Posted on 05/13/2015 1:01:51 PM PDT by dware
I can see that was a very smart build, Johnny, considering the regulations and all. Looks like it was within 120 sq. ft. of floor space from the camera view (a shed, and none of the regulators’ business!). Did you run a wood stove?
And is that a smoker? Good stuff! :-) That’s a skill that I haven’t tried to learn at all, yet, but it’s in the long list of projects.
I’ll try to get a free Web site for pictures, when time allows. ...trying to get things done before next winter, and weather doesn’t allow for much time to build.
Each time you post an idea I am amazed at the research and good ideas you share...Thanks again!
No wood stove. I hadn't found one yet, or I would have.
Yep, it was a smoker. I graduated 2 different culinary schools (military and civilian) so I've got a live-in chef.. me... lol!
All of that ended back in '09 when it tried to kill me. I moved back to flat land.
/johnny
-18F is nothing to sneeze at, BTW. Anything below -10, and life or death ventilation issues start to get more difficult without a good heating and ventilation system, even with good clothing and blankets (after running out of propane, for example, due to inaccessible roads). When it gets cold enough, people in small spaces (like RVs) tend to make things too airtight—even more dangerous at higher altitudes.
When it’s cold enough, valves in common space heating and water heating systems tend to break and cause fires. Those need to be replaced with special systems made for such conditions in RVs (along with gobs of ugly insulation permanently on the *outsides* of RVs and temporary, insulated skirts for the undersides).
Without heat at more than ten below, one needs to be covered with enough layers (heavy stocking cap mandatory) and have a fail-safe breathing hole through blankets—a hole that won’t close during sleep. If several people are present, they can check on each other.
Good sanitation is really difficult in rough accommodations in extreme cold but must also be done. Sponge baths in air below freezing: not fun. Dishes and laundry become a real challenge. Lots of powder and extra socks are important along with the best tough, waterproof, insulated boots that one can obtain.
I cut leaks in boots that were probably a little too old during an emergency hike once, and had frostbite. After years, the feet still aren’t the same. Now, pac boots are checked before use, and there are backup boots.
I know it saved my life at least twice.
/johnny
Carbon monoxide detector: very good advice!
Since publishing the book I've moved my household from the big city to a big almost-100-year-old farm house in rural West TN. So we're living the life.
“Each time you post an idea I am amazed at the research and good ideas you share...Thanks again!”
I’m a problem solver. If I can’t do it one way, there is bound to be another way, all I have to do is find it. Just free up your mind from the way it has always been done, and look/consider other ways. That is how I came up with having running water when there is no running water. And, how I found another way to have toilet paper (that is better than toilet paper) stored in a small amount of space.
/johnny
Very excited! I got home last night to a phone call from the local rep for the Colorado Trapper’s Association. Ultimately, he has agreed to come down and do a demonstration on beaver trapping & skinning, and will go through edible parts of the beaver, the usable parts and discuss the history of beaver trapping in Colorado (hint: it’s the reason CO exists today)!
“beaver trapping & skinning, and will go through edible parts of the beaver”
Now all you need is Johnny, the chef, to supply his recipe for beaver and I’m sure he has one. :o)
I’m sure it would involve a pressure cooker, somehow they look like tough eating. How about it Johnny. We’ll probably hear back you’ve cooked them before.
“We’ll probably hear back you’ve cooked them before.”
There are no squirrels around his place - that is because he has a squirrel recipe should one enter his kill zone.
/johnny
We have beaver in Michigan. There have been a couple of times in the 30+ years we have lived here that we’ve heard tail slapping down by our creek. Last summer our daughter shot, skinned and we cooked a fox squirrel. She had never tasted one before but I had. Dang they are tough! If you have any tips please share them. The fox squirrels travel in gangs around here and we need a special bird feeder to keep them away. They are fairly big and meaty. The squirrel stroganoff I had many years ago was cooked by someone else. It was tender and delicious. So yes any tips would be sincerely appreciated!
Anymore, those are pretty rare, and I make a regular stew with them, like I would anything small.
/johnny
Guess we will try that next time. We have some red squirrels, not too many and we like them. The fox squirrels on the other hand are real pigs. I imagine a red squirrel would be a hard target - they are fast!
I’m distilled my own essential oil a couple of times. Trust me, it’s easier to just use the whole herb! In a survival situation, you are not going to want to mess with that process.
There might be a few exceptions, maybe stock up on oils for things you can’t grow, or for things where the oil has a dramatically different effect than the herb itself (rare).
Sounds like an interesting meeting. While we all have built our stores of emergency necessities, eventually we could need to restock those by providing for them ourselves.
To this end gardening, saving seeds, making your own ammo, generating your own power for various needs etc. are all useful things to know and to have practiced.
One item that we really don’t discuss very often is surviving a nuclear attack. Once upon a time, there were civil defense classes, and many people had some basic knowledge of such - we had several weeks of training on the subject during my 8th grade history class.
A dirty “suitcase” bomb could be set off, and certainly would be survivable if you were far enough away, and had made some preparations. A person with adequate preparation could even survive if they were only around 30 miles away.
You need protection from the radiation for 2 weeks, limit your exposure even at 2 weeks - and most basements, if you have one, could be modified to provide this. So think about it and learn more about it. A worthy topic for to learn about - JMHO.
Excellent advice, and very much so too for those of us who augment heat with LP gas when the temps drop way below or the wind picks up speed. But do not put all your eggs in one basket, and there are some very low-cost detectors available in the aviation world, where the possibility of monoxide in a small aircraft cabin is of equal concern.
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