What have you done this week to prep?

[Thor]

t and leaving the woods a little something to remember me by.

LEAVE....NO....TRACE!!!!!

Sounds like a good night.

 

[teddy12b]

LEAVE....NO....TRACE!!!!!

Sounds like a good night.

Leave no trace doesn't apply to putting out a booby trap to throw zombies off my trail. You'd never know it was there.

 

[churchmouse]

Leave no trace doesn't apply to putting out a booby trap to throw zombies off my trail. You'd never know it was there.

That sounds like a stellar adventure.

 

[WETSU]

Yikes, been awhile since I posted anything. Life's been busy, and so have I. Always training, always prepping.

The past week: Hiked the Grand Canyon south rim, in the snow and ice. Tracked some mule deer. Crampons would have made it easier/safer. Hiked the desert at lower elevation. Hot and dry. Worked on plant ID, land nav and finding small holes of water.

Worked out 3 times: weights, running, heavy bag, stairs etc.

Hit the range: Worked w G19, J frame and AK. Decent session.

 

[Ballstater98]

Most know I moved to a new house. Looking at my fire extinguishers, all are 16+ (youngest) years old. All indicate a full charge. I annually check then the 1st of the year. I have never recharged them. I can rememember my parents doing this, but I never had...is the technology better, am I lucky, or run man run!?

 

[dudley0]

I was told by the company that serviced ours at the factory to flip them over and smack them a couple times with a rubber hammer.

Unless you are talking about CO2 or water extinguishers.

As far as life span, I know places will rotate them out once to a certain age. I figured it was like the best by dates on canned goods tho. Gauge reads good on all of mine still.

Guess I will wait for a knowledgeable person to chime in tho.

 

[churchmouse]

I have some that have to be that old. We used one last yer for an incident the neighbor had with fireworks and it worked fine.

 

[MCgrease08]

Picked up a couple of backpacks at Goodwill to use as new go bags for the kids.

 

[churchmouse]

Picked up a couple of backpacks at Goodwill to use as new go bags for the kids.

The terrorists are getting big enough to have personal go bags. Good thinking. Now the search begins.

 

[teddy12b]

Fire extinguishers are one of those things that I put in the same category as a sump pump. There's a time and a place to run something till the wheels fall off, and then there's a time and place to thank your lucky stars that you got however many good years of service out of something and replace it before it's too late. I definitely agree for the most part they don't build anything like they used to, and I'm not saying to throw those old gems away, but maybe adding a fresh new one every decade or so isn't the worst use of $50 we ever had.


On the bag ideas for little kids, I've been a really big fan of the "packable backpacks" for my munckins and even for my own day hike use. They generally weigh less than a pound, and durable enough for what most people are going to actually use them for and they're pretty cheap.
Check these out:
We used this is a day pack when we took the kids to disney. Water bottles, snacks, diapers, battery backup for phones etc and this pack was perfect for it. It's a good size for a kid/small person.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BIY05VU/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is probably my favorite packable backpack, but it may be a little long for a kid/small person. This pack is less than one pound, holds 40L of stuff, has a hip belt with pouches. I liked my first one so much I lent it to family and when they couldn't find it I bought a second. Of course as soon as I bought a second, they found it and now I have two. 40L is a lot of space, and it's held up well to some solid use.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HW126F6/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In addition to these I have a maxpedition rolly polly backpack, but it's not very comfortable at all. I do use it but more to for rugged utility duty. If I'm going to put pointy sticks or something similar into a bag or need something where I'm excited to trade comfort for durability then I grab this beater. By far the most durable and least comfortable. I couldn't find a link to one, but I paid $35 for it a couple years back.

 

[JeepHammer]

Prepping....

I'm dragging out the hot beds and checking them over for early seed growing.
I'm preparing to eat fresh produce much earlier than most people...

I'm turning over the compost pile so it generates more heat for the hotbeds since it's raining more than freezing/snowing.
Feb. 28 is coming soon!

The earliest sells for a premium, and the canner awaits for next winter's storage!
I like having more money for the same produce, and I like eating in the winter/early spring NEXT year...

Does that count as 'Prepping'?

 

[teddy12b]

Last night I set a goal for next year. Normally, each year I plan some kind of an event or an outing that I can focus on and keeps me motivated throughout the year. In years past it may have been a hunting, fishing, hiking, trip or whatever. Last night I started talking my wife into letting me try my hand at the Mammoth Sniper Challenge in the toughman category. It's pretty much everything I like to do now, rolled into one big challenging event. For now, that's going to be what my efforts and focus will be for the year so I can try my hand at that or something similar.

 

[dudley0]

Took water, food, clothes, ammo and a spare pistol over to the new project I am working on. Still need to build a couple of the AR's I have sitting on a shelf so I can move one of them over as well.

Considered taking one of the spare 275 gallon totes over and filling it in the garage, but I have a lot of work to do in there and feel it will get in the way.

Besides I will have a few sub-contractors over there and don't want to draw too much attention.

 

[churchmouse]

Took water, food, clothes, ammo and a spare pistol over to the new project I am working on. Still need to build a couple of the AR's I have sitting on a shelf so I can move one of them over as well.

Considered taking one of the spare 275 gallon totes over and filling it in the garage, but I have a lot of work to do in there and feel it will get in the way.

Besides I will have a few sub-contractors over there and don't want to draw too much attention.

How will you treat that water. Just curious.

 

[dudley0]

No need to treat until you need to use it. Then treat according to what you are using it for.

I have crystal bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite). I put a measured amount in a bottle of water and it makes bleach for me. Then I use drops of that to sanitize as needed. Liquid bleach has a shelf life, so I don't just keep it around for the task.

Of course there are a number of ways to treat the water besides this. Heat, UV, etc. Since I know the source it came from I don't have to worry about a lot of the bad stuff that might be in it. No bird do from roof runoff or herbicides and such.

I filled the tanks I store with my own well water. Although I would still treat it for drinking it looks fine even after all this time being in the tote. Not in direct sunlight helps as well.

 

[churchmouse]

No need to treat until you need to use it. Then treat according to what you are using it for.

I have crystal bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite). I put a measured amount in a bottle of water and it makes bleach for me. Then I use drops of that to sanitize as needed. Liquid bleach has a shelf life, so I don't just keep it around for the task.

Of course there are a number of ways to treat the water besides this. Heat, UV, etc. Since I know the source it came from I don't have to worry about a lot of the bad stuff that might be in it. No bird do from roof runoff or herbicides and such.

I filled the tanks I store with my own well water. Although I would still treat it for drinking it looks fine even after all this time being in the tote. Not in direct sunlight helps as well.

Thanks.

 

[rhino]

You make a good point: if you're going to treat water with bleach, wait until you're ready to use it.

 

[dudley0]

Thanks.

Still have one sitting here when you find the room. Would make a great end table... maybe a little big, but oh well.

 

[churchmouse]

Still have one sitting here when you find the room. Would make a great end table... maybe a little big, but oh well.

Yeah room is the issue.
If only....

 

[teddy12b]

Hiked a dozen miles with friends. Ate pizza and drank beer. Got on the scale and had a reality check. I shouldn't be eating pizza or drinking beer for a long time. Back on the microwave steam able veggies for lunch and cutting out any junk. My goals for this year and next pretty much depend on me loosing weight.

Had a lot of dental work done. Apparently going in once every 20 years if it's needed or not isn't quite enough so now I'll be sitting in the torture chair at the dentist office more regularly going forward.

Been going through and organizing gear, packs, loadouts etc for precision rifle shooting competitions and outtings for the year. There's a lot coming up and I'm going to be getting out of my comfort zone a lot this year. I'm registered for a Guardian rifle competition this year which will be new for me. I'm also going to shoot in a pistol match of some sort this year. Mostly doing those competitions so I can start to get my brain wired for how competitions go with their range policies and rules.

Picked up a sig P226 just because those have different levers and doo hickys on it so I want to add another to my list of guns I'm familiar with.

Getting ready to work in the garden this year. Lots of work is needed because the last two years we've done a really bad job taking care of it. I will do a decent garden this year and put the work in.

I think I'm going to get back into the gym. I'm just waiting for the crazyness of the crossfit open to end and I'll start getting back into on a guest day and go from there. The place I'd been going to had an ownership change and there was a membership exodus, but seems to have stabilized now.