kchapmans - Member - The Prepared

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Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 17, 2022

It does. What one of us forgets or doesn’t consider, the others chime in. Others who know about what little bit of future cushioning we are doing think we’re nuts 🙂 NUTS UNITE lol

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 17, 2022

Lolol Yeah, I think that is my next door neighbor’s plan as well.

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 16, 2022

My neighbors I seem to “help” regularly (due to their children)–no. They don’t think there is any need to prepare for anything within a few days, much less the future or any “what–ifs”. I think i AM their backup plan lol. The lady who cuts my hair every few months : yes. She was fussing about always being short on items both food and non-food, so I showed her the various places both indoors and in my small outdoor shed where I squirrel away items and showed her what I buy and why. She went home, told her husband what she saw here, and they have begun creating a place to store their items they buy. Not just food but medical, blankets, non-food goods. I told her it will take time but worth it in the end. My daughter’s other caretaker started copying me last year and said so much pressure of the shortages that others have been feeling and experiencing hasn’t happened much to her thanks to her planning ahead. She said that if she hadn’t watched me scour the internet, in places she hadn’t thought to look, she wouldn’t be as far ahead in her prepping as she is. Like me, living in this dinky town, she has faced ongoing shortages of daily living items, but now that she tries to plan ahead, it isn’t as bad as it could have been. Amazing what a little foresight can do to lift some of the stress and anxiety that is our new reality now. And yes, this site has given ideas on which areas of prepping I may need to look at and other items I may need to consider adding to my stash (like fire blankets.)

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 15, 2022

LOL to their reaction regarding your backup tanks. I’ve got a bunch too of varying sizes, bought last fall and filled up. Glad I did because of the bad freeze. Also glad I bought a propane heater because I like to have frozen in my all electric ancient house in this desert (minimal insulation!) due to that Winter Storm Uri that not only walloped Texas, but us here in SE New Mexico. Lost power for about 8 hours here, that was enough for me to tell my son I bought a propane heater plus 4 tanks. He flipped out until that second storm hit and we wound up using it all to heat the house and use his bbq pit to cook. No scrambling to locate propane because mom here already bought it! 🙂

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 15, 2022

Oh yes, we use those here quite a bit thanks to our town constantly losing its water supply. My house smells much better than others as we use the pail and my neighbors use their toilets. When the water is out for days, and in this desert heat, well, I DON’T want my home to smell like an old port–a–potty (and it doesn’t) by the time the water comes back on. It only took 1 time for the water to be off for days rather than just a few hours for me to learn that painful lesson (I had 3 kids at home when that episode happened. Yuck lol)

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 15, 2022

I have a mentally and physically disabled autistic adult daughter. She and I live in a rural desert community of about 2000 people. Nearest grocery store of a good size is about 50 miles one way. Our local store just carries the basics. Once I became aware of the pandemic ramping up, I started buying a bit extra of everyday items online, like paper towels, toilet paper, laundry soaps and bleach, wet wipes, canned foods, tetra pak milks, powdered eggs-fruit-butter-milk. I also bought extra supplies for my daughter, like pulls ups, bed pads, diaper rash meds, breathing machine masks, tubing and filters, nitrile gloves and paper masks. Because our town’s drinking water really sucks (heart of the Permian Basin oilfield country here) I also stocked up on jug water. Our water supply to the town does get turned off several times a year due to breakages in the lines, lightening strikes on equipment, etc. Cats and dog also got extra food socked away. ALL OF THE ABOVE I HAVE HAD TO USE due to shortages, lack of water here, shortages in my daughter’s medical supplies, grocery stores running out of needed items both in town and the surrounding towns. So in our case, prepping has now become routine as everything I gradually stockpiled (and continue to stockpile) has been dipped into just for daily living. If you had told me in late 2019 I would be living like I do now in 2022, I would have laughed at you. I am glad that I made the decision in early 2020 to start buying a bit extra on every shopping trip (then I really began shopping hard online by summer 2020) because it has gotten us through rough patches when everyday basics just were not available in a several hundred mile radius of this town (and I have shared with my less fortunate neighbors, though I am about as broke as they are. Different priorities between our 2 families, I guess.)

Reply to: Washing machine broken, might want to try something non-electric Posted October 4, 2021

The mop wringer would work to a point. Sheets, maybe, if folded first. I’ve used industrial sized mop buckets and wringers at work, so I’m trying to visualize how to best use these squeeze-type tools versus a roller type washer wringer. Items would have to be folded into squares (blue jeans,etc), shirts could probably be folded into thirds, several at a time, before placing them in the wringer. Socks, undies could probably just be chucked in there in a mass with no issue. No matter how one gets the water out of clothing, be prepared for wrinkles!

Reply to: Washing machine broken, might want to try something non-electric Posted October 4, 2021

I learned the hard way many years ago to get creative with the laundry chore. I’ve used a toilet plunger as well as fill up a tub of water and stomp the clothes when no plunger was available. The rolling pin/lump of round wood I have used myself, out of desperation . The rolling pin/log method does work in a pinch and the items do dry faster than drip drying. Rolling pin can be put back to use in the kitchen and the wood can be thrown into the fire when needed, so the “tools” are mutli-purpose 🙂

Reply to: Washing machine broken, might want to try something non-electric Posted October 3, 2021

Wrap socks, other small items around a rolling pin and roll with as much pressure as your hands will allow. Fold thin shirts in half, with the sleeves folded inward as well, and roll. Pants, overalls and coveralls will need a large chunk of round wood or a smooth sided 5 gallon bucket (log works better due to weight, preferably something without much bark. That can get messy.) This roll and squeeze out the water method won’t work as well as a mangle or a washing machine, but it is faster than drip drying. Any flat surface you have handy, like a counter top or a table/picnic table, will be fine as long as it is water proof (or made for outdoors.)

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Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 17, 2022

It does. What one of us forgets or doesn’t consider, the others chime in. Others who know about what little bit of future cushioning we are doing think we’re nuts 🙂 NUTS UNITE lol

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 17, 2022

Lolol Yeah, I think that is my next door neighbor’s plan as well.

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 16, 2022

My neighbors I seem to “help” regularly (due to their children)–no. They don’t think there is any need to prepare for anything within a few days, much less the future or any “what–ifs”. I think i AM their backup plan lol. The lady who cuts my hair every few months : yes. She was fussing about always being short on items both food and non-food, so I showed her the various places both indoors and in my small outdoor shed where I squirrel away items and showed her what I buy and why. She went home, told her husband what she saw here, and they have begun creating a place to store their items they buy. Not just food but medical, blankets, non-food goods. I told her it will take time but worth it in the end. My daughter’s other caretaker started copying me last year and said so much pressure of the shortages that others have been feeling and experiencing hasn’t happened much to her thanks to her planning ahead. She said that if she hadn’t watched me scour the internet, in places she hadn’t thought to look, she wouldn’t be as far ahead in her prepping as she is. Like me, living in this dinky town, she has faced ongoing shortages of daily living items, but now that she tries to plan ahead, it isn’t as bad as it could have been. Amazing what a little foresight can do to lift some of the stress and anxiety that is our new reality now. And yes, this site has given ideas on which areas of prepping I may need to look at and other items I may need to consider adding to my stash (like fire blankets.)

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 15, 2022

LOL to their reaction regarding your backup tanks. I’ve got a bunch too of varying sizes, bought last fall and filled up. Glad I did because of the bad freeze. Also glad I bought a propane heater because I like to have frozen in my all electric ancient house in this desert (minimal insulation!) due to that Winter Storm Uri that not only walloped Texas, but us here in SE New Mexico. Lost power for about 8 hours here, that was enough for me to tell my son I bought a propane heater plus 4 tanks. He flipped out until that second storm hit and we wound up using it all to heat the house and use his bbq pit to cook. No scrambling to locate propane because mom here already bought it! 🙂

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 15, 2022

Oh yes, we use those here quite a bit thanks to our town constantly losing its water supply. My house smells much better than others as we use the pail and my neighbors use their toilets. When the water is out for days, and in this desert heat, well, I DON’T want my home to smell like an old port–a–potty (and it doesn’t) by the time the water comes back on. It only took 1 time for the water to be off for days rather than just a few hours for me to learn that painful lesson (I had 3 kids at home when that episode happened. Yuck lol)

Reply to: Prepping victories: When has prepping paid off for you? Posted May 15, 2022

I have a mentally and physically disabled autistic adult daughter. She and I live in a rural desert community of about 2000 people. Nearest grocery store of a good size is about 50 miles one way. Our local store just carries the basics. Once I became aware of the pandemic ramping up, I started buying a bit extra of everyday items online, like paper towels, toilet paper, laundry soaps and bleach, wet wipes, canned foods, tetra pak milks, powdered eggs-fruit-butter-milk. I also bought extra supplies for my daughter, like pulls ups, bed pads, diaper rash meds, breathing machine masks, tubing and filters, nitrile gloves and paper masks. Because our town’s drinking water really sucks (heart of the Permian Basin oilfield country here) I also stocked up on jug water. Our water supply to the town does get turned off several times a year due to breakages in the lines, lightening strikes on equipment, etc. Cats and dog also got extra food socked away. ALL OF THE ABOVE I HAVE HAD TO USE due to shortages, lack of water here, shortages in my daughter’s medical supplies, grocery stores running out of needed items both in town and the surrounding towns. So in our case, prepping has now become routine as everything I gradually stockpiled (and continue to stockpile) has been dipped into just for daily living. If you had told me in late 2019 I would be living like I do now in 2022, I would have laughed at you. I am glad that I made the decision in early 2020 to start buying a bit extra on every shopping trip (then I really began shopping hard online by summer 2020) because it has gotten us through rough patches when everyday basics just were not available in a several hundred mile radius of this town (and I have shared with my less fortunate neighbors, though I am about as broke as they are. Different priorities between our 2 families, I guess.)

Reply to: Washing machine broken, might want to try something non-electric Posted October 4, 2021

The mop wringer would work to a point. Sheets, maybe, if folded first. I’ve used industrial sized mop buckets and wringers at work, so I’m trying to visualize how to best use these squeeze-type tools versus a roller type washer wringer. Items would have to be folded into squares (blue jeans,etc), shirts could probably be folded into thirds, several at a time, before placing them in the wringer. Socks, undies could probably just be chucked in there in a mass with no issue. No matter how one gets the water out of clothing, be prepared for wrinkles!

Reply to: Washing machine broken, might want to try something non-electric Posted October 4, 2021

I learned the hard way many years ago to get creative with the laundry chore. I’ve used a toilet plunger as well as fill up a tub of water and stomp the clothes when no plunger was available. The rolling pin/lump of round wood I have used myself, out of desperation . The rolling pin/log method does work in a pinch and the items do dry faster than drip drying. Rolling pin can be put back to use in the kitchen and the wood can be thrown into the fire when needed, so the “tools” are mutli-purpose 🙂

Reply to: Washing machine broken, might want to try something non-electric Posted October 3, 2021

Wrap socks, other small items around a rolling pin and roll with as much pressure as your hands will allow. Fold thin shirts in half, with the sleeves folded inward as well, and roll. Pants, overalls and coveralls will need a large chunk of round wood or a smooth sided 5 gallon bucket (log works better due to weight, preferably something without much bark. That can get messy.) This roll and squeeze out the water method won’t work as well as a mangle or a washing machine, but it is faster than drip drying. Any flat surface you have handy, like a counter top or a table/picnic table, will be fine as long as it is water proof (or made for outdoors.)