require mental focus and tire you out much more quickly. Uneven and cluttered surfaces also raise the potential for falls and ankle-sprains, especially if you are carrying a heavy pack. And if you are on a bicycle- on a relatively flat elevation most people of decent athletic prowess could hop on a bike and cover 60+ miles a day- on a paved road. But 100 yards off that paved road, I suspect most people would be lucky if they could cover 10 miles, assuming they didn’t crash or get a flat tire. Riding a bike off-road/path is very difficult, and frankly can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. Unless you have the right equipment and experience, don’t ride your BOB loaded bike off-road if you can help it. Now sure, if you’re in a WAR ZONE or a ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, or otherwise find yourself in a situation in which other humans are the main threat, by all means, stay off the road. But if you are fleeing an earthquake, fire, hurricane, or one of the other far-more-likely disaster scenarios you may be fleeing from on foot or bicycle, stay on the roads and paths and get your body to safety as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Reply to: Are you seeing more supply chain jankiness? Posted February 21, 2021

While I don’t think this entirely do to COVID or international supply chain issues, but I was just shopping for a pair of tire chains for my wife’s new car only to find availability was extremely limited. Out of curiosity I checked portable generators and a few other popular winter-time preps and found supply low and prices high. I suspect the winter storms in Texas has spiked demand for such products… it reminded me of trying to buy an air purifier this past summer during all the wildfires. A great reminder to never wait until you need something to try to acquire it, because at that point it may be too late.

Reply to: Preppers and climate change Posted February 19, 2021

Indeed, and to your underlying point, one of the big conundrums is that many aspects of prepping are in fact bad for the environment. The manufacturing of, and the eventual disposal of, all the plastic containers and batteries and what not are in fact contributing to the big-picture problems of climate change. A gas-powered generator or a wood-burning stove are terrible for the environment. Harvesting water means less water for the trees and plants. Building and maintaining a stockpile of food, water, fuel, and such require a significant amount of natural resources. It really is a catch-22.

Reply to: I had to pepper spray a couple of dogs. Here’s how that went Posted February 19, 2021

I’m sorry you had to deal with that stressful situation, Josh, but it sounds like you did just about everything right and things worked out for the best. There are always valuable lessons to be learned from situations like this, thanks for sharing!

Reply to: Crampons (ice traction for your feet) Posted February 19, 2021

“I don’t use them often, but the option is there if I feel the need.” -Exactly. Just like so many preps, you rarely, if ever, need them. But when you do need they sure can save the day. If you don’t have a pair already, I’d suggest you also look into walking poles. Walking poles are a godsent for walking on treacherous terrain or carrying a heavy backpack. My old knees would not take me nearly as far as they do if it weren’t for my walking poles.

Reply to: Preppers and climate change Posted February 19, 2021

In my opinion, a prepper who denies climate change is not a very good prepper. A fundamental aspect of prepping is threat analysis, which requires deep and careful analysis of data. The data suggesting climate change is real and will continue to get worse is overwhelming. One can debate the reasons climate change is happening (though even there the data is pretty clear), but to deny climate change outright, and to disregard it as a threat, is downright foolish. From a prepping standpoint that means we have to widen the possible scenarios we are prepping for. Perhaps you were completely dialed in with your earthquake preps, but now you have to additionally add wildfire preps. Or is the case in Texas right now, perhaps you were super prepared for a sustained draught, but now your water preps are frozen and rupturing. To me that is the biggest challenge, realizing that your preps for one potential situation have in fact opened the door to a new vulnerability. I’ve mentioned in previous posts the perplexing contradiction of relocating to acreage in the forest to avoid grid-reliance and social unrest only to find yourself in prime forest fire country. Prepping is like that old arcade game Whack-A-Mole, just as you feel your adequately prepared for one threat, a brand new one appears.

Reply to: Crampons (ice traction for your feet) Posted February 15, 2021

I like your style, Bob, just be sure you’re up to date with your tetanus shot!

Dehydrating food at home

Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse

Dehydrating food at home

Report from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse

Crampons (ice traction for your feet)

KN95 mask recommendations?

I took a deep dive down the flashlight rabbit hole

What do you carry with you every day? and how?

The importance of knowing your way around

Everyday footwear

Shout-out for arugula!

Lockdowns, part 2