PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Moderator: Site Moderator

Antler24
Trainee
Posts: 979
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:00 pm

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Antler24 »

Truckinbutch wrote:Back to that soap thing . Valid point . And soap is easy to make if you think far enough ahead . It's like meshing your fingers . One point compliments the others for success .
Save and leach wood ashes for lye . Save all extra fat from butchering and cooking . Cook the two down and you have soap . Which will be in demand and can be traded .
A hog herd is a perfect source of fat and curable meat which can be consumed or traded . They can also sustain themselves free range if feed is not available . Same with chickens .
Three profit centers for barter for cloth , medicines , petroleum fuels .
Your own labor is a viable commodity to trade for those things you do not have and shelter as well . Subsistence communities are always in need of labor from those who have no other means . It's also a path up to better means and an improvement of station .
During the mine layoffs of the 1950's out of work miners came to do day work on our farm . They got breakfast at daybreak . They put up hay , built fence , cut wood , mowed filth in the pasture fields with a scythe and grubbing hoe . A modest lunch was provided at mid day . At the end of the day they went home with a half dollar cash in their pocket and a poke of fresh food to feed their entire family .
In later years many of those folks remarked that they did better on our farm than when the mines were working .
I went to a lot of 'saucer 'burryings during that time , too .
When someone died they laid in state an someone's parlor . Mourners came by to pay respects and dropped whatever coin they had to spare in a saucer until there was enough collected for the undertaker to bury them .
The ladies of the community gathered and cooked food to feed all who came through .
We don't put saucers by the coffin no more but the tradition of a meal persists .
I agree that 'Rambo shit' has no place here . Too much survival info to be gained here to kill the thread over that .
Sounds a hell of a lot like where I live Butch. Years ago you were building a she'd you hardly had a handful of nails drove and you'd see men from all over town walk-in towards ya with hammers in hand. Men didn't cut firewood until they had enough like they do now, they cut until the town had enough. I like my smartphone as much as the next guy, but I think I was born a generation too late.
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
User avatar
Truckinbutch
Angel's Share
Angel's Share
Posts: 8107
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:49 pm

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Truckinbutch »

A generation too late ? Nawp ! You're right where you need to be . Carrying what you got for the next generation . They gonna need it .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
Antler24
Trainee
Posts: 979
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:00 pm

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Antler24 »

I don't prep for anything, I just like living the way my father and grandfather did. I've got about 2000 rounds of shotgun ammo here and probably another 1000 for the rifle, just because I got it for crazy cheap. I've also got probably 300lbs of moose and black bear meat in the freezer that I could have canned before it spoiled if the power went out. Got 3-4 cases done right now. Im real close to the ocean, and fish in season. If SHTF I could be back in a few hours with 100lb of fish to salt and dry. Do a little of that every fall too. I'm not prepping at all but I'm confident I could last a while if something happens.

As for the hard tack, I eat lots of that stuff. Delicacy around here is salt fish and hard tack, prepared with tiny bits of fried pork fat. One of my favourites.
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
User avatar
Truckinbutch
Angel's Share
Angel's Share
Posts: 8107
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:49 pm

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Truckinbutch »

I got 4 kids that I paid for . Farmed and logged during the day and deep mined coal at night while I was raising them . They learned to walk crawling up on me as I slept on the floor for a couple of hours between shifts .
When they got old enough to pee on their own and wipe their own butts their days were spent with me . Driving draft horses , training saddle stock , raising hogs , learning to hunt and shoot for sport at targets .
Cleaning and preparing their game . Curing meat and canning whatever they might need in the future . Gardening as more than a yuppie hobby .
A love and respect for nature and our obligation to husband wildlife as well as our own flocks .
They got 7 kids that they are passing that down to in their own secure worlds .
They aren't exactly 'Preppers' . They are simply prepared .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
User avatar
Oldvine Zin
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 2414
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:16 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Oldvine Zin »

I've got my prepaid Amazon fresh account account set up to last me through the Apocalypse - as heard from some Seattle ones and zeros :econfused:

OVZ
User avatar
Truckinbutch
Angel's Share
Angel's Share
Posts: 8107
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:49 pm

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Truckinbutch »

Oldvine Zin wrote:I've got my prepaid Amazon fresh account account set up to last me through the Apocalypse - as heard from some Seattle ones and zeros :econfused:

OVZ
Gonna be a lot of hungry kids out there asking 'WTF' when reality strikes .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
User avatar
cede
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:39 am
Location: Canada

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by cede »

Forget about internet, rely on books ;)
I do not prepp.
I have food and water for a few days, own canned vegetables, wood for the stove, axes, chainsaw, and so on.
Well in live in a rural area, and many times We ran out of electricity for days, out of water at the faucet because of water line frozen.... Well life :)
I do not have any kind of firearm and don't think it's a must have here.
I've been in the army a bit, but most of what I learned that could help me survive is from my family.
Grandparents had a farm so I learned to grow cereals, vegetables, raise animals and slaughter them properly, can food, hunt and many other tricks.
Imtry to pass that to my kids now.
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by kiwi Bruce »

cede wrote:Forget about internet, rely on books ;)
Everything I think I MIGHT need from the web, I print-out, punch and keep in three ring folders. Meds and first-aid started in one folder and has now grown to two. Food preservation is how almost a full folder. Shooting and reloading, another almost full folder...Some books can be down-loaded and printed out...in fact that is an interesting idea...What books do you think should be on everyone's SHTF/Prepping shelf ?

My suggestion is a free pdf down load of the book..."Ditch Medicine" by Huge L Coffee
Getting hung up all day on smiles
User avatar
cede
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:39 am
Location: Canada

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by cede »

kiwi Bruce wrote:What books do you think should be on everyone's SHTF/Prepping shelf ?
I have books on vegetables gardening, medicinal herbs, first aid, medical ressources, house building, metal casting, electronics, and more ;)
A bit of everything in fact as I love to learn.
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by kiwi Bruce »

:lolno: You sound like me...books and books and more books. My kids laugh at me and say if the crap does hit the fan, I'll be sitting in the dark trying to read my stupid books ! :lolno:
Getting hung up all day on smiles
Shine0n
Distiller
Posts: 2488
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:00 am
Location: Eastern Virginia

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Shine0n »

As long as you have a book on how to start fire then you're golden, better read that one before the lights go out lol.

I don't prep but im prepared for what may or not come, I hunt, fish, grow veggies, smoke and cure meat and fish, can foods, make likker and wine.

I'm lucky to live by the sea in a very rural area that's prime for all I've mentioned, I may not be all that prepared but I'll definitely survive
User avatar
Truckinbutch
Angel's Share
Angel's Share
Posts: 8107
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:49 pm

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Truckinbutch »

Shine0n wrote:As long as you have a book on how to start fire then you're golden, better read that one before the lights go out lol.

I don't prep but im prepared for what may or not come, I hunt, fish, grow veggies, smoke and cure meat and fish, can foods, make likker and wine.

I'm lucky to live by the sea in a very rural area that's prime for all I've mentioned, I may not be all that prepared but I'll definitely survive
You are like us . We don't consider it 'Prepping' . We just think of it as the way we live .
We are always prepared because that's the way we roll .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by kiwi Bruce »

Truckinbutch wrote:
Shine0n wrote:As long as you have a book on how to start fire then you're golden,
I was going to use a good book to START a fire ! :lol:
Getting hung up all day on smiles
User avatar
cede
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:39 am
Location: Canada

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by cede »

Truckinbutch wrote: You are like us . We don't consider it 'Prepping' . We just think of it as the way we live .
We are always prepared because that's the way we roll .
Yes that's the thing.
But it takes years to learn the way to do things well.
kiwi Bruce wrote:I was going to use a good book to START a fire !
I prefer to use foreheads :)
User avatar
Oldvine Zin
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 2414
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:16 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Oldvine Zin »

cede wrote:I was going to use a good book to START a fire !
I prefer to use foreheads :)[/quote]

or foreshots :D

OVZ
User avatar
cede
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:39 am
Location: Canada

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by cede »

Ahaha yes :)
My fingers twisted while thinking it was taken before the heads !
User avatar
MaxMondo
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:12 am
Location: Missouri

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by MaxMondo »

Foreshots and heads make a great Molotov cocktail... :twisted:
User avatar
contrahead
Trainee
Posts: 909
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:43 pm
Location: Southwest

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by contrahead »

Shuffling through some old magazines before they got tossed on the fire, I came across mention of the fact that - the human body radiates about 200 watts of thermal energy. That's twice the output of a 100 watt light bulb (or 200 Joules {0.05 calories} radiated from the whole surface area of the body (about 2 meters square) every second. This information was used to explain why igloos get warm inside. The professor quoted in the magazine article explained that there's a heat transfer equilibrium between the outside temperature, the packed snow, the air inside the igloo and the person radiating the energy. He said that the equilibrium temperature is about 15- 17° C (59 – 63°F) inside the igloo.

I won't call that horseshit, but this professor guy never went snow camping with me. The second coldest night I ever spent was inside the first igloo I ever built, which was near the top of a ski area. My first set of wool clothes got sopping wet from contact with snow and perspiration from labor, but I was prepared for that. I changed into dry clothes and slept above the others. I figure the main reason I froze my butt off that night was because I didn't properly “chink in” all the little holes and spaces between snow blocks; so the wind just came in and blew right over the top of me.

On the other hand, snow caves can be like plush condos by comparison. It takes deep, properly compressed & stable snow to build a good cave. Make the entrance lower than the floor and punch a vent hole in the roof so you don't suffocate. Again, your clothes are going to get wet. Once inside though, you lay down a big plastic tarp, spread out your sleeping gear and possibles, then ditch the wet things. Stick a candle or two in niches that were gouged out by snow shovel. Candles are quite illuminating considering the whiteness and reflectivity of snow. Fire up the camp stove(s) to cook supper and sit there in your dry socks and long underwear as you relax in luxurious toasty warm comfort.
Omnia mea mecum porto
OtisT
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3179
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:59 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by OtisT »

With all this talk of books, it got me remembering my first books on country living, what some folks today would consider prepping.

Anyone else read the FOXFIRE books? I think there were 4 of them. As a kid in the 70’s those were my bibles. I read and tried almost everything done in them. As I recall, it was written by a professor who wanted to capture how folks used to live, and he traveled the Ozarks gathering lots of stories and he document skills from the old folk living there. Yes, distilling was in one of those books ;-).

I’m gonna go look not and see if I still have them. Lots of good memories, and I would highly recommend them to anyone with a kid into the outdoors ( and older folks who never had that type of upbringing. )

Otis
Edit: . I found em. Two anyway, in a box of old books in my attic. Published 1972 and 1973, the first book contains 45 pages on Moonshining. ;-). Funny note is that I had only two bookmarks in the book, both in the moonshine section. Go figure!
Foxfire books
Foxfire books
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
User avatar
Truckinbutch
Angel's Share
Angel's Share
Posts: 8107
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:49 pm

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by Truckinbutch »

Elliot Wigginton . Mostly focused in NC . 7(I think) volumes . All good info and stories .
The program got cancelled when he got busted for being a pedophile .
Poor way to end a career as a respected teacher and author .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
zapata
Distiller
Posts: 1664
Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:06 pm

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by zapata »

I've got those books but had no idea of the pedo stuff!
Overall great books, but often as a way to nudge you along the path rather than being gospel. I guess they were supposed to be documents of folk knowledge though, which useful as it may be is prone to errors as well
sweeps
Swill Maker
Posts: 281
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:50 am

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by sweeps »

Foxfire is still running, but without Wiggington:

https://www.foxfire.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by kiwi Bruce »

I was doing some research into general anesthetics of old, that used ether and chloroform and a very useful mixture called A.C.E. (1 part alcohol, 2 parts Chloroform, 3 parts ether) In looking at how this was used in the past, I was led to a site that explained how they were used during the American Civil War...then I came across something remarkable.

In 1861 at the outbreak of the war, the Confederate Surgeon general Samuel Moore, wrote a letter to the Union Congress, asking in the name of "Christian mercy", that the supplies of ether and chloroform would not be included in the Union blockade of the South. Both House's agreed 100% and wrote a bill that the President Lincoln sighed within seven days. All the needed supplies were sent from the North directly to Richmond Virginia, to skirt the Union blockade...some of the anesthetic being made in the North, most imported from France and England. I was very touched by this, today we would call this "Human Compassion". I had not expected to find that type of true compassion for your "Enemy/Brother" in a bitter, bitter civil war. The supplies were never cut off.
Last edited by kiwi Bruce on Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Getting hung up all day on smiles
goose eye
Master of Distillation
Posts: 2846
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:19 am

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by goose eye »

1861

So I'm tole
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by kiwi Bruce »

goose eye wrote:1861

So I'm tole
Yep! your correct!
Getting hung up all day on smiles
User avatar
contrahead
Trainee
Posts: 909
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:43 pm
Location: Southwest

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by contrahead »

It would be nice to have a real medicine kit, equipped with modest amounts of real pain killer – for a real emergency. But society cannot place trust in the discretion of its individuals these days. What follows are just hit and run observations and should not be considered as any kind of endorsement for experimentation.

Diethyl ether, chloroform, airplane glue, amyl nitrite and nitrous oxide are all inhalants. Inhalants are classified as depressants; just like barbiturates, tranquilizers, narcotics and alcohol.

Both ether and chloroform were discovered back in the 1830's and both originally required high strength ethanol for their production. Although the procedure may be complex, ether is made by subjecting alcohol to sulfuric acid. Chloroform originally came from a mixture of either: acetone or ethanol with sodium hypochlorite (bleach) or calcium hypochlorite. Methane mixed with chlorine will also produce chloroform and somehow industry manages to create millions of tons of the stuff for refrigerants or during Teflon manufacture. As a liquid- it does not burn and does not mix with water.

Both central nervous system depressants (diethyl ether and chloroform) were used in surgery and dentistry, right up until recent times (ether was still on the WHO's essential medicines list until 2004). Chloroform which was phased out after WWII or the Korean War, was probably the more effective of the two. If not used sparingly and correctly though, chloroform could cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia. The effects of ether lasted longer and it was safer, but it usually caused nausea and vomiting for the recipient.

Aside from their utility as anesthetics these compounds have other uses. Ether is used as a solvent to create cellulose plastics. Chloroform is used by industry as a reagent and as a solvent. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry to extract important alkaloids from plants. From those alkaloids and from the attempts to duplicate them – were the lion's share of our modern day medicines derived.
Omnia mea mecum porto
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by kiwi Bruce »

I was at a gun show two or three years age and one of the local militia groups had a field surgical kit in a back-pack. It must have been worth about $1500.00...free...if you took a "free" three weekend course on how to use it ( and of course they could then rely on you to be part of their group ) My sweetie would kill me if I joined them. But the kit was amazing. AND they had military pain killers in the form of a lolly-pop, only in the kit, not for sale to the public. I've not seen these before, so I'm stuck with "ACE" & nitrous oxide. I'm trying to build a kit like this...still got a long way to go. The pain-killers are a bitch.
Getting hung up all day on smiles
RedwoodHillBilly

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

contrahead wrote: Chloroform is used by industry as a reagent and as a solvent. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry to extract important alkaloids from plants
Long ago and far away (college) I used chloroform to extract a certain chemical from a plant based material. I then put the solute under vacuum to remove the chloroform and get an essential oil that was smoked. Less said about that the better.
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by kiwi Bruce »

It's piss easy to make...but I'll ask if anyone wants to know and they can PM me...I got dumped off a preppers site for posting the "how-to" for ether and chloroform.
Getting hung up all day on smiles
User avatar
kiwi Bruce
Distiller
Posts: 2324
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:38 pm
Location: Transplanted Kiwi living in the States

Re: PREPPING - Yes - No - Why !

Post by kiwi Bruce »

The military pain lollypops contain fentanil, so not going to find these anywhere. Back to the civil war era, these substances are at least still legal.
Getting hung up all day on smiles
Post Reply