Tracking the next pandemic: Avian Flu Talk |
November Prepping 2018 |
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Penham
Chief Moderator Moderator Joined: February 09 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 14913 |
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Posted: November 09 2018 at 8:37pm |
I actually did try to start this a few days ago, but I guess there were some issues and I couldn't get on. This month I am trying to sort through items and get rid of anything really old, use up items that are older, stock up on new items. I have been noticing a lot of canned goods/veggie sales 3/$1 for green beans and corn and soups 2/$1, so I am going to go tomorrow and stock up on some of those items. The weather here has gone right in to winter quickly, 2 weeks ago it was 90 degrees, tonight it's going to be 23 degrees, it's really early for our first hard freeze. We also may have some light snow tonight and Monday and some ice Tuesday. I really hope not, I hate both and I hate cold weather. Anyway, what is everyone working on this month?
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EdwinSm,
Moderator Joined: April 03 2013 Status: Offline Points: 24065 |
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A big project for this month is to work on firewood....basically the wrong time of year for it, but a huge silver birch crashed in our front drive and over the road. The latter fact meant that the fire brigade came and chopped up the tree into moveable sizes, that is the trunk sections were small enough for two burly firemen to be able to roll it to the side. [Side note: the firemen had really powerful chainsaws, more impressive in ability than most in private hands.]
I could cope with the branches, but a neighbour (who grew up in this house) came with his chainsaw and tractor, quickly turned some of the branches into firewood length chunks and then took away the trunk pieces that were too big for me to handle [he totally heats his house with fire wood so he needs it more than I] I still have lots of branches to process and need to reorganise the shed with all the fire wood in it so the fresh wet wood is not put in front of the old dry wood. We use wood for the once a week sauna and emergency cook stove, so with normal use the tree has given us two years supply - it was a HUGE tree that if it had fallen 90 degrees more to the north would have done substantial damage to the house. |
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Penham
Chief Moderator Moderator Joined: February 09 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 14913 |
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Too bad you don't live closer, we have a ton of firewood we could give you. Our house was build in 1930 and we have been trying to take down trees that are too close to the house and we just replaced the privacy fence between us and the neighbors last weekend and that required taking trees down along the fence line before we could do it. I say we, lol, it was my boyfriend, the owners son and the renter (it's a rental). We gave a bunch to the guy that lives behind us, and it's still sitting stacked in the alley from a month ago. IF we heated with wood we could probably heat at least a whole winter maybe more, BUT we have central heat and air, lol. We are going to build a fire pit which is why we were hanging on to some, but we haven't got around to doing it yet.
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Wood, I love wood. I heat my home with wood. I keep about 3-4 cords ready to go because if TSHTF I will need a year for new cut wood to dry. After 13 years I finally have to replace my firebrick. I have my stove cleaned every summer. Take care of your insert/stove it will take care of you.
My prepping every fall is getting 1-2 cords of wood. All I have to do is stack it takes a day or two but it is worth it. |
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Penham
Chief Moderator Moderator Joined: February 09 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 14913 |
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We are thinking about getting a small wood burning stove for our bedroom next year. We have the gas ones on the wall in the living room and main bathroom in case of emergency, but don't have anything in the back of the house.
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Technophobe
Assistant Admin Joined: January 16 2014 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 88450 |
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One small stove can (in a pinch) do everything - as long as it has a flat top. If you have the kind that has a hood, you can't stand a pan on it.
Other advice: Flues which attach to the back of the stove draw just as well as top flued types and leave you with both more cooking space and better heat efficiency. They also draw from front to back, which makes lighting them far easier. Get an anti downdraft cowl, an extra foot on your chimney than you think you need or a dragon; a stove that fails on just one day a year could fail on the day it is needed most. For that reason keep spare glass, rope and cement. |
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving. |
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arirish
Admin Group Joined: June 19 2013 Location: Arkansas Status: Offline Points: 39215 |
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We've been collecting rose hips to dry for tea! I've been cutting and stacking wood all month but it's not as easy this year since my wood splitter grew up, moved out and got married! I guess I'm getting old! I never thougth cutting, splitting and stacking a rick of wood, would kick my backside but now after one rick I'm done in!
FluMom - Do you burn Pine or do you have access to hardwood? I spent a winter in Ward, Co. back in the 70's and couldn't believe how fast Pine burns and how much it took to heat my little cabin! Techno -That's some good advice! We have one small stove in our living room and if we close off the bedrooms it will heat the rest of the house! During our last ice storm we were without power for 31 days and most days cooked on it! A good Coleman camp stove also comes in handy! We have ours professionally cleaned and inspected every year! The cost more than pays for itself with insurance savings! Penham - When you start looking, check out Blaze King Ind. We love ours! It holds heat for a long time, it's very efficient and has glass in the door so you can watch the flames! Also, triple wall pipe is a must for safety and I recommend hiring a pro to install your chimney! |
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Buy more ammo!
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Technophobe
Assistant Admin Joined: January 16 2014 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 88450 |
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Thanks Arirish! I like to have both types of wood if I can. Pine is great for starting the fire and cooking dinner. Hardwood just keeps going; with a big enough piece, it will go most of the night. I like to stand a giant stockpot of water on it at bedtime. This heats up for the first couple of hours on a big log and stays warm all night (keeping radiating some heat -like a storage heater) and gives hot water the next morning. It takes some lifting though. |
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving. |
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Technophobe
Assistant Admin Joined: January 16 2014 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 88450 |
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On the subject of stoves, I have an Intrepid 1 from Vermont Castings. It was given to me by a friend who had cracked all 3 fire bricks and then found (because the makers are Canadian) getting replacement parts both hard and expensive over here; probably not a problem in the USA.
I glued the bricks together with fire cement, wrapped them in tinfoil (to prevent the cement sticking to the rest of the stove whilst it set) and they are going strong years later. I have had many stoves in my lounge (some very expensive - I have spent thousands!) this one beats the whole lot hands down! The only reason I can see for ever replacing it is to upgrade to the Intrepid 2 which has warming shelves https://www.flames.co.uk/wood-burning-stoves/vermont-castings-intrepid-2-wood-stove.html?gclid=CjwKCAiArK_fBRABEiwA0gOOc8TBd3k5q1h1xjYHdo51nRUfWd7RY91U_qo8mPbm4FdhqZhOEss6phoCv5YQAvD_BwE It is worth the cost of importing the occasional part as it has no peer I have ever seen. Kitchen stoves and boilers are a different thing entirely. Rayburns are the best I personally have ever found. They do everything and run (APPARENTLY!) on a handfull of twigs and empty air. Solid fuel is really hard work (sorry Arirish!) especially when there is no gas for the chainsaw, so you want efficiency above all else for TSHTF moments, but gas, oil, kerosene and electric all dry up. They are nice, but not reliable. |
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving. |
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Penham
Chief Moderator Moderator Joined: February 09 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 14913 |
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Thanks for all the tips, my significant other does heat and air, said he could install the wood burning stove if I want one. The issue is deciding exactly where to put it. We are thinking the master bedroom, which would mean a major amount of rearranging also. Plus we need to decide what kind, I do like the idea of being able to see the fire with the glass.
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quietprepr
V.I.P. Member Joined: May 21 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2495 |
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This month we added several hundred pounds of rice and beans to replace some we used and gave away. Also added more canned goods for the same reason. I am always trying to keep a year of food in storage but when a good sale comes along, I buy more regardless. I tell my wife its cheap insurance and I am blessed to have a partner who is like minded!
QP |
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"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival." - W. Edwards Deming
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