What have you done this week to prep?

[teddy12b]

I've never ever heard of a paper brick maker until reading your posts yesterday. I watched a video on it last night. Is the idea to turn recycled paper into a firewood log?

 

[Kmcinnes]

Finally got everything moved into the new store room, the wife (and I for fun) took the NRA Pistol Basics class out at Eagle Creek tought by Guy Relford and now the wife HAS the bug and keeps asking when we can go shooting again! She has shot before but with long guns only and now that she has a pistol she is all about it. so far thats about it for this week.

 

[WETSU]

Worked out a lot. Weights, running, sprint work, mountain biking, and swimming.

Did a weekend of training with the Crew. 3 hours of room clearing.
Lots of shotgun work on the range, vehicle bailouts and 2-4 man teams. Final X with comms, vehicles and a multi-casualty medical scenario and extract under NODs.

2 dryfire sessions. G19, AK and shotgun.

Practiced my knots underwater.

 

[glockmeister]

Bought a couple Tapco 20 round mags for my sks. If they work ok, then I'll invest in a few more.

 

[Damean-m44]

Watched Dave Canterbury

 

[TaunTaun]

I don't know of a manual paper shredder, but this is the paper log maker I have.
4-in-1 Paper Log Maker: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
I haven't used it yet, but have slowly been building up piles of shredded paper to use. I'll try and do it in the coming weeks.

This is the one we got. We got a couple bags of shredded paper ready to go and we are just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so we can start it soaking outside and do the bricks.

This is what we got for the shredder:
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Premium-290-SHRED-Paper-Shredder/dp/B006J99PQQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1366837169&sr=8-3&keywords=manual+paper+shredder]Amazon.com: Paper Shredder: Office Products[/ame]

There is ribbon scissors that work well, but they still take awhile. Wife just wanted one that could work manually without power. As it keeps her busy and gets rid of our junk mail, newspapers, etc, so be it!

 

[Boba]

gardening & seed inventory.

 

[TaunTaun]

The manual paper shredder is a bit on the small side. The product description is a little misleading. It says 8 1/2" wide, but that is the can on the bottom. Shredding width is more like 4 1/2". And the shredder sits a bit wobbly on the can, so it can fall out when you are turning the crank without holding it down. And forget doing more than a single sheet. It's alright for the money spent, but the wife is already talking to me about modifying it to make it work better.

 

[teddy12b]

Do you have to shread the paper to get it to work, or does it work better if it's shredded? You guys could start a whole new thread on this topic alone.

Forgot to mention earlier I attended the MPS Emergency Comms class and I am really glad that I did. Lots of great information in that class and I'm starting to recognize the same faces from Wetsu's survival classes. Lots of new information and things for me to consider in the Comms class that I'd never thought of. It was well worth twice the money that we were charged.

With all the flooding & high water around here lately yesterday I purchased a little generator from Harbor Freight 63cc, 900 Watts Max/800 Watts Rated Portable Generator - Certified for California. Has a lot of surprisingly great reviews and there's almost a cult following of the little generator with tweaks on how to make it run smoother. I also purchased a utility pump: Portable Utility Pump - Save on this Portable Utility Pump Between these two items I should be able to water some of the trees I've been planting this spring that are far away from a well and I should be able to have one more resource to pump out a sump pit if I should ever need to.

 

[rhino]

I wonder if there is a market for paper logs? I have a metric butt-ton load of paper that needs shredding, but we don't use our fireplace . . .

 

[TaunTaun]

The basic idea is this: You shred paper intro strips, and then soak the paper in water. Shredding the paper enables the water to get in along the fibers of the paper (greater surface area as compared to a normal sheet). The water helps split the fibers apart. Soak the paper for a few days to allow this process to reach a state in which the paper is basically wet goop.

Remove the paper goop and place it in the paper brick maker. Fill and fill until you get to the top. There is a lever like on a soda can crusher that you actuate and the goal is to squeeze as much of the water out of the paper as possible. Once most of the water is removed, empty the still soggy paper brick from the maker and place outside in a sunny area. Wait for a few days turning periodically to help dry.

Unlike normal paper that burns very quickly, you now have something that while it isn't quite as good as wood, will produce heat/light/flammage for about 30 minutes at a consistent burn. It does this due to the way the fibers interlock with other fibers while in it's wet goop stage. As the goop dries into a brick, the fibers interlocking each other get tighter.

A good way to think of this would be some of the "green" wood logs that some companies make from sawdust and wood particles.

Sometimes we dont always have access to lots of trees for wood, but we are constantly getting bills and junk mail. We shred stuff that has personal info on it anyway. Why not use it as a fuel source for JIC. Also, they work great when starting a fire at a campsite if the wood is a bit too wet.

 

[Meister]

Revised a couple of my bags. Decided to build an ultra lightweight bag to try out on a few trips and stash at an alternate location. Buying a CCW "kit" to put with the bag and additional rations.

 

[churchmouse]

Pulled out the BOB and started to go through it. I need to revise all the BOB gear along with the GHB.

 

[Car Ramrod]

Bought some gold and another rifle. Now I just need to find somewhere I can get all my new stuff sighted in. Going to make another Sam's trip over the weekend for more rice, beans, and some other stuff.

 

[Dragon]

I don't post updates here much but updated the GHB last week and took it for 11 miles of moderate trails to test my new setup. Setup two more cache GHB's. Zero'ed an AK with a canted FSB. Picked up a couple of plastic ammo cans from Rural King. Picked up some 1oz Frog Lube tubes to put in gear which was a steal at $1 each.

Also prepping for a hiking trip to Red River Gorge in 3 weeks. Will be a great test of kit and some bushcraft skills.

 

[littletommy]

I went through my GHB and took out some of the winter stuff. I bought a medium sized duffel bag at bass pro a while back, which comes collapsed in a nice, zippered pouch, today I got to looking at the pouch, and realized water bottles would fit nicely in it, wound up getting five 20 oz. bottles in it, and made a sling to clip on it so I could either throw it over my shoulder, or lash it to my GHB.

I'm looking at getting a new pack for use as a GHB, as the one I have is a shade small for me to carry comfortably.

 

[GhostofWinter]

I don't know of a manual paper shredder, but this is the paper log maker I have.
4-in-1 Paper Log Maker: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
I haven't used it yet, but have slowly been building up piles of shredded paper to use. I'll try and do it in the coming weeks.

Thanks!

 

[AnnieO]

I scanned important documents and contents of wallet (credit cards, etc), saved on computer and flash drive, emailed to myself and a trusted relative, and printed IDs to put in BOB. Didn't get them all, but a good start.
Also reading some book and bought a few supplies.

 

[Enthusiast]

Bought toilet paper, reading material and extra clean pairs of underwear. OH*** I thought you were talking about prepping for a colonoscopy.

 

[Chase515]

I put together my first get home bag today. Slowly I am collecting all the items I feel necessary, still a few things missing but it will take a little bit to get them all here.

1 marpat 3 day assault pack from armygear.net 50$ish shipped
1 usgi poncho bought on ebay for 32$
1 usgi poncho liner from ebay 22$
1 sol emergency bivy sack from amazon, redundant but Indiana weather sucks 36$
1 100 ft of rothco para cord 8$ amazon
1 mre from fourgunns in Lafayette 8$
2 pairs of socks from a walmart value pack heavy duty rated $7.50 for 10 pair you do the math.

1 msr sweet water from amazon $enough
1 light my fire army model striker in a box with dryer lint, jute cordage, and a ESEE AH1 arrow head.

1 cold steel Pendleton lite hunter, till Knife lady get me my esse 4
1 5$ Johnson and Johnson first aid kit from dollar general, I know it needs improvement but its a good start.

1 Ingo hat with a pair of cheap sunglasses to get me home

To get home is 32 miles from my everyday travels. I have traveled all the available route's over the years due to road construction and do not feel a compass is needed in my get home bag.

Any suggestion on what I have forgotten?