What did you do today to prepare?

[Ghost]

- M1 Garrand finally on its way
- door reinforcers arrived, attaching this weekend (basically metal brackets that allow for putting 2x4s as bars)

[Ghost]

8 fresnel lenses for BOBs and GH bags ordered.

10 parachute buckles arriving in mail today for upgrade on the next ALICE pack.

Once this is complete only one more pack to upgrade to the same standard. Sounds stupid, but I'm making sure they all go the same direction to in terms of which buckle is orientated up or down as it were. EDIT: 1.5 packs that is, one needs everything (MOLLE kidney pad, shoulder straps and buckles; one just needs shoulder straps.)

Also got some 4x7 tarps for lightweight tents. Plan for the sleep system is: bag, ground pad, tarp, bivy; mine as the prototype just needs the bivy).

[Mr. E. Monkey]

That doesn't sound stupid at all, to me.  I think that having them oriented differently is a great way to add stress and a potential failure to what would likely already be a high-stress situation.

Peace of mind is a great prepping tool.

[NapalmMan67]

Added a couple packages of AA batts to the power box, because for the life of me, I can not understand where the other packages have gone.  I know I got some not long ago, but they are not in the power box where they should be...  and we don't use them for much of anything on a regular basis.  No way we went through a couple packages of 24/each already.

Siigghhh...  it's hell getting old.

[echo83]

Ran through my first ever barrel drill at my local gun club. It was awesome. My three run average was 13/15 targets hit, 44 seconds. Five second penalty for each target missed. 

Shooting, moving and communicating is next-level rewarding compared to punching paper. 

Took third place using a S&W Shield 9 mm with 8 round mags. I'm hooked. 

[Ghost]

What did I do to today?
I got my (ordered 10 months ago) M1 Garand! Woohoo!

[Crosscut]

Work and weather haven't been cooperating recently but finally got out wood cutting yesterday, almost a face cord on the splitting pile for winter 2023-2024 and some smaller branches/rounds to continue topping off the wood shed for burning this year.  Heading out in a couple hours for another trailer load, they're calling for temps in the low-90's today so I'd like to be done before noon.

[KentuckyCarbine]

Met with a fellow prepper (and cousin) that lives about a mile away and decided that we need to work congruently on some of our long term preps and to try where possible to make sure we are thinking things through clearly.

[Crosscut]

Amoxicillin, 500mg, 100 count

Rechargable lantern and 18650 charger

Massage gun.  Never tried one of these, but the wife will sometimes get sciatica after yard work or wood hauling so will see if this helps.  Might be helpful, or at least less tiring for the caregiver, for chest physical therapy to help break up mucus in the lungs from lower respiratory infections too.

[Crosscut]

Wife cut my hair this AM, she's been doing this since the start of Covid and does a good job so we stuck with it (plus saves us about $80-100 bucks a year).  Was hoping to get out wood cutting today since they're calling for rain tomorrow, but decided against it when it was already 80 degrees at 10 am and going up to 93 today.  The weather is not cooperating at all for wood cutting this year.  Still need to clean out the chimney too, but not standing on an asphalt shingled roof on a sunny day in this heat either.

Went to town to get gasoline and a 20# BBQ tank refilled instead, the grill was sputtering doing the burgers last night.  Refilled six empty 1 lb camping sized tanks from it before putting it back on the grill.  $11.50 including tax for the tank refill, so about 60 cents of propane to refill the little tanks.  Beats the $4-5 for a new one.  Have 16 of the 1 pounders full now (after dropping off 2 cases with my cousin for ice fishing last winter), and about as many empty ones waiting to be filled.  Swung by the feed store to get a new tarp for covering the wood pile, normally we get a 16x20 one but they were out - so it was a 12x16 for $27 or a 20x30 for $80.  Ugh.  Picked up the 12x16, if we don't use it for the wood pile it'll get used somewhere else.  The dogs did get 10 pounds of their favorite biscuits for rotating into the dog food pantry, and a pig's ear each as a peace offering because they were upset I didn't take them.

LED lantern arrived and is charged now, just need to find a good spot to hang it under the stairs where the wife can still reach it but I'm not banging my head on it constantly

[Crosscut]

68 and overcast, wood day!

[Crosscut]

Not as easy a day today, this tree didn't fall in the direction I wanted even with a good notch cut out of it.  I'm usually pretty good at judging where its weight will want to take it, but curving trucks with long heavy branches at the top growing in the opposite direction still confound me sometimes.  Anyway, after falling nearly opposite where I wanted it to go (into the woods instead of out on the trail), when it landed both main braches at the top broke off leaving them lying in the tall underbrush that was full of picker bushes.

Had to chain the trunk up first and drag it out to the trail using the truck, then twice again to drag out the 2 main (~6") branches.



Saw a younger couple in their truck with their bear hunting dogs pull up and watch us for a few minutes.  Think we met them a couple years ago, both of us waved but too far away to be sure.  Wife and I were joking on the way home about the meeting and what they might have said to each other, "Isn't that the elderly couple we met a couple years ago in the woods, that's kinda sweet they still cut wood together at their age." 

And faithful dog #2 showing us the way home while faithful dog #1 was napping in the back seat.



Ibuprofen and another beer after the unloading is done.  It's 5 o'clock somewhere

[Crosscut]

3 new chainsaw chains, and got the ones already on the two (working) saws sharpened professionally.  All ready for cutting and looks like the weather might cooperate this weekend too.

And a biggie purchase, but it probably won't be here for ~6 months.  2023 Ford Ranger ordered, the wife's new vehicle (and BOV #2) to replace her 2004 Ranger that is rusting out badly. The 2004 'only' has 102k miles, it'll be a gift for a nephew once the new one arrives and hopefully it remains as reliable for him as it has been for us.  BOV features on the new one: 4WD, off road, and trailer towing packages.

[EBuff75]

The 2004 'only' has 102k miles, it'll be a gift for a nephew once the new one arrives and hopefully it remains as reliable for him as it has been for us.  BOV features on the new one: 4WD, off road, and trailer towing packages.

My grandfather bought a 2wd manual ranger back when it was new in the market (around 1983-1984 IIRC).  Last I knew, my uncle has it and has continued to use it for hauling logs and general around-the-house work.  It had a hard life (my grandfather heated his house with wood and that thing was used to drive into the woods and haul out full loads for around 20 years) and was still kicking the last I knew! 

Quick story on Ford trucks:  Years ago I spent a summer doing some scut work (cleaning, organizing, painting, etc.) at a manufacturing facility and one day our boss decided to have us repaint all the lines in the parking lot.  It was a secured site (razor wire fences and manned security entrances) and they requested that everyone leave their vehicles unlocked with the keys in them so that they could be moved quickly if there was an emergency (fire, chemical release, etc.).  Probably 90% of the employees did so, which meant that all we had to do was move a batch of vehicles out of the way, paint the lines, move them back (the paint dried in just a couple of minutes), and move the next batch.  For those few vehicles which were locked, we'd just go inside and find the owner to either get the keys or have them come out to move the vehicle.

So I get to this old truck (1968, which made it about 26 years old at the time), a Ford F-250, 4x4, crew-cab, long-bed that one of the guys drove.  True old-school truck (manual trans, manual choke, manual steering, etc., etc.), but it fired up right away and I was able to move it, paint the lines, and move the truck back.  The facility was pretty small, so we all knew each other and afterwards I ran into the guy and asked him about the truck.  It was showing 88,000 on the odometer and he said that it had rolled over 2x already, so the true reading was 288,000 miles.  He was a bit surprised that I'd been able to start it as he told me that it's pretty finicky and that even he has trouble sometimes.  He said that it had been used for hauling wood, towing, and all that other truck stuff ever since he'd owned it (which I believe was from new).  For all I know, he might still be driving it today.  Probably got about 8mpg, but what a beast of a truck! I'd love to have something like that, if I had anywhere to store it!

[Crosscut]

The 2004 'only' has 102k miles, it'll be a gift for a nephew once the new one arrives and hopefully it remains as reliable for him as it has been for us.  BOV features on the new one: 4WD, off road, and trailer towing packages.

My grandfather bought a 2wd manual ranger back when it was new in the market (around 1983-1984 IIRC).  Last I knew, my uncle has it and has continued to use it for hauling logs and general around-the-house work.  It had a hard life (my grandfather heated his house with wood and that thing was used to drive into the woods and haul out full loads for around 20 years) and was still kicking the last I knew! 

Quick story on Ford trucks:  Years ago I spent a summer doing some scut work (cleaning, organizing, painting, etc.) at a manufacturing facility and one day our boss decided to have us repaint all the lines in the parking lot.  It was a secured site (razor wire fences and manned security entrances) and they requested that everyone leave their vehicles unlocked with the keys in them so that they could be moved quickly if there was an emergency (fire, chemical release, etc.).  Probably 90% of the employees did so, which meant that all we had to do was move a batch of vehicles out of the way, paint the lines, move them back (the paint dried in just a couple of minutes), and move the next batch.  For those few vehicles which were locked, we'd just go inside and find the owner to either get the keys or have them come out to move the vehicle.

So I get to this old truck (1968, which made it about 26 years old at the time), a Ford F-250, 4x4, crew-cab, long-bed that one of the guys drove.  True old-school truck (manual trans, manual choke, manual steering, etc., etc.), but it fired up right away and I was able to move it, paint the lines, and move the truck back.  The facility was pretty small, so we all knew each other and afterwards I ran into the guy and asked him about the truck.  It was showing 88,000 on the odometer and he said that it had rolled over 2x already, so the true reading was 288,000 miles.  He was a bit surprised that I'd been able to start it as he told me that it's pretty finicky and that even he has trouble sometimes.  He said that it had been used for hauling wood, towing, and all that other truck stuff ever since he'd owned it (which I believe was from new).  For all I know, he might still be driving it today.  Probably got about 8mpg, but what a beast of a truck! I'd love to have something like that, if I had anywhere to store it!

We have Ford employees/retirees in the family so we've always bought Ford for the family plan discount.  This will be our 3rd Ranger, our 1991 was given away in 2004 to a family member who was going through hard times.  It had about 150k when we gave it to her, she drove it for at least 5 more years before selling it and it was still running then.  Step-father had a 1990 Ranger (manual) that went over 200k, he only sold it because he got tired of the manual (and no cruise control) on long trips. Guess we'll find out if the new ones are as reliable as the older ones were. 

[NapalmMan67]

I had an '89 and '93 Ranger, back when they were Rangers.  Not a fan of the new ones, if I were in the market for a new truck (and had any money), I'd be inclined to get an F150 for the larger hauling capacity.

The Ranger would probably be a better Urban crawler being a bit smaller than the F150 though.

Good luck with it!


.

[Crosscut]

I had an '89 and '93 Ranger, back when they were Rangers.  Not a fan of the new ones, if I were in the market for a new truck (and had any money), I'd be inclined to get an F150 for the larger hauling capacity.

The Ranger would probably be a better Urban crawler being a bit smaller than the F150 though.

Good luck with it!


.

Thanks.  This is the wife's truck, she doesn't like driving the F150, too big she says but she drives it well enough in the open country/rural highways, but hates it in town or on the expressway. 

Wood today, and probably getting more tomorrow.  Splitting pile for winter 2023-2024 is starting to get fuller.  Not pleased with my 'professionally' sharpened chain, got 3/4 through cutting a single tree and the thing is dull.  Sharpened at the wrong pitch maybe, I took two chains in for sharpening with different pitches so maybe he got confused.  We're a long time customer so I'm fairly sure they'll make it right when I take it back in.  Had to finish up with the smaller saw though, and added one of the new chains just purchased into the wood cutting toolbox so I can swap them out in the woods if needed.

And two packages of Domeboro (Burow's Solution) on order, dog #1 has an oozing sore on her cheek that I think is just a hot spot from scratching but it may be infected as well.  Started her on Keflex this morning and cleaned the sore with antibacterial soap and diluted Betadine twice already.  She seems more bothered by having to take the pills and the face washes than the sore itself, so pretty confident it's nothing serious.  If the Domeboro helps I'll probably order some more, and that it's a powder might mean a longer shelf life. 

[Ghost]

Created a paracord sling for the hatfield 20 gauge, break action single shot. Thing weights next to nothing and with inserts to fire other rounds could be very handy in SHTF.

[Crosscut]

Two more full loads of wood on Saturday and Sunday, have about 70-80% of our winter 2023-2024 needs on the splitting pile now.  The tree branches that were small and seasoned enough to burn as rounds have almost filled our woodshed to capacity for use this winter.  The wife spotted a rock yesterday (about a foot in diameter) that she wants for her flower garden where we'd been cutting but it wouldn't fit on the trailer so heading back again today to grab that and probably another small load of wood from some nearby fallen branches. 

Dog #1's hot spot had a small cut that I missed initially in all the matted hair and was the source of the oozing/weeping, probably from her own toenail while scratching.  I knew it was infected by the smell.  In addition to the Keflex I've been washing it daily, first with a diluted Betadine solution and antibacterial soap, and lately with just soap as the wound is closed now.  The oozing had stopped by the time the Domeboro arrived from Amazon, but I mixed up a single batch and after confirming no stinging on a small scratch on my own arm, used it with a washcloth as a warm compress that she didn't seem to mind much.  Tonight's dose of Keflex will be her last as it was all but healed when I cleaned it yesterday, two capsules twice daily for 8 days total, so ordered more yesterday from Chewy.  I may order some more of the powdered Domeboro for the first-aid supplies too, we have many creams and ointments for moisturizing skin but not really any good options for drying oozing/weeping cuts and sores that wouldn't be painful to apply (like alcohol).  These have an expiration date of 11/2024, but kept in their individual packets I suspect they'd be good for much longer.

And ordered a pair of under shelf drawers for the bathroom closet as the first part of a plan to reorganize it for more efficient use of the available space.

[echo83]

Took the kids outside for some backyard camping this weekend. It gave me an excuse to restock some Mountain House meals on sale at my local REI. 

I showed them how to set up the Swiss Volcano Stove, load it with Esbit and boil some water. After that was going, served up the meals in some vintage Polish mess kits. Mac and cheese, and spaghetti with meat sauce for the kids, beef stew for me. 

We all badgered Mrs. echo83 into trying some of our meals, which was a nice little proof of concept; everyone thought the meals were pretty good. 

After a little headlamp-assisted reading in the tent, we turned in for the night. 

They were both asleep in under five minutes. 

I was absolutely stunned, because they both usually come downstairs a couple times apiece after we've put them to bed.