Also, if they come, she can sleep outside on the dirt.
I was thinking on the concrete. It's a little softer you know. dancing chicken
I wouldn't let my ex on our place. Other wise she'd get Sheep Dog's treatment
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100 Items to Disappear First
- Thread starter Weedygarden
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I was thinking on the concrete. It's a little softer you know. dancing chicken
I wouldn't let my ex on our place. Other wise she'd get Sheep Dog's treatment
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Like most things in survivalism, it is situational.
Your location sounds like a nice area and your experiences sound like short term crises that were localized, where the ROL was still solid, everyone was prepared enough and everyone knew that the power would be back soon.
But I have seen people post about situations that were different to yours where generators were indeed a trouble magnet. Some had their generators stolen while others had their house targeted by moochers and worse.
I have also read many posts about people with generators being asked by neighbors to "just plug this extension cable in for me (with a promise that they would only plug a couple of lights into it)", then finding the neighbor overloaded it and tripped out the generator. When they unplugged the neighbor, that was met with aggression and threats.
In a more severe crisis that drags on longer than the average storm, and as people around you run out of fuel for their generators, you should expect things to deteriorate. The longer you keep yours running, the more obvious and problematic it will be as the minority that obviously still has fuel.
.....and in a really bad crisis, anyone who runs a generator from day one will later regret all the fuel it used, once it becomes clear that fuel was irreplaceable.
In my view, people should see power outages as an opportunity to experience/practice "camping at home". That means accepting that most of the usual electric gear in your house will stay dark for the duration of the outage. The only exception should be fridge/freezers. For everything else, an off-grid alternative should be used - cooking, heating, lighting, communications, ablutions, hygiene, etc, etc.
A solar power system that will run just the fridge/freezers is not very much more expensive than a good quality, mid-sized generator, a sufficient stock of fuel, servicing costs for that generator and a secure place/structure to run that generator.
The performance of solar power systems depends upon getting enough sunlight - but for most people, they would be better off with a solar backup system than a generator that becomes more of a liability every day that a blackout continues.
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I have yet to see a single house or building down here with a solar panel on it. Zip.
We typically have 5-6 completely overcast days (where you cannot see your shadow) for each day with full sun.
Once you add night-times (where they all generate 0-volts) it's easy to see why solar is a non-starter (no-workey) down here.
Now if you had something that could harness the power of torrential rainfall... we could use that!
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In the Great Plains states, it is the almost ever present wind. Windmills would be something that could usually run 24 hours a day in some places.I have yet to see a single house or building down here with a solar panel on it. Zip.
We typically have 5-6 completely overcast days (where you cannot see your shadow) for each day with full sun.
Once you add night-times (where they all generate 0-volts) it's easy to see why solar is a non-starter (no-workey) down here.
Now if you had something that could harness the power of torrential rainfall... we could use that!
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Micro-hydro.I have yet to see a single house or building down here with a solar panel on it. Zip.
We typically have 5-6 completely overcast days (where you cannot see your shadow) for each day with full sun.
Once you add night-times (where they all generate 0-volts) it's easy to see why solar is a non-starter (no-workey) down here.
Now if you had something that could harness the power of torrential rainfall... we could use that!
Do you have rights to water courses?
There used to be a grain mill a 5 minute walk from the north corner of The Ridge. In a SHTF situation, that would be a community project I would be under taking.
Ben
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Well, we have goats, chickens and sheep
Cigarettes no thanks, quit that a long time ago and don't plan on starting again
The rest of the list seems ok for the average person and the average disaster.
I think the biggest problems we would have would be accidents or getting sick, eventually running out of fuel, and not having a small army to protect what we have.
Cigarettes no thanks, quit that a long time ago and don't plan on starting again
The rest of the list seems ok for the average person and the average disaster.
I think the biggest problems we would have would be accidents or getting sick, eventually running out of fuel, and not having a small army to protect what we have.
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Yep, 15 years ago I let someone who I thought could be trusted see my food storage area. 6 months later we are at a church event discussing being prepared and he made the comment that if things go bad I going over to Urbans..... I could have just shot him... but it was my mistake in letting him in...Oh, your generator won't be needed to summon those.
I can vouch for that.
You will have non-prepper friends that you didn't even know you had, suddenly appear.
See, they don't prep because they know they just have to move in with you and you will take care of them.
You wouldn't think this would be essential, but I can tell you that it is:
87. Cots & Inflatable mattress's
Since some are relatives, you can't shoot them.
It sounds like this:
"We haven't had power for days and all of our food is rotten and we don't have anywhere else to go; can we come stay with you guys?"
After that NO ONE goes into my food storage area except me and my adult kids, even the grand-kids are not allowed in there... And other than posting on this site I don't discuss it with anyone....
In an EVENT the answer is simple: I am going dark, not opening the door for anyone...
Nope, we got nothing for you... I am not your mother........
Yes, I am a Cold Heart-ed Bas....
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I think that more than one person has had this experience. I heard a story about a woman who had a few girl friends over one night and one somehow found her food storage and it freaked her out. She talked and talked about it, couldn't shut up. At that time, I thought that locks on the doors would not be too much!
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People are nosy, I have caught the wife's friends looking in the pantry, but that is just the daily cooking pantry (just 1 of everything, but not a lot of anything), I have even caught then heading down the stairs snooping, at which point I tell them that it is not safe down there, there is no railing, the lights don't work, I lost my pet snake...
The sad thing is that up to that time, I had been doing seminars on being prepared, situational awareness, event (snow, flood, hurricane) planning, canning food, and food storage tips... I would even share my name and contact information, do one on one assessments from time to time...
But now days, I don't share anything with anyone save it be as a faceless Urban, who does not exist...
I believe that the Sh** storm is coming and you have to take care of your family first... As for the general public out there who is just waking up, you can't cure stupid and you can't carry everyone...
I mean, how many people did Noah throw a rope ladder to? At some point they have to sink or swim....
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A few years ago I stayed with my dad's cousin and his wife in my hometown when I was there. They told me they canned 120 quarts of beans and 120 quarts of tomatoes every summer. They were both around 80 at the time. I know they canned other things as well. One of a few other people who were over for supper and my cousin, the man of the house, were talking about their heating and cooling system. I am at a loss for the words, but the kind where pipes are buried to regulate temperatures, so no furnace or air conditioner are needed. A visitor wanted to see what the part in the basement looked like and his wife told him he could not go into their basement. I really understood what she meant. She didn't want anyone to see all of their canned goods in the basement, as well as their freezers, etc. I know they had a bunch of food, including a bunch of local honey. People in those parts canned lots of food and prepared in the summer when I was a kid. Probably just the older folks doing that now, but I know this couple had more than they wanted others to see.
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Tell them hammocks are cheap. Get them now.
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I know that people sleep in hammocks in some parts of the world. I had a student whose mother was a native of Mexico. He went to Mexico for the summer and slept in a hammock all summer. I have a couple in my bags with my sleeping bag and sleep gear.
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One of our sons loves backpacking and swears by them.
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My personal plan revolve around the idea and possibility that we may/probably will not have electricity. I personally know of no one in my area who is preparing as I am either. No one seems to care even if they agree that they can understand and see how things could become. Just the one lady friend and she only does because she is 75 and couldn't compete in a world with no rule of law. Manual meat grinders. I have 1 new small one and 2 larger ones. I also have a counter mounted even larger one.
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I love hammocks. I have about 10 and of different types. Can openers are important. I have one for the #10 cans I got at an auction. Also there are differences in can openers. A $40 can opener will last forever a $10 can opener will not.
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I brought 4 of the woven string hammocks back from Cambodia. They cost $4 each.
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I don't know why but everyone thinks or says that they assume that I would feed them at that time. I foresee a pile of expended folk at that point. Not that too many people are aware but then again people know me so... it's just something one will have to deal with.
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I generally don't let people "know" me. My life is very compartmentalized: People at work know a FAKE me (work is very liberal and very WOKE), people at church know a kind me, people at the range know an "accurate" me, and people here know a "relaxed" me.... But, only my family knows the real me....
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You are fortunate in that respect. I was born, raised, and ruined here so people know about aa much as there is to know and because I am from here if they don't know they're not afraid to make up the rest. It's why I have developed this relationship as I have. lol. And people here are still surprised to find out that I am as hard as I am.
