Posted on 04/02/2010 5:05:17 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
Are you truly independent? Do you have the skills? Can you hunt, grow a garden, can food, sew-knit, live off the land? Are you ready? Do you possess the "lost" skills? Our family is ready. In obama's words, "bring it on". Once the economy collapses, I'll be here longer than the liberals and their pampered lives.
Got CPL. Sharpening survival skills (mostly reading and discussing with family and friends). Attending tea party meetings at citizen’s homes and township townhalls. Spending less. Protesting more.
Thanks for posting. Thanks to all contributors. IMPORTANT THREAD BUMP!
bttt
What do you use to insulate with, foam padding? And can you use any type of metal box?
Girls like guys with skills.
>> if anyone can provide a link on how to construct one of these cages
It’s real easy.
1) Make a completely enclosed box out of ferrous metal. If it has a door, the door should seal to the rest of the box with a conductive gasket.
2) Put your electronical stuff inside. You know: your shortwave radio, your flatpanel teevee, your iPod...
3) The biggest problem is making sure that everyone ELSE puts THEIR stuff (iTunes, the teevee station, all the cellular towers) inside THEIR Faraday cages. Or else YOUR stuff, while still operational, will be pretty much useless.
Here’s some info. In a worst case scenario, an old, even busted microwave will work as a faraday cage. Here’s a few links though, I can find more. Any grounded metal box will work to some degree, from my understanding, just keep whatever is inside insulated.
http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/emp_and_faraday_cages.htm
http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/emp-101-part-iv-faraday-cage/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ_Z7LGZ1AM
I’ve been obsessed with self-sufficiency and survival skills since I was a kid. I’m working on preparing my 5 acres (no house there yet). I’m a bit hampered by some health problems that had me stuck in a wheelchair until very recently, but I’m preparing anyway.
On my list of things to do this summer is dig a root cellar, build a smokehouse, and get lots of trees and perennials planted. While I’d like to have my house built by fall, realistically I doubt I’ll be able to get the permits by then.
(No job, and the township has some hefty permit fees)
My land even has a fast-flowing stream that I plan to use for hydroelectric power eventually.
I was very happy to learn that the wild parsnips which are taking over my land and which are feared by the locals for the skin problems they cause, are the same parsnips that are found on the grocery store shelf! I dug about half a pound yesterday, a little out of season but oh well :D
Gardening Ping!
That’s absolutely true, but I’d just as soon be safe, than sorry. I can’t controll what government does, but I adopt a “be as prepared as possible” mindset.
The best light for a permanent flashlight that will last forever and doesn’t have a rechargeable battery that will eventually fail, is the NightStar, the NightStar uses a high quality capacitor to store the energy.
The NightStar is the only shakelight that is the real deal, and they also make wind up lights.
http://www.nightstarflashlight.com/comersus7f/store/comersus_index.asp
>> Girls like guys with skills.
Srsly?
Didn’t seem to work when I was in high school... unless the skill was throwing a football.
:-)
Fortunately, thirty plus years have gone by and Mrs. Tick does indeed seem to appreciate guys with skillz. Which is fortunate for me, ‘cause I no longer have much *hair* to appreciate.
Just DON’T put apples in your root cellar!
You can use any king of metal box as long as it is completely sealed. I wrap in bubble wrap, then in cardboard and then put into the box. Then, in a metal filing cabinet. I’m overly cautious, what can I say. It’s unsure what would happen in an EMP anyway, buildings offer some protection. The more the better, I say.
In fact apples give off an ethylene compound that will keep taters from sprouting...
>> I can’t controll what government does, but I adopt a “be as prepared as possible” mindset.
Fair enough — but I’m actually looking FORWARD to the day when the teevee, cell phone, computer, etc. don’t work and all that I have left to do is start the ol’ tractor — diesel, EMP immune — and work the field. ;-)
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
It’s not just the stuff you acquire, it is the variety of the skills you master as well. It’s amazing how much there is to know about so many things that we take for granted in our lives right now. People have far more assets than our pioneer ancestors could have ever wished for, but we need the basic skills that enable us to use those assets effectively.
For us, the latest step we have taken in our personal preparations is to construct, stock and operate an urban chicken coop. Our small henhouse will provide us with about 4 eggs a day, and that is a powerful asset in a barter economy or in a post-disaster scenario of any kind. It’s easier than I ever imagined and you can build all kinds of good will with fresh hen fruit...
This book explains that it’s mostly your mind that you need to be preparing for the collapse:
http://www.starvingthemonkeys.com/
And it will rot everything else quickly. That’s the origin of the expression “One bad apple.”
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