Member Barred-Rock-or-Brahma
MemberForum Replies Created
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This breaker is currently in use. It clicks amd smells like an electrical fire, but it only throws sparks when you touch it. Its load includes 4 air conditioning units, a dozen or so lights, a 60″ TV, and whatever phones, laptops, and radios happen to be charging at any given time.
Not bad enough? The dude that works on it wears no PPE, has no insulated tools, and I have yet to see him shut off the main breaker when doing any sort of electrical work.
**Update**
The maintence guy came by, cut the wire above where the installation melted, tossed the melted section, and stuck the rest back in the burned out breaker. Somehow he’s still alive, and it worked. Good times.
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I’m no expert, but I certainly enjoy hitting the trail whenever I can get away with it. It’s how I get my head right when I need a break, and it is the perfect opportunity to teach my kids something that builds their confidence in a way that few other things can match.
I like to get away from civilization and just exist in what I consider to be the real world for a few days every now and then.
I enjoy brushing up on my land navigation, fire starting, water collecting and purification, and hasty shelter building techniques. Proper hydration, nutrition, and dressing properly for the environment are also perishable skills. Don’t believe me? Ask a forest ranger or a paramedic with a popular trail in their area!
I plan to hike most of the Appalachian Trail (AT) southbound (SOBO) during the summer of ’24 to celebrate my retirement and my son’s high school graduation. Why only most? Because I refuse to step foot in states that don’t have conceal-carry permit (CCP) reciprocity with NC. If I understand the AT lingo correctly, I will be “yellow blazing” through the states that interpret “shall not be infringed” as a request and not a directive.
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For clean water on-the-go, I really like the Sawyer MINI. I’ve been using the same one for a couple years now, and it’s still going strong. Just keep it from freezing, backflush it between trips, and make some attempt to filter out large particles from the water (a t-shirt, shemegh, or even a sock is fine) before running it through the filter.
Protip: if the security situation is less than permissible, use a Smart Water bottle for collection and more to a more secure area to treat and drink. The thread pattern on a Smart Water bottle matches the thread pattern on the filter, fills much faster, and holds twice as much. Just be sure to mark or remember that bottle as “dirty” and avoid drinking from it directly.
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If you can purify a gallon of water with 8 drops of bleach, you should probably keep a dozen or so gallons of bleach in garage, right?
WRONG!
It turns out that liquid bleach can only effectively purify water for about six months. I was recently informed that one can avoid the burden of replacing bottles of bleach every few months by spending about $10 on a container of pool chlorine powder that will stay effective indefinitely (when stored correctly) and purify enough water to last a family of four over 200 years.
The ratio is one teaspoon of chlorine powder for 50 gallons of water.
So it looks like I’ll be freeing up some space in the garage, does anyone want a dozen gallons of two-year-old bleach?
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**IMPORTANT**
The 1 tsp. to 50 gallons ratio was from one particular product. DO NOT ASSUME THAT THIS RATIO WILL BE ACCURATE FOR YOU. for the products available in your area. Different products may have different concentrations, so definitely check your label and the manufacturer’s instructions.
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I came here to ask for this too, thanks!
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This is funny, I don’t care who you are.
Don’t cancel me, bro!
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I don’t have a white pill for you because I’m just not that into rainbows and unicorns. The best I can do is give you a Gray pill (see what I did there?).
I don’t know if the Gray pill is optimistic, pessimistic, or even realistic, but it’s what I’m doing, come what may.
My interpretation of “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s” extends beyond taxes to emcompass the entirety of fiat currency. I consider all Federal Reserve bank notes “theirs,” and “they” will make whatever ridiculous rules “they” choose regarding “their” notes, and there isn’t much that you’re going to do to change it. So what can you do? Avoid playing their game with their monopoly money as much as possible.
My solution came to me by thinking long-term. If I can’t make it out of “the matrix,” can I at least set the conditions to ensure that my grandchildren are born free?
I think I can. How? Sacrifice. I’m closing in on 20 years of military service (1 out of 5 stars, would not recommend) which will allow me to retire at 38 years old making close to $2k per month…for life.
My plan for those bank/government notes? Trade some of them back to the banks and government in exchange for being left alone (mortgage and property taxes), and invest the rest to take advantage of the magic of compound interest to ensure that by the time my retirement checks stop rolling in (at which time, God-willing my grandkids will be in their 30’s), there will be enough ones and zeros in a trust-controlled account to cover property taxes for as long as there’s a government left to collect them. By my math, no property taxes + permaculture = freedom.
I can’t speak with authority regarding homesteading since I’m not doing it yet, but it stands to reason that growing/producing/raising enough for one family and trading/giving away the surplus will be much simpler than needing to grow/produce/raise (much less jump through the arbitrary government hoops required to legally sell) a surplus or risk losing your land.
I couldn’t be more thankful to all of the homesteaders here that take the time to teach the rest of us via YT, but when I get my land, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in Syria that you’ll catch me talking to a camera about it! No, no, and nope! For me, off the grid means off the grid. God bless each and every one of you, but if I’m on YT after retirement, It’ll be to watch one of you teach me something!
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I like Fresnel lenses, and I keep a few in my wallet, glove box, and pack. Probably the smallest and lightest multiuse firestarting device on the market. If no one else brings it up, I’ll kick off a firestarting discussion tommorrow. I’m always on the lookout for new ways to do that.
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Fun fact: there is no expiration date because the FDA considers them a pesticide and doesn’t require one. With that, expect water purified with iodine tablets to wipe out much of you gut bacteria, so maybe try to get some yogurt, keffir, or other probiotics in your system if possible.
That said, iodine tablets are legit. They are the SERE School go-to for a reason. A good rule of thumb is that they last for 4 years when sealed and stored correctly (dry, cool, and out of direct sunlight), and no more than one year after you open the bottle.
If you are unsure if the tablets are still good, look at the bottle. Is the wax seal broken? Is the lid rusted? If so I’d consider the bottle opened. For the tablets themselves, what color are they? Grayish or brown is good, yellowish or green is trash. You could also try squeezing one between your fingers; if it crumbles easily, it’s garbage.
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With a 1 tsp chlorine powder to 50 gallon of water ratio, I wouldn’t recommend trying to treat a single bottle unless you have experience measuring out miniscule amounts of powder.
You could figure out the ratio for one gallon by weighing 1tsp. of chlorine powder on a kitchen scale (I’d use grams) and divide by 50.
I wouldn’t even attempt to do it that way, as there are a variet of MUCH safer methods to purify small quantities of water.
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You all are amazing, thank you!
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I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m pretty stoked about them, thank you!
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That’s one of the most appealing things things to me about survival skills and permaculture. I don’t need to be paranoid about guarding a lifetime supply of ramen and powdered eggs because the vast majority of my food will be outside and invisible to those who belive that food comes in boxes and cans.