Posted on 09/28/2012 3:11:57 PM PDT by Kartographer
Weekly Preppers' Thread to post progress, good buys, DIY projects, advice and ideas ...
This week lds cannery, yoder canned bacon, planted garlic. made celloidal water.
I've done that before. Have let them sit in a small basin with some water and when they got soft, put them in a blender to liquify and then put it in a pump dispenser. It was OK but a little gooey. I think a better way would be to low temp melt them and remold into bigger bars. A metal loaf pan would be perfect. Pour it in and when partially solidified cut into bars.
The boys and I are making a half dozen rocket stoves to store in the shed for a rainy day. They will be this years “science project” at school too.
One #10 can and 4 regular soup cans. Vermiculite for the insulation. All you need is some tin snips.
They work great, use very little fuel and last for quite a long time. Saw a Youtube vid on some guys design and they really perform.
Prepper bump.
I bought a .22 suppressor at what is probably the largest gun dealer in the state yesterday. I got the last one. Not sure when they’ll get more.
The BATF has to approve the purchase, and that is currently running 6 to 8 months to get. That’s AFTER they get your $200 fee AND you have paid for the suppressor. The paperwork is AWFUL. The wait is likely to get MUCH longer if Obama is re-elected.
I happened to be talking to the owner. It turns out MANY (ALL?) domestic gun manufacturers are so overloaded with orders that they have stopped taking new orders from dealers. Most dealers expect massive new efforts to restrict gun rights if Obama is re-elected. Apparently a lot of ordinary people do to, and the manufacturers cannot keep up.
I also replenished my supply of plinking ammo. Even .22 rimfire ammo is showing signs of running low on a nationwide basis (still available, although selection is starting to thin out). For example, Midway (a large on-line source for ammo and other gun related stuff), is out of stock on a majority of their .22 ammo options. I did not check the rest.
So... I’m guessing you might not want to wait much longer if you are thinking about buying something.
Just a heads up.
Went to the community charity yard sale today. Bought a manual meat grinder, a home repair book and a good herb book with color photos.
First thing I noticed was there wasn’t much in the way of prep items like there usually is and it seemed like most was left over from last year’s sale and not many newly donated items. Sign of the times? Either the economy is forcing people to get the profit from their own garage sales or people are hanging onto what they have to make do or they’re waking up to the prepping movement. There was no cast iron cookware. No pots and pans or other cookware. The home repair book I got was the only one along that subject. I had hoped for a edible plant book but no luck. I glance over at the he-man area but didn’t see any tools or machinery. The prices of needful things such as fabric was double or more than last year and there were very few sewing notions. Even the price of baked goodies was outlandish such as $25 for a pie (or maybe I’m out of touch).
The "Deluxe" means it includes both a set of steel burrs and a set of grinding stones. The standard model, the Wondermill Jr Hand Mill @ $169.95, includes only the grinding stones.
I have only used it a few times so I am still learning how to make it work at its best.
I selected this model because it seemed to be one of the most robust units available but cost only about half of the Country Living Hand Grain Mill.
I can tell you that I found it to be solidly built with a feel of quality about it. And it looks as if it will last a lifetime of use if taken care of. Replacement parts are available also.
Performance wise, so far it seems to work as well as I expected from reading manufacturers info and reports from actual users.
I bought the optional pulley with the intent of rigging a system to use pedal power when I find the right cast off bicycle bits and pieces.
All in all I would sum it up by saying that so far I feel I got fair value for my expenditure and I feel I have a quality piece of equipment that will do the job when/if I have to rely on it.
As a back up I recently bought a used Corona mill (with stones, not steel burrs) on eBay for $15 plus $10 shipping. It looks good but haven't used it yet.
Question for the scientists and engineers:
If they succeed in procuring the 30,000 drones which can be equipped with infrared to spy on us, what can we do about it? Will finding a cave to dwell in defeat it? Is there anyway to defeat night vision abilities?
The oxygen absorbers only last until you open the can. Some cans say they last a week after opening and some last a year. It depends on the manufacturer and the food. Anything with fat has a limited life.
From experience, tomato powder turned into a hard block about half way down but chicken alfredo lasted more than a week. It was really good.
In college, my sister put the slivers of soap in paper cups and simmered them until they melted. When dry, you just peel the cup off.
One way to use leftover soap pieces.
Purchase a piece of nylon net at a fabric store.
Make a flat pouch about 5” square.
Cut 4 pieces 5” by 10”.
Lay the pieces on top of each other and stitch the short sides together with nylon thread.
fold in half and sew two opposite sides closed.
The side opposite the fold is not sewn yet.
Turn it iside out.
Now sew the 4th side almost closed, leaving about 1 1/2” open in the center.
Stuff your soap slivers inside the pouch and use in the shower or anywhere else you need soap and a cleaning pad.
I don't have this issue. I simply stick the last sliver (about 1/8" thick or so) onto the next bar of soap. After a day or so, it adheres permanently and becomes a single bar.
PS - Regarding my post 27.
I forgot to mention that there are many videos on YouTube about the various grain mills and grinders.
For the Wondermill Junior just do a search on YouTube for the name “Wondermill Junior” and you will get quite a few hits.
I watched all the pertinent videos I could find before I made the decision on which to purchase.
Another item: If you have a favorite Preper blob and they have links to buy products on Amazon you can purchase through them at the same price you get directly from Amazon and they get a small commission.
Oops!
Preper blob = Prepper Blog
I started a list of “Last minute Preps”.
The obvious question is: why last minute, why not now? My answer is that some things should be done late - pump the septic, buy limited shelf-life items such as bulk oil and pesticides, etc.
Any thoughts; what else goes on this list?
THIS is the soap saver my husband uses:
http://www.magnamail.com.au/Product_Detail.aspx?par=0&Cat=11&Prod=1201
Re-compressed soap bars (soap slivers) can be wrapped lightly in tissue paper and placed in underwear drawers to keep things smelling fresh too.
That’s looks pretty useful.
PING to what we were talking about before...
get the wondermill Jr deluxe grinder with extra burrs, its built like a tank,
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