Discussions
Reply to: Best bug out bag backpack Posted December 10, 2021

My review on a Tasmanian Tiger 45+ Modular Pack that I bought via this article and have been using this winter on hunts. Very happy with it and think it makes a great bug out pack. In general this bag permits customization beyond anything I’ve ever used. This bag was so adaptable I was able to achieve each mission I attempted with complete separatization of items in the bag. This also ended up being my biggest complaint… there was so much room that I found myself wanting to fill the space with those “just in case” items, but adding weight just because you can is a bad idea. The bag was light, straps and buckles strong, the piping and trim were nicely sewn and the overall bag construction was great. Pride in build is obvious. As the pictures show, I carried everything I needed/wanted and still had plenty of space to add items. I was able to remove heavy winter gear and put them in the bag to keep them dry, warm and generally out of my way while going through trees, still with room to spare. The overall rigidity of the bag without a heavy/bulky internal frame was a real pleasure to carry. All straps were padded and adjustable, plenty of front and side pockets. The main internal compartment was large, easily accessible with its full front zippers allowing fast access to the larger items I was carrying. The zippers were strong with big pulls, allowed me to access with heavy winter gloves. Has a sufficient grab/pull handle. The laser cut slits in the sides allowed for more than enough accessories to be attached. The ventilating mesh looked good and made identifying items in each compartment simple. The hip pads were large and well padded, took all the stress off my hips and back. I adjusted the back spline and straps a couple times to find a very comfortable fit… there are enough customization options that it should meet almost anyone’s body build. Shoulder straps were comfortable. The bag configuration I used did not have an external pouch for water but could have if I wanted it. Fellow hikers compared their bags to this one and they were honestly impressed about the quality and flexibility.

Reply to: What’s the best prepping advice you have ever received? Posted October 9, 2020

My best advice, get help.  Find like minded people who have the motivation to work on this topic, get them together and see where you can go as a group. Remember not everyone has the same resources, financial or materials and that’s OK as long as the motivation is there to get where you want to go.The more I do this the more I realize it truly takes a community. Small is not good, big is good.  An unusual example but one I’ll give to prove the point. I have property that is 1.5 miles by 1.5 miles. If I wanted sentrys at each corner working 12 hour shifts I’d need 8 people just to sit and watch. If I wanted two people per corner then I need 16. If I tried to place sentrys at halfway points then I need 32 souls, get the point?  Add to this count the number of people we need for everything else the number just keeps getting bigger. If you think you’re going to go out into the woods to survive, hunt and gather, so does everyone else. There is a limit on the number of dear, rabbits, squirrels and watering holes available, who gets there first and is most capable of keeping it? My best advice, GET HELP! My second best advice, know who you are and what you’re willing to do? What is your skill level for the different topics discussed on theprepared. Can you shoot, hunt, garden, build, trouble shoot issues, lead, walk long distances, be a medic, mediate issues among the group? I don’t know but you should………. My third best advice, have a hierarchy, one that everyone agrees with. Someone who makes decisions but is not a dictator (hard to find that person, especially one who everyone agrees to). Who in the group is willing to defend the group at all costs? Willing to shoot someone if needed? How do all group members feel about lethal force. I bet your findings will be as enlightening as mine. How are chores determined? What happens if someone in the group wants to leave after contributing time and resources to the group? How are supplies dolled out? Sit down, make a list, what is important to you if part of a group? Do you have members that are medically trained, electricians, plumbers, organizers, construction workers, gardeners, strong backs, solar person, reloader, psychologists, and so on?The list is endless but having an understanding of these things prior to a real life situation may save the group. I can keep going but I refer you back to my first best advice, GET HELP! I am happy to discuss/provide any information I have accumulated over many years in reference to group dynamics if anyone is interested?

Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted September 1, 2020
Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted August 3, 2020

Solar A/C as an option to an existing undersized system or none at all:  Since I live at altitude A/C is usually not needed here, except for those 5 or so days a year. So no need to install A/C. A solar A/C works like this. Dig a trench/s about a 100′ long or so 6-8′ deep, put 6″ PVC pipe in the trench, or several if you prefer. Turn the far end of the pipe up so it will end up about 1′ above ground level. Put a vent cover on it. Bring the other end of the PVC pipe into the house and either run to separate rooms or connect into your heat ducts if you have them.  There are two ways to move the air thru the PVC pipe into the home: you could use a 12V pump to draw the air into the pipe and run it thru the entire length of pipe (slow speed fan is important here as you want the air to remain in the pipe long enough for the ground to cool it), OR, you can put a solar chimney in the house. I’ll explain this soon. In either event you want the ground to cool the air as it flows through the pipe before it’s pumped into the house. The more runs you have the greater the cooling possibilities. As to the chimney, the idea is to put a chimney in the house with it open to a vent in the ceiling somewhere. The chimney should be exposed to the sun, wraped in black tar paper and then covered in your choice of material to match the outside of the house. As the sun heats up this chimney, convection will draw the air in the house out through that chimney. If you have the solar PVC pipe system the cool air in those pipes will be drawn up and out the chimney, thus cooling the house.  A friend of mine had to dig trenches for his water lines, electric lines and sewer. He simply put additional PVC pipe in each of these runs and then did as I stated above. Cheap, effective A/C for off grid living or wanting to reduce the costs associated with running A/C. There is a lot of information of this online. Good luck.

Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted August 3, 2020
Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted August 1, 2020
Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted July 30, 2020
Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted July 27, 2020

I have not had any problems with my Inverter or charge controllers. The inverter is a Schneider and the charge controllers are Outbacks. I’m the newbie on the ranch so I checked with others who are well past 10 years with their systems and no one mentioned any inverter problems. Sorry to hear you are questioning yours. The major complaints are batteries, guess that’s why I harp on good ones so much. Everyone is replacing their batteries with AGM or Iron Edison batteries when theirs fail. For those looking for beginner advice, here’s mine. Get the pros to do the calcs for system size and then find neighbors, friends or others who have a solar system. Ask questions like what do they like about their system, what don’t they like, how have the components performed, what is their life expectency, cost to buy/replace, service schedules, can you expand on those components as your need grows or budget allows, how easy to understand and use/monitor, decide if you’re likely to maintain the system as needed? I know it seems like a lot but you can DO IT! I don’t know the physics behind how the panels do what they do, how the inverter decides what to do with input from the panels or some of the other things going on. However, I’ve learned enough to know I will never be dependent upon some utility company again. I’d rather put together a smaller HIGHER quality system than a larger less dependent system. I’d rather regulate my electric needs to fit my smaller system, as opposed to having a system that meets my current electric needs but will certainly cause me heartburn (of course this is all budget dependent).  I’ve recently looked at a ranch that had A/C on their solar system, problematic was their response. So we discussed a solar A/C system to replace their power hungry heatpump. They dug long trenches 6′ deep, placed 6″ pvc pipe in the trenches with a small 12v fan and pumped that cold air into their home. That’s in my future for sure. Happy to provide a little more info on this if anyone is interested? A side note, I’ve seen no study that supports wind generation in connection with solar. If you’re gonna put the money into a wind generator it makes more sense to just increase your solar generation and storage. Just my opinion.

Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted July 26, 2020

Leaving all the calculations to need and size of system to the professionals, I’m looking at it from the users side of the equation. I found out quite quickly that an undersized over utilized system is a fast way to a lot of expense. Once I had my system properly sized to run a 5000 sq ft house, 1000 sq ft barn and a 400 sq ft shed, with two wells I was able to acquire the appropriate systems to meet my needs.  I have 8800 watts of solar generation with (40) 1.2 volt batteries on an automatic watering system. (48) volt system, 4 charge controllers, a 240 converter for the wells, inverter, comm box and a 12,000 watt back up generator. Since I have no interest in being overly cautious about leaving lights on my system was oversized by 10%. Since the installation was complete 4 years ago I have had no, zero, nadda problems. I have never run out of power, even when long winter snowy days prevented the sun from hitting my panels for days. I of course have the associated accessories to fit the system. I have batteries that do NOT have the standard issues with under/over charging or discharging below 65-70%.  I have my gen set to turn on at a 35% depletion of my batteries and only had that happen twice this past winter. The batteries do NOT have a life span of so many cycles, thus I do not worry about typical issues with batteries. Every 10 years or so I’ll simply drain the electrolyte from the batteries and refill them, good for another 10. Point is: buy good batteries since they are the backbone of your system. I use a water purification system that makes deionized water for the batteries. I fill a powered watering cart on wheels with this system, roll it over to the battery box, attach the quick disconnect hose to a bank of 20 batteries and hit the ON button. About 30 seconds later that bank is filled and the watering cart shut off automatically not to overfill the batteries. Then I move onto the next 20 batteries. I have to fill the batteries about every 4 weeks in the summer and 6-8 in the winter. This is no big deal compared to other flooded batteries.  Now that I know my sizing and systems are right I have literally no concerns about the lifespan, performance or reliability of my solar system. It cost a lot of money to get here from early mistakes and that’s why I’m passing this on. Even if you have to build yours in segments, one at a time, buy the best you can afford. Wait as long as you have to in order to buy batteries, and most of all, do your research on the batteries. There are SO many options today it can be confusing.  Best of luck, happy to answer anything you are interestred in.

Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted July 25, 2020

Hi i’m a prepper and have 800+ acres in central CO at 9000′ of elevation. I bought this ranch 5 years ago which is 100% off grid. The existing solar system was undersized for the existing house much less the improvements I was doing. I had zero experience with solar at the time so I’ve had to learn, some the smart way, some the hard way. I’ll preface everything else I have to say about a solar system with this: unless you spend the money and do it right from the beginning you will not get the performance you expect/want. For instance, EVERYONE thinks they will be pros and take cate of the batteries better than everyone ever has before. Well even if you do and you’re using the system the flooded batteries will not last the anticipated 10 years and you’re going to have to replace them. I’m assuming the system was sized appropriately for your needs with this statement. I’m typing this out on my phone so I’ll come back again when at a keyboard to continue my thoughts. I can tell you the setup and system I have now is envied by all that see it and I live in an area where everyone is 100% solar. My total cost to complete was about 35% more than the others mentioned but far out perform theirs. ill be happy to share it all and hope it helps in some way.

Reply to: Making cycling a part of your prepping Posted July 21, 2020

https://www.bafangusadirect.com/ I had a Bafang mid mount motor installed on an existing bike.  There are basically two choices on motors,  mid mount between the pedals and rear mount in the rear wheel hub.  Price are coming down dramatically and you now can get a new bike with battery and motor installed for $1600 +- which was what I paid to have the battery and motor installed on an older bike.  The battery size runs from 250-1000+ watts.  There are two modes on the controls.  A throttle mode which does not require you to pedal and a pedal assist mode that requires the pedals to be moving. Many states have regulations on battery size that require bikes over 1000 watts to be registered as a motor cycle\bike.  Some states and national parks have or are planning regulation to limit trail access based on power output.

Reply to: Getting started in gardening Posted July 20, 2020
Reply to: How to make a “well bucket” in case electricity goes down and you’re on well water Posted July 20, 2020

I too have built and tried it out. I found my well to be deep enough it was hard to pull the motor and cable up out of the well. So I pulled the cable up high enough to run it through a pulley and then pulled everything up using the atv. Much easier than pulling by hand. As with all preps or plans, you don’t really know if they work until you try them out. For example. I had a generator, 500 gallon gas tank with an electric pump handle and nozzle, and a transfer switch in my home. The power went out so I thought a great time to test my system. Well, I didn’t have any gas in the generator or a separate can so guess what, I couldn’t start the generator to run the electric in the house or pump gas. I had no siphon hose or anyway to get even a couple ounces of gas out of the big tank. I was shut down before I even got started. Yes my neighbor laughed when I went over to borrow a few ounces of gas to start the gen. Lesson learned, test your plans.

Reply to: Making cycling a part of your prepping Posted July 20, 2020
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Reply to: Best bug out bag backpack Posted December 10, 2021

My review on a Tasmanian Tiger 45+ Modular Pack that I bought via this article and have been using this winter on hunts. Very happy with it and think it makes a great bug out pack. In general this bag permits customization beyond anything I’ve ever used. This bag was so adaptable I was able to achieve each mission I attempted with complete separatization of items in the bag. This also ended up being my biggest complaint… there was so much room that I found myself wanting to fill the space with those “just in case” items, but adding weight just because you can is a bad idea. The bag was light, straps and buckles strong, the piping and trim were nicely sewn and the overall bag construction was great. Pride in build is obvious. As the pictures show, I carried everything I needed/wanted and still had plenty of space to add items. I was able to remove heavy winter gear and put them in the bag to keep them dry, warm and generally out of my way while going through trees, still with room to spare. The overall rigidity of the bag without a heavy/bulky internal frame was a real pleasure to carry. All straps were padded and adjustable, plenty of front and side pockets. The main internal compartment was large, easily accessible with its full front zippers allowing fast access to the larger items I was carrying. The zippers were strong with big pulls, allowed me to access with heavy winter gloves. Has a sufficient grab/pull handle. The laser cut slits in the sides allowed for more than enough accessories to be attached. The ventilating mesh looked good and made identifying items in each compartment simple. The hip pads were large and well padded, took all the stress off my hips and back. I adjusted the back spline and straps a couple times to find a very comfortable fit… there are enough customization options that it should meet almost anyone’s body build. Shoulder straps were comfortable. The bag configuration I used did not have an external pouch for water but could have if I wanted it. Fellow hikers compared their bags to this one and they were honestly impressed about the quality and flexibility.

Reply to: What’s the best prepping advice you have ever received? Posted October 9, 2020

My best advice, get help.  Find like minded people who have the motivation to work on this topic, get them together and see where you can go as a group. Remember not everyone has the same resources, financial or materials and that’s OK as long as the motivation is there to get where you want to go.The more I do this the more I realize it truly takes a community. Small is not good, big is good.  An unusual example but one I’ll give to prove the point. I have property that is 1.5 miles by 1.5 miles. If I wanted sentrys at each corner working 12 hour shifts I’d need 8 people just to sit and watch. If I wanted two people per corner then I need 16. If I tried to place sentrys at halfway points then I need 32 souls, get the point?  Add to this count the number of people we need for everything else the number just keeps getting bigger. If you think you’re going to go out into the woods to survive, hunt and gather, so does everyone else. There is a limit on the number of dear, rabbits, squirrels and watering holes available, who gets there first and is most capable of keeping it? My best advice, GET HELP! My second best advice, know who you are and what you’re willing to do? What is your skill level for the different topics discussed on theprepared. Can you shoot, hunt, garden, build, trouble shoot issues, lead, walk long distances, be a medic, mediate issues among the group? I don’t know but you should………. My third best advice, have a hierarchy, one that everyone agrees with. Someone who makes decisions but is not a dictator (hard to find that person, especially one who everyone agrees to). Who in the group is willing to defend the group at all costs? Willing to shoot someone if needed? How do all group members feel about lethal force. I bet your findings will be as enlightening as mine. How are chores determined? What happens if someone in the group wants to leave after contributing time and resources to the group? How are supplies dolled out? Sit down, make a list, what is important to you if part of a group? Do you have members that are medically trained, electricians, plumbers, organizers, construction workers, gardeners, strong backs, solar person, reloader, psychologists, and so on?The list is endless but having an understanding of these things prior to a real life situation may save the group. I can keep going but I refer you back to my first best advice, GET HELP! I am happy to discuss/provide any information I have accumulated over many years in reference to group dynamics if anyone is interested?

Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted September 1, 2020
Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted August 3, 2020

Solar A/C as an option to an existing undersized system or none at all:  Since I live at altitude A/C is usually not needed here, except for those 5 or so days a year. So no need to install A/C. A solar A/C works like this. Dig a trench/s about a 100′ long or so 6-8′ deep, put 6″ PVC pipe in the trench, or several if you prefer. Turn the far end of the pipe up so it will end up about 1′ above ground level. Put a vent cover on it. Bring the other end of the PVC pipe into the house and either run to separate rooms or connect into your heat ducts if you have them.  There are two ways to move the air thru the PVC pipe into the home: you could use a 12V pump to draw the air into the pipe and run it thru the entire length of pipe (slow speed fan is important here as you want the air to remain in the pipe long enough for the ground to cool it), OR, you can put a solar chimney in the house. I’ll explain this soon. In either event you want the ground to cool the air as it flows through the pipe before it’s pumped into the house. The more runs you have the greater the cooling possibilities. As to the chimney, the idea is to put a chimney in the house with it open to a vent in the ceiling somewhere. The chimney should be exposed to the sun, wraped in black tar paper and then covered in your choice of material to match the outside of the house. As the sun heats up this chimney, convection will draw the air in the house out through that chimney. If you have the solar PVC pipe system the cool air in those pipes will be drawn up and out the chimney, thus cooling the house.  A friend of mine had to dig trenches for his water lines, electric lines and sewer. He simply put additional PVC pipe in each of these runs and then did as I stated above. Cheap, effective A/C for off grid living or wanting to reduce the costs associated with running A/C. There is a lot of information of this online. Good luck.

Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted August 3, 2020
Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted August 1, 2020
Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted July 30, 2020
Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted July 27, 2020

I have not had any problems with my Inverter or charge controllers. The inverter is a Schneider and the charge controllers are Outbacks. I’m the newbie on the ranch so I checked with others who are well past 10 years with their systems and no one mentioned any inverter problems. Sorry to hear you are questioning yours. The major complaints are batteries, guess that’s why I harp on good ones so much. Everyone is replacing their batteries with AGM or Iron Edison batteries when theirs fail. For those looking for beginner advice, here’s mine. Get the pros to do the calcs for system size and then find neighbors, friends or others who have a solar system. Ask questions like what do they like about their system, what don’t they like, how have the components performed, what is their life expectency, cost to buy/replace, service schedules, can you expand on those components as your need grows or budget allows, how easy to understand and use/monitor, decide if you’re likely to maintain the system as needed? I know it seems like a lot but you can DO IT! I don’t know the physics behind how the panels do what they do, how the inverter decides what to do with input from the panels or some of the other things going on. However, I’ve learned enough to know I will never be dependent upon some utility company again. I’d rather put together a smaller HIGHER quality system than a larger less dependent system. I’d rather regulate my electric needs to fit my smaller system, as opposed to having a system that meets my current electric needs but will certainly cause me heartburn (of course this is all budget dependent).  I’ve recently looked at a ranch that had A/C on their solar system, problematic was their response. So we discussed a solar A/C system to replace their power hungry heatpump. They dug long trenches 6′ deep, placed 6″ pvc pipe in the trenches with a small 12v fan and pumped that cold air into their home. That’s in my future for sure. Happy to provide a little more info on this if anyone is interested? A side note, I’ve seen no study that supports wind generation in connection with solar. If you’re gonna put the money into a wind generator it makes more sense to just increase your solar generation and storage. Just my opinion.

Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted July 26, 2020

Leaving all the calculations to need and size of system to the professionals, I’m looking at it from the users side of the equation. I found out quite quickly that an undersized over utilized system is a fast way to a lot of expense. Once I had my system properly sized to run a 5000 sq ft house, 1000 sq ft barn and a 400 sq ft shed, with two wells I was able to acquire the appropriate systems to meet my needs.  I have 8800 watts of solar generation with (40) 1.2 volt batteries on an automatic watering system. (48) volt system, 4 charge controllers, a 240 converter for the wells, inverter, comm box and a 12,000 watt back up generator. Since I have no interest in being overly cautious about leaving lights on my system was oversized by 10%. Since the installation was complete 4 years ago I have had no, zero, nadda problems. I have never run out of power, even when long winter snowy days prevented the sun from hitting my panels for days. I of course have the associated accessories to fit the system. I have batteries that do NOT have the standard issues with under/over charging or discharging below 65-70%.  I have my gen set to turn on at a 35% depletion of my batteries and only had that happen twice this past winter. The batteries do NOT have a life span of so many cycles, thus I do not worry about typical issues with batteries. Every 10 years or so I’ll simply drain the electrolyte from the batteries and refill them, good for another 10. Point is: buy good batteries since they are the backbone of your system. I use a water purification system that makes deionized water for the batteries. I fill a powered watering cart on wheels with this system, roll it over to the battery box, attach the quick disconnect hose to a bank of 20 batteries and hit the ON button. About 30 seconds later that bank is filled and the watering cart shut off automatically not to overfill the batteries. Then I move onto the next 20 batteries. I have to fill the batteries about every 4 weeks in the summer and 6-8 in the winter. This is no big deal compared to other flooded batteries.  Now that I know my sizing and systems are right I have literally no concerns about the lifespan, performance or reliability of my solar system. It cost a lot of money to get here from early mistakes and that’s why I’m passing this on. Even if you have to build yours in segments, one at a time, buy the best you can afford. Wait as long as you have to in order to buy batteries, and most of all, do your research on the batteries. There are SO many options today it can be confusing.  Best of luck, happy to answer anything you are interestred in.

Reply to: Going solar with my home (maybe): a diary Posted July 25, 2020

Hi i’m a prepper and have 800+ acres in central CO at 9000′ of elevation. I bought this ranch 5 years ago which is 100% off grid. The existing solar system was undersized for the existing house much less the improvements I was doing. I had zero experience with solar at the time so I’ve had to learn, some the smart way, some the hard way. I’ll preface everything else I have to say about a solar system with this: unless you spend the money and do it right from the beginning you will not get the performance you expect/want. For instance, EVERYONE thinks they will be pros and take cate of the batteries better than everyone ever has before. Well even if you do and you’re using the system the flooded batteries will not last the anticipated 10 years and you’re going to have to replace them. I’m assuming the system was sized appropriately for your needs with this statement. I’m typing this out on my phone so I’ll come back again when at a keyboard to continue my thoughts. I can tell you the setup and system I have now is envied by all that see it and I live in an area where everyone is 100% solar. My total cost to complete was about 35% more than the others mentioned but far out perform theirs. ill be happy to share it all and hope it helps in some way.

Reply to: Making cycling a part of your prepping Posted July 21, 2020

https://www.bafangusadirect.com/ I had a Bafang mid mount motor installed on an existing bike.  There are basically two choices on motors,  mid mount between the pedals and rear mount in the rear wheel hub.  Price are coming down dramatically and you now can get a new bike with battery and motor installed for $1600 +- which was what I paid to have the battery and motor installed on an older bike.  The battery size runs from 250-1000+ watts.  There are two modes on the controls.  A throttle mode which does not require you to pedal and a pedal assist mode that requires the pedals to be moving. Many states have regulations on battery size that require bikes over 1000 watts to be registered as a motor cycle\bike.  Some states and national parks have or are planning regulation to limit trail access based on power output.

Reply to: Getting started in gardening Posted July 20, 2020
Reply to: How to make a “well bucket” in case electricity goes down and you’re on well water Posted July 20, 2020

I too have built and tried it out. I found my well to be deep enough it was hard to pull the motor and cable up out of the well. So I pulled the cable up high enough to run it through a pulley and then pulled everything up using the atv. Much easier than pulling by hand. As with all preps or plans, you don’t really know if they work until you try them out. For example. I had a generator, 500 gallon gas tank with an electric pump handle and nozzle, and a transfer switch in my home. The power went out so I thought a great time to test my system. Well, I didn’t have any gas in the generator or a separate can so guess what, I couldn’t start the generator to run the electric in the house or pump gas. I had no siphon hose or anyway to get even a couple ounces of gas out of the big tank. I was shut down before I even got started. Yes my neighbor laughed when I went over to borrow a few ounces of gas to start the gen. Lesson learned, test your plans.

Reply to: Making cycling a part of your prepping Posted July 20, 2020