Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
I worry about her all by herself out there.<<<
We have a fire department and first aid, if one is able to use the phone.
Don’t worry about me, as I am safer in the country, than I would be in town.
I fear you gave me night mares with your photo.
LOL,, no not Sarah, for I think is truly beautiful.
“If the center is not sucked down, it has not sealed. If you just push down a bit on the center of the lid, it should not pop like a childs clicker (remember those little froggy things?).”
Ok, thanks.
I use one of those clicker thingies in training my cats. Well, cat. I only have one that is smart enough to really train. The others just show up for treats. (ie., they are training me - and doing a darned fine job of it as well!)
“I really doubt that the leakage into the cooker came from a failed seal. Remember, it had to vent some of that bubbling air out of the jar to create a vacuum. It is normal to get a bit of aroma and juice in the canner “
Makes sense. I guess I get to find out tomorrow how I did - what fun!!!
(ps - too lazy to use html!)
Some versions of the Padilla story are here, his family still hunt for him and have sites/messages begging for a word of him.
I had reason to research it a few months ago and it is still missing.
The sears had been removed and it was outfitted to haul drums of gas into the interior, where there were no roads, so it is a bomb waiting some place to explode......or an oil slick in the ocean.
There are even reports of muslim men who paid cash for the gas that was put in it, but something like $25,000 was still owed to the airport.
If you search Free Republic, a search for missing airplane, or missing 72 7 or 737, should bring it up.
awww, what a cutie!
“I am finally canning!”
So, how was it? Give us the juicy details on your chicken. I was thinking of doing up a batch of soup or something for my first batch to test the waters.
“I had my sister search for your solar lights”
Sometimes I email tidbits from this thread to hubby to read. I sent him the post about the solar lights. Pretty soon he gets up and goes outside. A little while later he comes in and hands me a box of the solar lights. LOL I was a bit puzzled, but he said he thought I sent it to him because I wanted him to get it. I said it was just info, but we decided to keep them and they work really well. I had regular solar lights for the path to the house, but they are pretty dim compared to these new ones.
BTW, Granny, glad to see you back. Hope you had a good visit with family.
By now, you should be able to check to be sure they all sealed... If one did not, be sure and put it in the refrigerator, and then just use it in the next week...
Not trying to taunt you into doing anything else right now, just want to crow a little - - Wife and daughter wanted to stop at the thrift shop as we came back from picking up the sweet potato plants - Could not believe it - they had a nice dehydrator - $6.99 still in the original box, sealed in original plastic wrap - paperwork and all... Even gave me a return slip in case it didn’t work as it should... Nice 6 tray unit with fan, heat, etc.
So, I will be able to double-up on my drying. Perfect time to find another as I was planning to dry much more this year.
“Don’t worry about me, as I am safer in the country, than I would be in town.
I don’t doubt that at all, but still....we’re a worrying group! And we love ‘ya.”
I’ll second that, CB. It’s just because we care, Granny.
“dehydrator - $6.99 still in the original box,”
Looks like that earns you the Best Bargain Award! I love those bargains. :)
>>>Bill used the iron inside tank of a hot water heater<<<
Wish they still made them that way... Now they are like a big tin can with a glass lining.
Years ago, I had a 2 barrel Sotz wood heater that put out 240,000 btu - Since propane got so expensive, I have not used the greenhouse, even removed the cover. Now, I am going to move half of it to the back of the house (South side) this fall - 24’ X 48’ instead of the 96’ it was. The one heater will heat that very nicely, even in the really cold weather. In fact, it will add heat to the main house on sunny days.
>>>I had my sister search for your solar lights, they were sold out all over Kingman.
<<<
Sorry to hear that...
I brought a couple in the other night for a test - 2 works pretty well for a 14X24 room. Wife even grabs one when she goes out at night instead of a flashlight - some are in the back yard lighting the walkway to the back door, and I have one that I put the stake into a pipe so you can remove it easily and carry it. They stay charged and work great.
I even thought of putting one in the chicken house window and shine it on the feed and water area to lengthen the daylight hours (to increase egg laying) instead of the energy saver bulb I have on the timer.
>>>“dehydrator - $6.99 still in the original box,”
Looks like that earns you the Best Bargain Award! I love those bargains. :)<<<
Well, bought daughter several summer outfits, wife even found some things she wanted, and as we left the store, daughter could see I was excited about the dehydrator and said ‘See Dad - you do good things you get good things.’
Well, all the lids are tight - I mean, no clicky noise when I press in the middle. Does that mean they’re sealed ok or do I still need to check the lid movement at the edges in the morning?
Congrats on the super dehydrator deal! What do you dehydrate?
“So, how was it? Give us the juicy details on your chicken. I was thinking of doing up a batch of soup or something for my first batch to test the waters.”
Gee, wish I had thought of that. If it was a failure, I’d lose a lot less money!
After partially cooking the chicken and thinking that I had SO much more work to do - I realized that the labor-intensive part was done. Pretty neat. I boiled up about 22 chicken breasts (no, DW, I don’t know what kind of chickens they were!).
Metmom - thanks for your step by step instructions in this thread. I pretty much followed those and they helped me feel a little more organized doing something for the very first time.
I cut the chicken breasts in halves and tried to fit as many into each jar as possible. Not as many fit as I had imagined, but I now know I can mash ‘em down some. I had some water in a tea kettle boiling, like metmom recommended, and added it to the jars, measuring the headspace. I had gotten this little pack of canning accessories from Walmart and it had a jar lifter and a head space measuring tool that doubles as a bubble releaser. That thing was pretty handy. 1 1/4 inches head space is actually a lot of space in a quart jar. But all 22 breasts fit in 7 jars with a little left over for the cats to snack on ;)
After that, it was easy. The canner did all the work. I added 3 quarts of water to the canner, brought it to a boil, put the 7 jars in, put on the lid, and let the steam vent for 10 min. Then I put on the pressure regulator and the psi starting rising pretty quickly. It was pretty easy to keep it at 11psi, but it was still nice to have the 3 piece regulator that I bought separately for the Presto canner making a little racket so I knew the pressure didn’t drop much.
I think I likely overcooked them some, but will find out when I open the first jar. The Blue Ball book said to cook ‘em until they were only slightly pink in the center. But I processed the jars for 90 minutes! I wonder if that overcooked the little guys. They do look like they are flaking a part a little.
Next, I’m taking care of some frozen ham I have. I don’t seem to use them fast enough since it’s starting to get hot and nobody feels like soup any more!
I need to reduce what’s in my freezer before the summer heat really gets going. That’s always when my freezers have quit working in the past (of course!)
Marm - when are you planning your first canning project? After your garden gives you things to can? :)
Interesting finance blog.
http://www.urbansurvival.com/blog/
Taxing Gold Concept
In Thursday’s report, I posited the possibility that the government - this fall when the screws get tightened on us - might cobble up a register and tax scheme for gold to accomplish the main reason for confiscation: Elimination of a competing money/monetary system to protect the broken paper asset franchise.
Reader in the UK sends this:
“Great blog George,
I read with interest about registering gold. Research here in the UK has shown that registering anything with the government is in fact a transfer of ownership to the government. You become the keeper of said item that has been registered and you are now subject to their rules and regulations or even confiscation!
Example here in the UK you buy a car you have to register it with the DVLA, you get a document back saying that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle NOT the owner.
Solution bury that gold in a hole in the ground until you need it…”
Shovel’s in hand: “Just hope I can remember where…oh-oh…could be an expensive ’senior moment here…. hmmm, now where did I….”
N-95 Works
A good reply from a reader to the article linked earlier this week on N-95 masks from our consulting PhD Microbiologist:
“Hi George,
The chap whose page you linked to today just seems like someone trying to make a buck by scaring people.
He claims the N95 is virtually useless. He states that Biohazard level 4 workers don’t wear N95 masks. True, but H1N1 is not a biohazard level 4 organism. It is a Biohazard Level 3 organism last I heard. And, for Level 3 labs, the guidelines DO recommend N95 masks: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/swineflu/Laboratorybioriskmanagement.pdf
The writer in question stated: “N95 masks, you see, have but one purpose: To prevent the wearer from infecting others…. Thus, if the wearer sneezes, coughs, drools, spits or talks excitedly, his or her infected fluids will be trapped in the mask and will not infect others….N95 masks have virtually no ability to protect the wearer from other people’s airborne germs.”
The N95 masks ARE used for the purpose he states. But the single “one purpose” he claims? Totally bogus. If a person HAD suspected influenza & was coughing & sneezing up a storm, a doctor or nurse would wear the mask to help protect themselves & not just protect the patient. Also, how do we feel about active TB? The N95 masks ARE the masks worn by a health care provider when they enter a room where a person has suspected or known actively contagious TB. So, contrary to the claim N95 masks ARE worn by health care workers to do more than just protect the patient.
So what if it isn’t 100% effective? We don’t always demand 100% or nothing. I dare say there are plenty of women who don’t overly fret that the birth control pill they take may only be 92% effective (at the low end). I use the N95 masks in my Biohazard Level 2 lab. It is overkill, but I use them anyway. When they are not fitted properly over the nose my glasses quickly fog-up. When they are fitted properly I have worn the mask for 4 hours straight with no fogging. Contrary to the writer’s claims, they are quite a bit better than nothing. Which is better: inhaling 100% of some persons viral-laden sneeze mist head on, or inhaling 1-10% of it indirectly, where it is forced to slow down & has to pass through a leak around the cheek or chin? I’ll play the odds thank you. The other point is that respiratory droplets are only one route of infection. Surface contact with “something” and then getting side-tracked (forgetting to wash the hands firs) and rubbing our nose or eyes is just as bad; maybe worse.
Sorry for the rant, but fear-mongering by supposed “experts” who twist words around and make incorrect, or at the very least misleading, statements irritates me. Especially if it is a) self-aggrandizing for their ego or b) so they can make a buck off the misleading fear they generate.
Yup. Figured that ’something’ is better than ‘nothing’ in this stuff.
On the Reading List
“Undermining Democracy: 21st Century Authoritarians” which this study by Freedom House, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia identify as China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Venezuela. Seems to me the list could be a little longer when we’re talking about authoritarian countries, you know? Like the kind that put troops in almost 150 countries maybe to enforce their paradigm?
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Send comments to george@ure.net
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The harsh reality is that the technology and materials do not exist to capture sub 5 micron particles and still allow sufficient air to maintain life; old age is overrated anyway.
I don’t doubt that at all, but still....we’re a worrying group! And we love ‘ya.<<<
The love is returned, I think that my Freeper family fits me better than even my blood family.
They simply do not listen.
Not one of them read this thread.
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