What did you do today to prepare?

[Mr. E. Monkey]

I've been out of the loop.  What's VERK stand for?

[MacWa77ace]

[V]ehicle [E]mergency [R]epair [K]it



Ref UFoZS ACRONYM DICTIONARY CLICK HERE: https://ufozs.com/smf/index.php?topic=700.msg13753#msg13753

[majorhavoc]

That one was new to me, too. Wasn't @Ever working on a prepper's acronym list?

[MacWa77ace]

That one was new to me, too. Wasn't @Ever working on a prepper's acronym list?

It's the Ref: link I posted there.  https://ufozs.com/smf/index.php?topic=700.msg13753#msg13753

[majorhavoc]

That one was new to me, too. Wasn't @Ever working on a prepper's acronym list?

It's the Ref: link I posted there.  https://ufozs.com/smf/index.php?topic=700.msg13753#msg13753

Sorry, I missed that. One of the dangers of viewing forums like ufozs.com on my phone - I sometimes forget to scroll down. 

[MacWa77ace]

That one was new to me, too. Wasn't @Ever working on a prepper's acronym list?

It's the Ref: link I posted there.  https://ufozs.com/smf/index.php?topic=700.msg13753#msg13753

Sorry, I missed that. One of the dangers of viewing forums like ufozs.com on my phone - I sometimes forget to scroll down. 

LOL, so do all our outside sales reps, they can only answer one question per email. Even when the first sentence I write is "THERE ARE 4 QUESTIONS IN THIS EMIAL - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND ENTIRELY", I only get the first question answered. 

That Acronym thread is handy though for sure.

[echo83]

Restocked my BOB with Mountain House and double checked the inventory list on it. Every once in a while, I'll toss an item from the BOB into my GHB, and I have to make sure I return it. 

Which reminds me. I HAVE to find a better water solution. I have a "ready gallon" divided up among pint bottles for immediate quick hydration and cooking. I also have a MSR Dromedary 4L and a Sawyer Mini in my "Water" section. 

I'd like to get away from the small bottles. In a true bugout, my thinking is that I'll have time to fill the MSR before I get going, but that probably won't be the case. 

Has anyone ever used an MSR Dromedary or the like for long-term water storage? If so, how did it go?

[Mr. E. Monkey]

[V]ehicle [E]mergency [R]epair [K]it



Ref UFoZS ACRONYM DICTIONARY CLICK HERE: https://ufozs.com/smf/index.php?topic=700.msg13753#msg13753

Cool, thanks!

Today I did a little learning.  It's not much, but that counts toward preps, right? 

[NT2C]

Added a battery-powered combustible gas detector to my prep supplies.  It detects most combustible gases and vapors.  A handy piece of kit for when you get that faint whiff of leaking gas but can't tell exactly where it's coming from and don't want to spray everything down with soapy water.  Can be of critical importance during and after a disaster.

[NT2C]

Bought this on Amazon for 50% off

[NT2C]

Called Miss Utility to mark out pipes/cables/etc in the area of where my trailer is parked (the site of where my shed was) preparatory to installing an RV electrical hookup there.  The shed had 40A 240V power going to it so I'm going to put a 30A 120V RV connection there on one leg, and a 20A 120V connection on the other, mounted in a weatherproof box on a 6x6 pressure-treated post sunken 4' into the ground.  I'd have put a box with a 20A 120V duplex GFCI/30A 120V RV/50A 240V RV but it's only 8 gauge cable and NEC calls for 6 gauge at the amperage.  When the old shed got torn down I tried to get Aiden (neighbor's son) to be careful with the front-end loader so as not to damage the cable, so of course he hooked it with the bucket and damaged it right at the ground level.  I have a direct burial splice I can put on it to repair the damage, then bring it up to the box but code requires the box to be 4' off the ground and I may not have enough cable for that.  If not, I can buy a short length of cable at Home Depot or Lowes and make it to the required height.

Since this is just repairing an existing electrical installation I don't have to pull any permits, but I do need to know what's down there besides that cable before I start digging for the post.

How is this prep related you ask?  Having a handy shore power hookup for the trailer will allow me to add more batteries and keep them properly charged, ready to go if we need to bug out with it.

[NT2C]

Swapped out the stock handles and latches on my orange Pelican case luggage for lime green ones.  Then I went to see if the orange ones would fit the black rolling case that I also use but it's SKB brand and nothing lined up.  I did notice though that the manual air valve on the case was missing so I went to their website to buy a new one.  $11.00 + $7.00 shipping and then $1.00 tax. $19 for a stupid plastic plumbing fitting.  Ah well, it keeps the case sealed and the automatic version was $50 plus shipping and tax, so I guess I got off lucky.

This is all prep-related because these are my primary bugout luggage (waterproof, floats, wheels to pull not carry), my hard-sided firearms cases on aircraft (kind of hard to lose a bright orange case with green handles and reflective tape/lettering).

[Ghost]

Settled on my hydration solution for my BOB. Ordered one to test and already have the water pouch attached to the packs. Assuming it works, ordering three more.

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/hydration-bladder/hydrapak-shape-shift-reservoir

This is the start of the weight reduction on the BOB. Next step is ultralight food (all though I can make my own pemmican-not sure which way I'll go as I can vacuum seal it too.)

After that ultra light sleeping bags.

[NT2C]

Reading that review I got frustrated at not finding the capacity.  I had to scroll near the bottom to find it buried in the text.  I'd think that would be info that should be near the top.

[MacWa77ace]

@Ghost and @NT2C I have three different kinds of 3L bladders. All of them have the back mounted twist cap. And that's the only real difference I can see between them and that top loading ShapeShifter. As far as weight and packability, as i said I have 3) 3L and without actually weighing them, they feel identical in weight and they fold up the same or nearly the same. The main difference between them is the fill caps. 2 are dedicated for specific hydration packs and the third is one I use in a backpack and has a fill cap that is twice as large as the other two.

All of them were $20 or less though, that ShapeShifter says $40 for just the bladder. I don't see $20-$25 worth of benefits in that top fill feature.  It's probably easier to clean out and dry.

This is the backpack one. ~$14 on amazon.



the others have smaller caps that stick out of a hydration pack that can attach to a pack pack, plate carrier or use shoulder straps.

 

[Ghost]

Oh also got some water purification tabs and couple more life straws.

[Ghost]

@Ghost and @NT2C I have three different kinds of 3L bladders. All of them have the back mounted twist cap. And that's the only real difference I can see between them and that top loading ShapeShifter. As far as weight and packability, as i said I have 3) 3L and without actually weighing them, they feel identical in weight and they fold up the same or nearly the same. The main difference between them is the fill caps. 2 are dedicated for specific hydration packs and the third is one I use in a backpack and has a fill cap that is twice as large as the other two.

All of them were $20 or less though, that ShapeShifter says $40 for just the bladder. I don't see $20-$25 worth of benefits in that top fill feature.  It's probably easier to clean out and dry.

This is the backpack one. ~$14 on amazon.



the others have smaller caps that stick out of a hydration pack that can attach to a pack pack, plate carrier or use shoulder straps.

 

I got the shapeshifter for $28 on Amazon.

[MacWa77ace]

I got the shapeshifter for $28 on Amazon.

That's much better, I was going by the pricing on the review you posted. Must have been the MSRP.