10 Canadian Winters - Member

Reply to: Games that teach survival skills Posted November 22, 2022

Project Zomboid! I’m surprised no one listed yet! Yes, it has zombies, which is meh, but everything else is on point. You have diverse characters with real life professions (chef, carpenter, mechanic, doctor). You’re lost in Kentucky (if I remember correctly). You have to eat, drink, take care of wounds, sleep, etc The setting is post apocalyptic. So in about 1 month of game time electricity/water stop functioning, but there’s still potable water left in the toilet. You hunt, fish, farm, repair cars, build houses, loot houses and stores. You learn skills by doing, or reading books and watching tv. Fun to play in a group where everyone specializes on different things.

Reply to: News roundup for Fri, Nov 11, 2022 Posted November 11, 2022

This was a great round up! Awesome work Carlotta

Reply to: News roundup for Fri, Jun 10, 2022 Posted June 10, 2022

Does anybody want to buy my pee? I don’t understand why we have a urea shortage. Everyone pees!

Reply to: My second hand experience with the Ontario / Quebec Derecho storm on May 21, 2022 Posted May 23, 2022

No problem at all to expand the title, I’m not too forum savvy anymore 😛

Reply to: My second hand experience with the Ontario / Quebec Derecho storm on May 21, 2022 Posted May 23, 2022

I’m with you on that one. It’s also something that’s suggested in The Prepared’s BOB kit (swimming goggles). We’d have to get prescription ones though.

My second hand experience with the Ontario / Quebec Derecho storm on May 21, 2022

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Posted May 23, 2022

Reply to: Best survival tent Posted August 30, 2021

I’m curious what people think about using these 3 season tents in the winter? We get harsh winters and I figured double walled mesh tents would end up being cold, breezy and not very nice to sleep in? In no way do I feel I should get an Alpine tent. I’m not thinking there would be giant gusts of wind and the like, but there could be heavy snow load. I’ve been looking at 3+ season tents or tree line tents, but they are normally way expensive compared to 3 season tents. Some examples are the Marmot Fortress, which I am not able to find anywhere (might be discontinued). The Slingfin Portal (https://www.slingfin.com/products/portal-2). The new Sea to Summit Telos has a 3+ version. No mesh except for some windows (https://seatosummitusa.com/products/telos-plus-2-person-freestanding-tent?variant=38106534969517) In the end I’m really questioning how much one would get with less mesh. Does it make a difference at -20c? and what about in the middle of summer (20c). Would I be unbearably hot? I’d welcome any insight on this, Cheers

Reply to: (Official discussion) Best sleeping bag Posted August 23, 2021

I just wanted to give a quick review of the Sea To Summit Thermolite Reactor Extreme. I’ve used it in 2 different situations and it was greatly useful to me. Last September I went camping and overnight temperatures dropped to about 5c. I have a cheap Coleman’s rectangular sleeping bag rated to 10c. I have both a Nemo Switchback and a Termarest Neoair Xtherm. I was cold. Like really cold. 2 pairs of socks, sleeping pants, shirt, sweater, head covering. I was still cold. This year in May I went camping and I had picked up the Thermolite (just a few weeks before the article on TP). Temperatures at night dropped to around 7c. I had 1 pair is socks, pants and a t-shirt. I got in bed and got instantly warm. I was so hot I had my arms sticking out of the liner and the sleeping bag. As the temperature dropped Ioved my arms into the sleeping bag, and then into the liner and used it to cover my head, I was comfortable no problem at night. My second night I think the temperature ended up maybe around 10c because I ended up uncomfortably hot. I sweat in the liner, so I oscillated between shivers and being too hot. Point is it works. This weekend I was camping again. During a heatwave. Overnight temperatures above 20c. I sleep with a single sheet at home at 23c. Camping I didn’t use the sleeping bag and only the liner. I slept comfortably as the temperature dropped and didn’t need to cover my head. All in all I really recommend anybody who lives in varying weather like me (20c in summer to -20c in the winter) to get one. It can really help to buffer.

Reply to: (Official discussion) Best water canteens Posted January 2, 2021

It’s single walled, but you are right that it might tip over if it’s in the fire and starting to boil. I really hadn’t thought about that possibility; another reason to replace it.

Reply to: Prepping organization (diary / journals / to-do / lists / etc) Posted December 31, 2020

Thank you for the reply, Gideon. (and Bob too). I have read the start prepping section of the prepared multiple times :P, and I will for sure refer to it again :). This site is full of great resources and is my go to for anything prepping. I will make sure to read that forum post, thank you for the share. I think maybe I didn’t explain myself properly (I’m a trilingual French Canadian, so I’m unable to properly express myself in any language :P). Bob explains very pragmatic processes of putting expiry dates on buckets, and that’s great, but how do you know how many buckets you have? how much food you have, of what (protein, veg, etc)? what you need to get next? If your preps are all over the house do you keep an inventory somewhere, like in a binder or something. Or do you have to go through all your preps all the time and go… I feel like I had stashed this thing over in that closet, and won’t you forget? I guess I’m looking for a way to itemize/inventory my preps and knowledge in a way which allows me to expand on it. I have looked at the Kit builders for that, and I think at the micro level they work great (this is everything in my Bug out Bag), but less so at a “this is all my prepping” level. I think everyone has a different way to work at that level, but I’m quite curious how people organize it not to get lost in all the preps they accumulated for all the various emergency situations. Especially since some preps are good for many emergencies, but at same time you shouldn’t double dip. And like for the threat modelling, I should record that somewhere, I think, so it goes back to my “How to organize your prepping” idea. Hopefully I’m making sense.

Reply to: Gardening books – recommendations and reviews? Posted December 31, 2020

I’m in Quebec, so a lot of the books I read have to do with gardening in short seasons. I really enjoy the Mini Farming Bible by Brett Markham. It’s so far the book which goes into the most detail about soil, composting, pests, etc. I’ve found it to be very complete and allow me to learn a lot in a very scientific way what happens in the soil. For extending seasons, I appreciate Niki Jabbour’s The Year-Round Vegetable Gardnener. She discusses hardy varieties of crops which will do well in colder climates. She also discusses cold frames and other methods to create micro climates for the plants you are growing. There’s also Vegetable Gardening in the Northeast by Marie Iannotti. I enjoy this one because it gives you a TODO list every month based on what zone you are in. It also lists many vegetable varieties.

Prepping organization (diary / journals / to-do / lists / etc)

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Posted December 31, 2020

Reply to: (Official discussion) Best water canteens Posted December 29, 2020

I wanted to get one of those Nalgene Stainless steel bottles, but they were not available. I ended up with the “Backpacker” version of the bottle. It holds 1L, but tapers at the bottom. This makes it so it fits nice in the car, but easily slips out if you bag pouch only covers about half the bottle. In the end I’m not a great fan of just because of that. I need to keep it in my bag otherwise it falls out all the time. Was the only one I found which was 1L. I fear going 38oz will add too much weight.I’ll probably get the Klean Kanteen 27oz for my girlfriend’s pack.

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

I didn’t notice a difference, but it’s possible with road tires you would. Some road tires are lined with kevlar or mixed with other materials so they wouldn’t need any liners too.

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

I own a specialized StumpJumper 29er. It is big, but I can ride pretty fast. The tires are slim and made for packed earth. You can replace them with road tires too. I’ve been considering 29inch tires as not a good idea because they would be harder to replace post SHTF. That being said my tires did last me several thousand km. I used to ride to the office and back everyday is about 20km total. So I guess if you have spares that’s ok as they will last several years. Another good upgrade is to install Mr.Tuffy tire liners. My first year I got 6 flats from tiny rocks or glass on the road as I pump my tires pretty hard. After installing the liners I’ve never gotten a flat again.

Reply to: Best headlamps for prepping Posted June 28, 2020

Answering my own question :P. Looks like Petzl has started releasing 350 Lumen Tactikka + so they end up with the same stats at the Tika Core. They’re also camo. I did not find at my outdoor store a camo 250l one. So I got the black. I rather have longer life than that extra Lumens. I rarely every use max brightness.

Reply to: Best headlamps for prepping Posted June 20, 2020

When I look at the Petzl website none of their lights reach the times listed here. Normally hovering around the 160 hours mark instead of the ~250 hour mark. Is that because the CORE rechargeable cuts about 100 hours vs Alkaline batteries? What do you expect time will be with rechargeables like the long life ones you recommend in your battery article. I’m getting serious about prepping and your website has been invaluable, thank you.

Reply to: Best water purification tablets (and other portable purifiers) Posted May 27, 2020

MSR also makes a Chroline maker, but is much less portable. https://www.msrgear.com/ca/products/global-health/se200-community-chlorine-maker/10275.html and is much more expensive.

Reply to: Best home water filter Posted April 25, 2020

The Wirecutter also seem to dislike the Berkey, and note in their lab tests they were unreliable, and results fluctuated a fair bit. https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/big-berkey-water-filter-system/