What have you done this week to prep? PART II

[Chewie]

My wife has been canning like a maniac. We have enough pickles for a year, plenty of strawberry preserves, beans, tomatoes. Along with canned goods, 1/2 a cow in September, and lord knows what else. Seriously, probably good for at least 6 months ( provided the genny dont quit). Not to mention other nessesaries. I am worn out and broke!

 

[teddy12b]

I've been going through my mess of gear. Taking updated inventory of everything. Inspecting outdoorsy gear to make sure everything is in good working order. Confirming zero's, and making sure everything is cleaned up. Updating and repacking bags based on the needs of my family and I. Started an open invitation for novice shooters in the backyard. Starting with people I know and will vouch for as good humans, and if they know and vouch for any other good humans they are more than welcome to come along.

 

[churchmouse]

I've been going through my mess of gear. Taking updated inventory of everything. Inspecting outdoorsy gear to make sure everything is in good working order. Confirming zero's, and making sure everything is cleaned up. Updating and repacking bags based on the needs of my family and I. Started an open invitation for novice shooters in the backyard. Starting with people I know and will vouch for as good humans, and if they know and vouch for any other good humans they are more than welcome to come along.

+10 on the introduction to shooting. If I had the place this would be on my menu. Ammo is a factor right now.

 

[teddy12b]

+10 on the introduction to shooting. If I had the place this would be on my menu. Ammo is a factor right now.

I don't think I'm unique in this, but I know so many guys who are a novice, enthusiast, competitor at this or that, wife wanting to learn or whatever. Until now it's been like running into an old acquaintance where we part saying "let's get together sometime" both knowing darn well it'll never happen. I'm making a routine shooting night for hopefully a broad enough group that we all learn from each other, and hopefully get better acquainted with the hobbies we all share. Once the shooting is done, I think the real value will come at the end having some camp fire meat cooking and facilitating the conversations that need to happen.

 

[churchmouse]

I don't think I'm unique in this, but I know so many guys who are a novice, enthusiast, competitor at this or that, wife wanting to learn or whatever. Until now it's been like running into an old acquaintance where we part saying "let's get together sometime" both knowing darn well it'll never happen. I'm making a routine shooting night for hopefully a broad enough group that we all learn from each other, and hopefully get better acquainted with the hobbies we all share. Once the shooting is done, I think the real value will come at the end having some camp fire meat cooking and facilitating the conversations that need to happen.

OK this is a +15.
When we get our groups together we have a time set to go range hot but always miss it dud top conversing among ourselves and sharing.. That to me is a valuable as the shooting just not as loud.

 

[teddy12b]

OK this is a +15.
When we get our groups together we have a time set to go range hot but always miss it dud top conversing among ourselves and sharing.. That to me is a valuable as the shooting just not as loud.

I completely agree. Most people, never shoot and move. Never shoot, move and communicate. Even on a small scale, it may be a huge benefit to someone further down the line.

 

[Karl-just-Karl]

I don't think I'm unique in this, but I know so many guys who are a novice, enthusiast, competitor at this or that, wife wanting to learn or whatever. Until now it's been like running into an old acquaintance where we part saying "let's get together sometime" both knowing darn well it'll never happen. I'm making a routine shooting night for hopefully a broad enough group that we all learn from each other, and hopefully get better acquainted with the hobbies we all share. Once the shooting is done, I think the real value will come at the end having some camp fire meat cooking and facilitating the conversations that need to happen.

I keep pushing for friends and acquaintances to "meet me at the club". I let them shoot for free. It is a good opportunity for skills assessment as well. Most people aren't quite as Hollywood with their firearms as they would like to be (or sometimes claim to be).

The ammunition situation is starting to put a real pinch on new recruits. It is a shame to see people that are now interested in self defense and 2A rights be caught out in the cold.

A little voice in the back of my head keeps prodding me to work on food-stores. Maybe it is because of recent experiences, maybe it is paranoia, maybe because any fool ought to be able to see the upcoming potential for serious service disruptions in the near future.

 

[KittySlayer]

I took up gardening. Got these cool seeds in the mail. I think they are Magic Beans!

 

[teddy12b]

I keep pushing for friends and acquaintances to "meet me at the club". I let them shoot for free. It is a good opportunity for skills assessment as well. Most people aren't quite as Hollywood with their firearms as they would like to be (or sometimes claim to be).

The ammunition situation is starting to put a real pinch on new recruits. It is a shame to see people that are now interested in self defense and 2A rights be caught out in the cold.

A little voice in the back of my head keeps prodding me to work on food-stores. Maybe it is because of recent experiences, maybe it is paranoia, maybe because any fool ought to be able to see the upcoming potential for serious service disruptions in the near future.

The ammo shortage is why I'm stocked up on 22lr. I can take rookies and have them get reps in building muscle memory very easily with 22lr's. I keep a scoped bolt action 22lr, an M&P15-22, and a semi auto 22lr pistol around just for that reason. I recently took a friend with me to a PRS style match and we spent a lot of time in the backyard with my scoped 22lr off the barricade getting used to weird positions. He'd never shot much pistol before so I stood there loading mags while he kept getting reps in shot after shot for a brick of ammo. This new little backyard shooting club will hopefully get to use those tools to learn. All my 22lr was bought when it was plentiful and cheap so it's not a horrible expense.

 

[mike8170]

I don't post much, but my preps have always been an ongoing thing, and thinking about it I have done more than normal. This week I actually got my girlfriend away from only shooting .22's to now training with a Shield 9mm for a sidearm, and M-1 carbine for a long arm. Picked up a crate of M855 ball to add to the arms room. I stocked the house I am remodeling to move into with more consumables, which included breaking down ground beef, sausage, bacon and chicken breast into meal sized packaging for the freezer (I am an empty nest-er now). Stocked that pantry with quite a bit of shelf stable foodstuffs that I normally use from the grocery. I got my security cameras up at the place and added trail cams in the barns since I have had an issue with a local meth head driving across my 80 acres to steal junk from the farm west of me. The local CO should have put a stop to that, and nothing has come up on the cameras since. Moving is going to be a PITA.

 

[dudley0]

I stocked the house I am remodeling to move into with more consumables, which included breaking down ground beef, sausage, bacon and chicken breast into meal sized packaging for the freezer (I am an empty nest-er now). Stocked that pantry with quite a bit of shelf stable foodstuffs that I normally use from the grocery. I got my security cameras up at the place and added trail cams in the barns since I have had an issue with a local meth head driving across my 80 acres to steal junk from the farm west of me. The local CO should have put a stop to that, and nothing has come up on the cameras since. Moving is going to be a PITA.

I hear you about moving being a pain. Been here 20 years. That's a long time to collect stuff. My soon to be new storage area is smaller than I have currently. Have to decide what I will move and what I will use or get rid of.

Have a trail cam that I just put back at the new place because someone stole my flat trailer and 72" commercial mower. All happened within a 3 hour window in broad daylight. Been working with a guy on a camera set-up. No internet at the new place yet (since nobody lives there) but I think I might change that just so I can see what's going on while away.

 

[teddy12b]

Along the lines of shelf stable food, we got into to our storage of that during the initial phases of the quarantine with the intent of using it as an opportunity to cycle foods out. The issue became replacing some of those foods. Back in the day a 5-pack of mac and cheese boxes was $5, now it's hard to come across in that price range. Similarly Krusteze just add water pancake mix is another example. It's not a great situation by any means.

I'm going to use this time of high demands to start offloading excess guns and ammo too. I get carried away when I see a good deal from time to time and now seems like an easy time to recoup some of that cash.

 

[teddy12b]

I hear you about moving being a pain. Been here 20 years. That's a long time to collect stuff. My soon to be new storage area is smaller than I have currently. Have to decide what I will move and what I will use or get rid of.

Have a trail cam that I just put back at the new place because someone stole my flat trailer and 72" commercial mower. All happened within a 3 hour window in broad daylight. Been working with a guy on a camera set-up. No internet at the new place yet (since nobody lives there) but I think I might change that just so I can see what's going on while away.

A buddy of mine just got a cellular trail cam and I think he said it was $60 ish for the year and you would get thousands of photos from it.

 

[churchmouse]

I hear you about moving being a pain. Been here 20 years. That's a long time to collect stuff. My soon to be new storage area is smaller than I have currently. Have to decide what I will move and what I will use or get rid of.

Have a trail cam that I just put back at the new place because someone stole my flat trailer and 72" commercial mower. All happened within a 3 hour window in broad daylight. Been working with a guy on a camera set-up. No internet at the new place yet (since nobody lives there) but I think I might change that just so I can see what's going on while away.

Our Camera set up is tied to the webb and it allows me access to the neighbors on both sides. They have the exact system we have. This gives us 24 camera angles of the area. I don't look unless I am suspect of something not right.

 

[dudley0]

A buddy of mine just got a cellular trail cam and I think he said it was $60 ish for the year and you would get thousands of photos from it.

Spypoint trail cam. Cellular. After I got hit I paid for unlimited pictures. $120/year. You get a few false positives, but it is quick and easy. It is looking at an enclosed trailer and my new mower.

I moved it to the storage barn (on another property) so I would know if someone decided to snoop around inside. Well, that failed.

 

[dudley0]

Our Camera set up is tied to the webb and it allows me access to the neighbors on both sides. They have the exact system we have. This gives us 24 camera angles of the area. I don't look unless I am suspect of something not right.

This is outside of town. Pretty big area to cover. Seems that the cameras won't go out that far and see squat. For just the perimeter I could do it, but the mower wasn't against the house at the time.

Interested in what system you are using tho. It is a rabbit hole trying to decide what you want to accomplish. Have been getting input from a fellow who is more in the know than I am.

 

[PistolBob]

We just keeping canning meat and veggies.

 

[churchmouse]

This is outside of town. Pretty big area to cover. Seems that the cameras won't go out that far and see squat. For just the perimeter I could do it, but the mower wasn't against the house at the time.

Interested in what system you are using tho. It is a rabbit hole trying to decide what you want to accomplish. Have been getting input from a fellow who is more in the know than I am.

Schwan.
I can see a good distance with ours but yes the details are less over distance. I can read a plate across the street. But face details get tough at that distance.
Schwan offers a system with better cameras.

 

[Old Bear]

Finished up a little wiring project in the garage for the generator. By pulling the fuse block out of the main service line, I can effectively power the whole house with careful circuit management. I can run my 240v well, AC, furnace and dryer (not at the same time) and all of my 120v circuits.

This is just a temporary set up until I can afford to have a dedicated transfer box installed and do some rewiring in the house. A dedicated standby unit is on the short list after I finished up the wiring needed. This project has shored up a major weakness in our emergency preps.

2020 has brought a renewed sense of urgency to making changes in our lives. The November election will only bring on more insanity I feel. Regardless of who wins, the inmates have started taking control of the institution.

 

[olhorseman]

It looks like we are in the direct path of Hurricane Isaias which will hopefully be downgraded to a tropical storm before it hits. I Just serviced our generators and have 60 gallons of gas (with 20 more in equipment). Will be putting up all loose items tomorrow. We have a hand pump on a 2nd well if needed.
This storm will not be a flooding concern but after getting flooded during Florence in 2018 we are prepared for flooding. We raised our log cabin and set it on pilings 10 feet higher than original. We just moved back in 2 months ago.