30 Days of Prepping - 2025

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

So far the only thing prep related I've done is make a small first aid kit for my photographer's vest I wear during the winter.

Other than that, I haven't really done much.

[EBuff75]

So far the only thing prep related I've done is make a small first aid kit for my photographer's vest I wear during the winter.

Other than that, I haven't really done much.

As I've said before, anything is better than nothing!  Given that the average person doesn't even have a first aid kit in their car, let alone one that they carry with them, you're now better off in that regard than probably 99% of people!

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

So far the only thing prep related I've done is make a small first aid kit for my photographer's vest I wear during the winter.

Other than that, I haven't really done much.

As I've said before, anything is better than nothing!  Given that the average person doesn't even have a first aid kit in their car, let alone one that they carry with them, you're now better off in that regard than probably 99% of people!

That's a good point, Ebuff.

It's not the best FAK, but it'll come in handy for scrapes and minor cuts at least.

[EBuff75]

Day 8 - Restart hydroponics (again), sprouts (again), and collect (more) acorns!

Today was all food-related.  I'd ended the latest round of hydroponics earlier this year and just hadn't gotten around to setting it up again again.  So tonight I removed the old pods/roots, gave the whole thing a quick once-over scrub, mixed more of the fertilizer for it, and put some new seeds in.  I only planted 4 of the bays (out of 12) because these are all leafy veggies that will take up a fair amount of room.  More of the buttercrunch lettuce, some romaine lettuce, and two varieties of spinach because I'm going to get it to grow sometime!  This time I put 6-8 seeds in each pod.  Maybe that will be enough to get it to sprout...

Speaking of sprouts, I'd gotten out of the habit of doing those as well.  But this afternoon I soaked some seeds and then put them into trays this evening.  The trays are in the closet for the next 5-6 days and then they'll move to the south-facing window sill.  Right now it's peas and mung beans, but the current seed bags for both of those are nearing the end, so they'll likely run out within the next week or so.  That's not an issue, as I have a lot more to pick from, sealed up in a bucket in my basement. 

And while I was out working in the yard tonight, I collected a few more acorns (I was literally just putting them in my pocket while I worked).  Once I was done out there, I took a quick spin around the block and got a good bit more.  The burr oaks seem to be dropping more acorns now and I got quite a few of those.  The small park by my house turned out to be a bust though, as it doesn't have a single oak tree!  I'll have to walk down the street on the other side of me next time, as I think it's got a bunch of oaks.

Three of the four bays are sprouting, including one of the spinach plants!  (first time on the spinach)  I also realized that I'm almost out of the speckled peas that I use for sprouting, so I just ordered a 5 lb bag of them.  I've usually ordered them 1 lb at a time, but the price difference is so huge (just twice the price for 5x as much) that I decided to go for it.  Now I just need to keep up the planting so that I don't end up with the seeds sitting around for several years!

[EBuff75]

Day 12 - Power Station testing (and MORE acorns!)

I topped off my Bluetti Elite 200 V2 and I'm doing a capacity test right now (will probably wrap up in the early hours of the morning).  I've got a spreadsheet that lists all sorts of specs, questions, and test results that I have partly filled out.  I just need to go through all of the steps on it and record everything.  Hopefully I'll be able to publish a review soon.  I also have the spreadsheet partly filled out (specs only) for the Elite 100 V2.  My goal is to complete the testing on both of them this month and post reviews.  

Tonight while I was collecting acorns, one of the neighbors came out and we talked a bit.  That's one of the houses where there are a lot of the burr oak acorns falling and she said that I was welcome to walk around in the lawn to get as many of them as I can.  As a result, when I came in tonight, I'd collected nearly as many tonight as I had gotten up until now!  I had to move the dried acorns to a box so that I have room to dry this batch. 

The cheesecloth has arrived (needed for filtering when I'm draining the acorn mash during the cold water leaching), and I may try to start processing the acorns this weekend.  

[EBuff75]

Day 13 - VPN, more acorns, and continued power station testing

I finally got around to getting a VPN to use here at home (I've had to use one for work for many years).  I ended up going with NordVPN, mainly because in the most recent tests, it offered significantly higher speeds than Proton and it offered 2x as much online storage as part of the package.  Pricing was similar, given that Nord is tossing in an extra 3 months free.  I've got the software installed on my computer and phone now.  Still need to do the laptop and tablet.  I could set it up on the router, but that risks running into issues with the VPN for work, so I'll leave that for now.  

Today I weighed the acorns that I've collected so far and I've got about 8.5 lbs.  On top of that, I probably collected another 2-3lbs today.

Finished with the AC capacity testing on the Bluetti and after recharging, I'm now testing the DC capacity.  Still a lot more tests to run, but so far, so good!  DC is going to take a while, since the only output that I can really use for testing is to plug in a few 12v floodlights, and that's only pulling 80-85w.  I started the test midafternoon, but given that it's a 2074Wh power station, the test will wrap up sometime... late tomorrow afternoon...

[EBuff75]

Day 13 - VPN, more acorns, and continued power station testing


I finally got around to getting a VPN to use here at home (I've had to use one for work for many years).  I ended up going with NordVPN, mainly because in the most recent tests, it offered significantly higher speeds than Proton and it offered 2x as much online storage as part of the package.  Pricing was similar, given that Nord is tossing in an extra 3 months free.  I've got the software installed on my computer and phone now.  Still need to do the laptop and tablet.  I could set it up on the router, but that risks running into issues with the VPN for work, so I'll leave that for now. 

Well, I've spent quite a bit of time this evening fiddling with various settings, but I think that I've got my system configured properly.  Turns out that when Nord installed, it only put in some of the rules that the Windows Defender Firewall needed.  After I added the rest of them, my speed test (for upload) went from 0.8Mbps to the normal 300+Mbps and the latency dropped to 4ms (from occasionally timing out before!).  Ahhh... much better!

[EBuff75]

Day 14 - Process acorns, evening with friends

I collected another ~3lbs of acorns today and processed a small batch of them this evening.  As expected, a significant number of acorns that passed the float test were still bad.  I've probably collected 14-15lbs all told, but I'm guessing that between shelling and ones that are bad, I won't even end up with half that weight.  It did take a long time and I only did a small amount tonight.  I'm tempted to try using a small nylon spin brush on a Dremel or die grinder to see if that works better for cleaning off the internal "skin" on the nut meats, as scraping it with a knife is really, really slow.  I've got about a cup of rough cut acorns meat soaking in the fridge.  I'll drain the water tomorrow and refill until the tannins are leached out.

Spent the evening hanging out with friends.  Everyone is so busy that it's been a few months since we've gotten together and it was a really nice night.  Tried out a few whiskeys while we were there and we had some great Chinese food.  

Oh, and I also finished up the DC capacity testing on the Bluetti.  Still have some more testing to go, but at least I've got a few of the longer ones done now. 

[EBuff75]

Day 15 - Changed water filter and defrosted frozen water line

I really like my GE refrigerator, but every so often the water line in the door freezes.  I was overdue to change the water filter anyway, so I made it a two-fer and defrosted the water line while I was at it.  About a half-hour with the door open and a hair dryer and it's working again.  I did move everything out of the door first, then packed the freezer opening with folded towels (I didn't feel like moving everything into coolers for a short time like that).  Possibly the most annoying part was running the water dispenser for 5 mins, as recommended after changing the filter...

I'm also still running tests on the Bluetti and I switched out the water in the first batch of cold-soaked acorns.  I'll have to do that a few more times before it should be ready.

[EBuff75]

Day 16 - Initiate book discussion, more acorns, more power station testing

Okay, I've been writing out some notes for a while about books in my collection that have preparedness / survival themes in them.  I've started off with just the adult fiction books (with later threads for YA fiction, non-fiction, and reference).  Yes, it's a decent list, and I'm only about half-way through the ones that I identified on a quick sweep of my library (which is extensive - probably somewhere around 4000-5000 books).  I likely missed some in the process, but I've probably got most of them in my list.  Please read it, comment, and add your own.  Part of the point that I was trying to make is that even in non-preparedness sort of books, there are often things to be learned.  There could be medical events that characters need to handle, natural disasters to survive, or undead to avoid.  

I also collected another 4-5lbs of acorns tonight and drained/refilled the water that the first batch is soaking in.  That one is mainly a proof-of-concept for me, and will likely result in only about a cup of flour once it's done.  I'm probably over 20lbs of acorns collected at this point and had I really felt like going into my neighbor's yard waste bins, I might've been able to get another 50lbs today! (he cleaned a bunch of them up for tomorrow's collection)

And I'm still testing the Bluetti power station.  I'm a bit suspicious about one of the results that I got in my testing, so I modified how I did it to see if it holds up.  I think that I made a mistake the first time (ran the test too fast), so this should give me a little better results.  

[EBuff75]

Day 17 - Lube locks & doors (and as always, more acorns)

This is something that I tend to forget to do regularly, which is to properly lube the locks and hinges on my doors.  I'm in Michigan, and with winter coming, it can get pretty cold.  Don't want to have a lock get iced up because of improper lubrication!  The current recommendation for locks is Teflon lubricant, or Silicone as a secondary.  Graphite is okay, but it can bond with moisture and end up getting gummy.  

I looked through all my lubricants, but didn't have any Teflon.  I had a couple of Harbor Freight items that I wanted to buy anyway, so I got those and picked up some B'Laster Pro-Grade Multi-Purpose lubricant
B'Laster Pro-Grade Multi-Purpose lubricant that uses Teflon.  Of course, after getting home and using it on the locks, I went to put it on the shelf with the other lubricants and immediately found the other bottle of Teflon lube that I already had.  Oops!  

After doing the locks on the house, shed, garage, and both vehicles, I switched over to Silicone spray (actually, a combo Silicone and Teflon from DuPont) and did all of the exterior door hinges.  That's the doors, storm doors, gates, and even my mailbox lid.  I also sprayed all the moving parts on my garage door, which is what I bought the Silicone spray for in the first place.  

I still need to do all the vehicle hinges and door / window seals (to keep them from freezing), but that'll be another task.  

And if anyone wants an unusual recommendation for exercise, I can tell you that picking up acorns will work up a sweat in nothing flat!  It's basically having to squat, stand, squat, stand, over and over and over as you move around picking them up.  Within 10 minutes I'm dripping sweat and by the time I finished filling the bucket (which only took about 20mins) my entire shirt was soaked through!  

No idea what I'm up to for total acorn weight now, but it's got to be 25+ pounds.  I did swap out the soak water again today, as it was still orange-brown from the tannins.  I should be about getting to the point where it's almost done though.  Then I'll need to mash/grind everything down as much as possible and I can try to make something with it.  

[Red Tamarillo]

My grandparents gave me "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean George when I was a kid. I remember the kid in the book using acorn flour. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Side_of_the_Mountain

[EBuff75]

My grandparents gave me "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean George when I was a kid. I remember the kid in the book using acorn flour.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Side_of_the_Mountain

I've got a copy of that in with all of my other YA stuff from when I was a kid, although I never read any of the sequels.  And you're right, that was one of the foods that he used when he was living off the land.  Acorns were a staple of the Native Americans and since I've got so many of them here, I thought it was worth trying out!

[EBuff75]

Day 18 - Oktoberfest Prep and Acorns

I'm going to claim the work that I did this evening to get ready to volunteer at my local Oktoberfest as my daily prep!  I've got a list to work from (this is about the 9th or 10th time I've worked there) that I revise each year.  Tonight, I rearranged my truck and loaded some of the larger items (canopy, chair, some lights, etc.) to take along.  Most of them really won't be needed, and it's only about a mile from my house, but it's handy to have everything with me.  I also charged power stations, fans, and USB power banks in preparation.  Tomorrow, I'll load the rest of it and head over after work to help CERT set up our security / first aid / traffic control station.

I collected another 3-4lbs of acorns today.  I could've kept going, but the bucket was nearly full and I'm running out of space to put them all.  I have ordered some drawstring burlap bags which should work nicely for storage.  Lots of airflow to keep them dry.  I hope that the size is right - I ordered 14x20inch bags, but it's sort of hard to judge how much those will actually hold.  It's a 10-pack, so that should be enough (unless I really keep going with the collecting!).  Poured off the water again today, but tomorrow I'll test the acorns to see if they're still bitter or not.  

[EBuff75]

Day 19 - Nothing

I didn't have the chance to do anything today.  I started work early because I had to leave early to go volunteer for our local Oktoberfest event, which I just got home from.  Unless you count working at the event.  A few of us from CERT did discuss how we could get more people involved, as we could really use more people for things like this.  I'll be back there again tomorrow from noon until sometime after midnight.  

I did break out the Nebo Rambler for one of the other volunteers to use to charge her phone.  She really liked it, particularly because it had wireless charging.  

[EBuff75]

Day 20 - Nothing again!  (Oktoberfest, day 2)

I was working at Oktoberfest again today (12 hours, from just after noon to 12:30am).  We did use my Eurmax pop-up canopy at the second entrance (to stay out of the sun), sort of as a test for when we replace our CERT canopy in the near future.  I also contributed a cold pack when we had a patron fall this evening and injure her wrist.  We had already taken down our setup and put away the group's first aid bag, but my truck was right nearby and I had some cold packs in it.  One of our members is an ER nurse and she helped the woman out and recommended that they go for x-rays, as it appeared that she might've broken something.  

That was about the peak of excitement today.  We gave out a number of band-aids for kids, mostly due to scrapes from the bounce houses and one skinned knee from falling on the pavement.  Besides that it was just answering lots of questions, opening / closing barricades for the hay wagon to get in/out, and lots of sitting around.  We only had three people for half the day and with two entrances to manage, that doesn't really give us much of a break.  But everything went well and the weather was beautiful, so all-in-all, it was a good event!

[EBuff75]

Day 21 - Charging, clean-up, acorns!

As I mentioned several days ago, I prepared quite a few things to take along to the Oktoberfest event here where I was volunteering the last few days.  First aid, lights, tools, a canopy, etc..  Last night (this morning really) I unloaded my Suburban and brought everything back into the house, and also put everything back to normal inside the truck.  I knew that there was some rain in the forecast and wanted to get that done so that I wouldn't have to carry loads of things inside in the rain.  For the batteries that I'd used during the event (USB power bank, power station, radio, power tools), I put those on the chargers overnight before going to bed.

Today, I spent quite a bit of time unpacking and repacking bags and otherwise putting everything back where it belongs.  For example, I have several bags where I keep all of my USB-powered lights (I used the Onite and Brightech lights that are linked in this post - you can even see a picture of how I use them with our green CERT canopy) and I needed to put everything away in them.  It's also where I keep most of my USB power banks, various cords, ties, etc..  Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever posted about my USB lighting bags (mental note for future post).  I had also pulled a number of my Milwaukee tools out and put them into a bag (along with batteries, bits, and a few other tools) and all that needed to be put back.  I used the angle grinder and die grinder to clean-up some rough spots on the hay wagon to avoid scrapes and splinters (and found one screw point that was sticking out right into the loading area which I also ground off!).  

So I was a good prepper and actually organized and put things back after I got them out of storage.  It was several hours of walking up and down stairs carrying things around, but it's back to normal so that I can find things again if I need them.

And before it rained today, I did get some more acorns.  My burlap sacks arrived yesterday and I started putting some of the dried ones into a sack when I discovered that a few of them are going moldy already.  Apparently the fan didn't dry them out quite enough.  I'm still trying to decide what to do to dry them out better.  I don't have a lot of great options, as I don't have a dehydrator (which is the recommended method), nor do I get enough sunlight at my house to lay them out in the sun to dry.  No woodstove either, and my oven gets too hot, even on the "warm" setting.  Maybe if I left the door open the whole time, or if I used the warming drawer.  I'll have to see what I can work out.  

[EBuff75]

Day 22 - Drying acorns

Yes, I figured out how to dry them properly!  Today, I spent some time experimenting with my oven and found that if I set the temperature dial just barely past the "Off" setting that it will run at right around 125F, which is perfect for drying.  The biggest problem (which took several tries to work past) was getting it far enough over for the oven to run for more than a single cycle, as it kept turning back off after reaching the temperature that I'd set and then would stay off.  I've got a whole bucket worth (probably 4-5lbs) of acorns being dried (I shut the oven off overnight, but I'll turn it back on tomorrow morning).  

This should solve the mold issue that I ran into with the ones that I was trying to dry with a fan.  I'll run them for another 10-12 hours tomorrow, then transfer them into sacks.

Incidentally, they smell a bit like nutty, brown bread while they're drying, which gives me hope that making flour out of them will actually turn out to taste good!

[EBuff75]

Day 23 - Hardware kit for truck; process acorns

One of my to-dos for a while has been to put together a kit of random bits of hardware to keep in my truck.  Nuts, bolts, washers, piano wire, cotter pins, hose clamps, etc.  To that end, I'd picked up a storage box at Harbor Freight a while ago and tonight I finally went through my stores of all that kind of stuff and filled up the box.  It's not a lot, but should help out if I should ever find myself needing a few bits and bobs to get back on the road.  

I finished drying the first of the batches of acorns today in the oven.  After putting them into a sack, I weighed it and found that it was nearly 6lbs.  As that was just one bucket-full of acorns, I think I need to revise my estimate of how much I've collected.  It's probably 50+ lbs at this point.  I collected another bucket today and it is currently in the oven drying out.  That sack still has room, so after they're finished drying tomorrow, I'll add them to it.  The acorn storm has slowed significantly and I'm starting to see that the ones on the ground are sprouting.  I may get another few days worth of collecting, but it's nearing the end now.

[EBuff75]

Day 24 - Electrical kit for truck

Building on yesterday, today I finally put together an electrical kit for the truck.  I had already purchased a wiring kit (stripper/crimper, wire, wire ties, various ends, shrink wrap, etc.), but it wasn't in the truck yet.  I also have a ton of different fuses.  So I used a small storage box from Harbor Freight and put in an assortment of fuses (including some that my truck doesn't use, in case other people might need help) and one spare relay.  I don't have any of the JCase fuses (the tall, boxy ones), so I ordered some of those.  The wiring kit only had a short hank of wire (just a couple of feet), so I ordered some marine-grade wire too. I've already got a voltmeter and test probe in my tool kit, so this is just to have the actual items that might be needed for a repair.  Oh, and the wiring repair kit didn't have a way to shrink the shrink wrap, so put in a mini Bic.  

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I've got acorns drying again today.  These are going a bit more slowly (probably because it had rained right before I collected them) and probably won't be done until tomorrow.