Melanie - Member - The Prepared

Discussions

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 18, 2021

Yep, frost-free is the way to go. I live in a cold climate (we can reach -20 to -30 f in the winter). We have have frost-free hydrants in the yard and at the barn and both hydrants on the house are frost-free. With the exception of the kitchen sink all other wet walls are interior walls. We’ve never had any of our lines freeze and we don’t leave any faucets dripping unless it gets below zero for more than a couple of days. If insulated properly it shouldn’t be an issue. We have a wood stove that effectively heats most of the house as backup so even with the power out we are okay.

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 16, 2021

No problem, Bob. I found a picture of our hand pump. You just pull the cap off and hand pump water into a container. Very simple. I’d like to get a system in place that can produce more water at a faster rate, but this is better than nothing. We do have a generator capable of 220 V power so we could use that if we install a shore switch to isolate from the grid for some water usage.

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 16, 2021

It is a manual hand pump installed in the well casing so it doesn’t require changing anything to use it. It won’t pump water into our house but does give us access to clean water from our well.

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 16, 2021

I agree. It is good to have backups for all systems in your house. Our house is all electric and we have a private well so when the power goes out we lose everything. We have a septic tank so that does continue to function (gravity fed). We have a wood burning cook stove. We regularly use that to help heat the house and we cook on it most of the time in the cold months because it’s already hot. The stove also has a water tank mounted to one side to heat water in. We keep it full so it is ready to use and also add humidity to the air (we live in a dry climate). We have several gas powered generators so we can power parts of the house if needed. We also have a Mr. Heater Big Buddy portable propane heater and keep several propane cylinders filled and ready to use as well as some of the disposable 1 lb propane tanks. We store potable water and we also installed a hand pump on our well. We have many types of candles, oil lamps, hurricane lanterns and various flashlights to use. We usually get several power outages each winter from equipment failure in the cold, storms and wind. We usually get some when the temperatures are sub-zero. This is something we make a point to be prepared for.

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 16, 2021

I live in Idaho. We can also experience all four seasons in one day. I’ve had it snow enough to have a snow ball fight in June. We can see a high of 35 F during the day and dip down below 0 F that night during the winter. We can have sun, rain and snow all in the same day. The weirdest thing is a thunderstorm while it’s snowing.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 16, 2021

Lol! I keep threatening to move to Alaska because I hate the heat. I’d much rather deal with the cold and I LOVE snow. We really only have two hot months (90+ degree weather) and I have a difficult time dealing with that.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 16, 2021

Ubique, I am in the U.S. I have the Big Buddy portable heater. It is rated for use indoors. You do need some ventilation as the heater will burn oxygen from the air. It can run from the 1 lb propane tanks or you can adapt to use bigger propane tanks. We have used it in our trailer and in the house. Here is a link to the heater on their website: Big Buddy Portable Heater Here is a screen shot of the specifications

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 16, 2021

I have friends that live in the Fort Worth area. They were told to expect 15-45 minute rolling blackouts. Many were without power for hours. My friends were without power for 12+ hours in below freezing temps. Luckily they have a gas fireplace. I suggested that they might want to invest in a Mr. Buddy heater as well. Sunday evening their temperatures were in the single digits (fahrenheit), colder than mine were in Idaho! Pretty crazy! I live in a cold climate and we usually have at least a couple of power outages from storms/winds during the winter, and sometimes in sub zero conditions. We are prepared with alternate heat sources, etc. We have a wood stove and a Mr. Buddy propane heater, plenty of lanterns/oil lamps and other alternate lighting.

Reply to: What is your favorite prepping tool? Posted February 3, 2021

We have a family of four and a medium/large dog. We keep 3 55 gal barrels of water in the garage. I also have a 15 gal barrel and several smaller containers. This works well for us. We are on a private well so we have no running water when the power is out. This makes water storage is important for us. We have a hand pump installed on our well so we can access water that way without power and we have a river bordering our property so that also provides a backup water source.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 1, 2021

I think this page of the book was intended to be a replica of the page as it appeared in the publication of the Nauvoo Neighbor, a weekly newspaper that was published from 1843 to 1845. This was in the final publication of the paper, on October 29, 1845. I agree, the fewer characters used would have been easier when all the typeface was set by hand.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 1, 2021

Yes, each person gets to bring one thing. Sometimes they are also given an item if the situation warrants it. I think it’s a toss-up between a fire starter and a kukri A fire starter is an obvious first choice. In the situation of Naked and Afraid fire was crucial to staying warm, cooking food, and keeping bugs and animals at bay. A kukri is also a great choice. It could be used for making lots of things like shelter, fish traps, other types of traps, hunting, etc.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 1, 2021

I enjoyed watching Naked and Afraid. They have kept the drama to a minimum. Two people are left in the wilderness with no clothing, food, water or shelter for 21 days. They have to forage for everything. They are each allowed to bring one item (common things are knives, cordage and fire starter). I wasn’t sure about the naked part when I first watched an episode, but they kept the shows about survival and don’t make it weird. This show really got me thinking about what it really takes to survive in some tough circumstances and shows some real survival skills and tools.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 1, 2021

do. can be an abbreviation for ditto. I found one reference that sometimes ingredients were grouped together by unit of measure. After the first ingredient is listed with the unit of measure other ingredients using the same unit of measure will be listed with the number of units followed by do. In this list you can see 4 lbs lead. there are several entries under that using do. I believe 100 do. sugar would be 100 lbs sugar. This seems like a reasonable amount of sugar when compared to the amounts of other items like flour and salt listed.

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Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 18, 2021

Yep, frost-free is the way to go. I live in a cold climate (we can reach -20 to -30 f in the winter). We have have frost-free hydrants in the yard and at the barn and both hydrants on the house are frost-free. With the exception of the kitchen sink all other wet walls are interior walls. We’ve never had any of our lines freeze and we don’t leave any faucets dripping unless it gets below zero for more than a couple of days. If insulated properly it shouldn’t be an issue. We have a wood stove that effectively heats most of the house as backup so even with the power out we are okay.

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 16, 2021

No problem, Bob. I found a picture of our hand pump. You just pull the cap off and hand pump water into a container. Very simple. I’d like to get a system in place that can produce more water at a faster rate, but this is better than nothing. We do have a generator capable of 220 V power so we could use that if we install a shore switch to isolate from the grid for some water usage.

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 16, 2021

It is a manual hand pump installed in the well casing so it doesn’t require changing anything to use it. It won’t pump water into our house but does give us access to clean water from our well.

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 16, 2021

I agree. It is good to have backups for all systems in your house. Our house is all electric and we have a private well so when the power goes out we lose everything. We have a septic tank so that does continue to function (gravity fed). We have a wood burning cook stove. We regularly use that to help heat the house and we cook on it most of the time in the cold months because it’s already hot. The stove also has a water tank mounted to one side to heat water in. We keep it full so it is ready to use and also add humidity to the air (we live in a dry climate). We have several gas powered generators so we can power parts of the house if needed. We also have a Mr. Heater Big Buddy portable propane heater and keep several propane cylinders filled and ready to use as well as some of the disposable 1 lb propane tanks. We store potable water and we also installed a hand pump on our well. We have many types of candles, oil lamps, hurricane lanterns and various flashlights to use. We usually get several power outages each winter from equipment failure in the cold, storms and wind. We usually get some when the temperatures are sub-zero. This is something we make a point to be prepared for.

Reply to: Let’s talk Texas – how to prep your home for extreme cold Posted February 16, 2021

I live in Idaho. We can also experience all four seasons in one day. I’ve had it snow enough to have a snow ball fight in June. We can see a high of 35 F during the day and dip down below 0 F that night during the winter. We can have sun, rain and snow all in the same day. The weirdest thing is a thunderstorm while it’s snowing.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 16, 2021

Lol! I keep threatening to move to Alaska because I hate the heat. I’d much rather deal with the cold and I LOVE snow. We really only have two hot months (90+ degree weather) and I have a difficult time dealing with that.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 16, 2021

Ubique, I am in the U.S. I have the Big Buddy portable heater. It is rated for use indoors. You do need some ventilation as the heater will burn oxygen from the air. It can run from the 1 lb propane tanks or you can adapt to use bigger propane tanks. We have used it in our trailer and in the house. Here is a link to the heater on their website: Big Buddy Portable Heater Here is a screen shot of the specifications

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 16, 2021

I have friends that live in the Fort Worth area. They were told to expect 15-45 minute rolling blackouts. Many were without power for hours. My friends were without power for 12+ hours in below freezing temps. Luckily they have a gas fireplace. I suggested that they might want to invest in a Mr. Buddy heater as well. Sunday evening their temperatures were in the single digits (fahrenheit), colder than mine were in Idaho! Pretty crazy! I live in a cold climate and we usually have at least a couple of power outages from storms/winds during the winter, and sometimes in sub zero conditions. We are prepared with alternate heat sources, etc. We have a wood stove and a Mr. Buddy propane heater, plenty of lanterns/oil lamps and other alternate lighting.

Reply to: What is your favorite prepping tool? Posted February 3, 2021

We have a family of four and a medium/large dog. We keep 3 55 gal barrels of water in the garage. I also have a 15 gal barrel and several smaller containers. This works well for us. We are on a private well so we have no running water when the power is out. This makes water storage is important for us. We have a hand pump installed on our well so we can access water that way without power and we have a river bordering our property so that also provides a backup water source.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 1, 2021

I think this page of the book was intended to be a replica of the page as it appeared in the publication of the Nauvoo Neighbor, a weekly newspaper that was published from 1843 to 1845. This was in the final publication of the paper, on October 29, 1845. I agree, the fewer characters used would have been easier when all the typeface was set by hand.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 1, 2021

Yes, each person gets to bring one thing. Sometimes they are also given an item if the situation warrants it. I think it’s a toss-up between a fire starter and a kukri A fire starter is an obvious first choice. In the situation of Naked and Afraid fire was crucial to staying warm, cooking food, and keeping bugs and animals at bay. A kukri is also a great choice. It could be used for making lots of things like shelter, fish traps, other types of traps, hunting, etc.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 1, 2021

I enjoyed watching Naked and Afraid. They have kept the drama to a minimum. Two people are left in the wilderness with no clothing, food, water or shelter for 21 days. They have to forage for everything. They are each allowed to bring one item (common things are knives, cordage and fire starter). I wasn’t sure about the naked part when I first watched an episode, but they kept the shows about survival and don’t make it weird. This show really got me thinking about what it really takes to survive in some tough circumstances and shows some real survival skills and tools.

Reply to: What does prepping look like in your area of the world? Posted February 1, 2021

do. can be an abbreviation for ditto. I found one reference that sometimes ingredients were grouped together by unit of measure. After the first ingredient is listed with the unit of measure other ingredients using the same unit of measure will be listed with the number of units followed by do. In this list you can see 4 lbs lead. there are several entries under that using do. I believe 100 do. sugar would be 100 lbs sugar. This seems like a reasonable amount of sugar when compared to the amounts of other items like flour and salt listed.