What have you done this week to prep?

[ThrottleJockey]

Upgraded to AGM's, the lead acid batteries go away in the morning. No more water checking and using distilled water for filling!

How may I ask are they "going away"?...just thinking out loud here.

 

[Caldad]

I finally got the wife on board! She brought up the subject by mentioning that my closet was looked more like a survivalists. I asked her if she enjoyed being unprepared a couple years ago when the power was out for about a week during one of the roughest winter cold spells... of course she wasn't and mentioned how much easier it would have been if we already had the generators in place that I had to go out and scrounge not to mention build up in freezing weather. It got her thinking, and opened into a discussion on the economy and stocking up on pre-65 silver coins... something she would never discuss before, and gave the green light on. She had just gone to a Food Co-op and liked it, and was surprised (what I knew) when I told her how to properly store various bulk foods for extended shelf life. Now she's interested in that too. It's nice to finally have her on board!

Also loaded 500 rnds of 40S&W, 120rnds of 270Win, and 200 rnds of 38Spl this week. Got a lot more reloading to do.

 

[indychad]

Wife and I got the garden out finely. Now I have to help with the flowers, next yr. we are going to plant flowers that we can eat the tubers. That will be cool. Looking into rain barrels for the house. Next week two trees are coming down, holding me up from building the coop and garden shed. Firewood and eggs? win-win. Going strong.

 

[warangelcometh]

Sighted in my new Eotech 512 on my AR and zeroed my iron sights on my M&P 15-22.
Zombies beware!

 

[churchmouse]

AGM batteries differ from flooded lead acid batteries in that the electrolyte is held in the glass mats, as opposed to freely flooding the plates. Very thin glass fiber are woven into a mat to increase surface area enough to hold sufficient electrolyte on the cells for their lifetime.

A gel battery (also known as a "gel cell") is a VRLA battery with a geified electrolyte; the acid is mixed with silica powder, which makes the resulting mass gel-like.

I looked at mine and as far as I can tell they are as you describe. They are deep cycle marine and do a fair job. No access to refill. I have a bank of 6 right now with bass boat (marine) chargers on them and 2 inverter's. I hope to expand to a 10 batt bank with a 3rd inverter soon. All about the $$$$$$

 

[japartridge]

Upgraded to AGM's, the lead acid batteries go away in the morning. No more water checking and using distilled water for filling!

whatcha goin' do with all the lead acid batteries?

 

[XDLover]

Ran to Harbor Freight and got some bungee cords, also snagged up a box of 22lr at Dunhams for plinking (the rest go for later) and then some more 380 and 9mm rounds...
Watered the garden, but that is a long term thing isnt it.

 

[longbow]

How may I ask are they "going away"?...just thinking out loud here.

recycle- $9 core fee when I go back to pick up the rest. Didn't want to get too exhausted moving all that lead...........

 

[longbow]

How may I ask are they "going away"?...just thinking out loud here.

recycle- $9 core fee when I go back to pick up the rest. Didn't want to get too exhausted moving all that lead...........

 

[ThrottleJockey]

recycle- $9 core fee when I go back to pick up the rest. Didn't want to get too exhausted moving all that lead...........

Are they bad? dead cells? Heck I'll come pick them up for $9 a piece if they'll hold a charge!

 

[Kmcinnes]

Planted the rest of the garden, worked on some more fence, cleaned the chicken coop, worked on a rood that doesn't exist....I call it room 51. After recovering from a back injury last week.

 

[churchmouse]

Planted the rest of the garden, worked on some more fence, cleaned the chicken coop, worked on a rood that doesn't exist....I call it room 51. After recovering from a back injury last week.

Do you where a tin foil hat in this area that does not exist.

 

[Kmcinnes]

Do you where a tin foil hat in this area that does not exist.

Are you kidding me.......of course I do! I even lined the walls with it lol!

 

[Car Ramrod]

I went and bought myself a welder today. I have been kicking around the idea of picking one up, but hadn't really put any effort into searching for one yet. Come to find out, a friend of mine's parents were having a garage sale. I picked up a brand new Hobart Handler 175 with cart, hose, and reg for $300. He also threw in a couple boxes of extra tips.

Hopefully this will allow me to get some other projects done I have been wanting to work on, but haven't had the ability to since my welder friend works on a race team and is always out of town for work.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Spent the afternoon pulling cattails and roots. What a bunch of crap....wish I had a backhoe, it would make the project WAY easier and might even get enough out to keep them from coming right back. We got about a fourth of them cleared. Many may wonder what this has to do with prepping, so here it is: Clearing the area makes it WAY easier to harvest fish, PLUS it allowed me to try something I've been reading about. They taste like cucumbers! You know when you pull a long piece of grass and chew on the sweet moist end? The cattail "fingers" taste like that only way more of it, giving the impression of cucumbers. From what I read, they are pretty high in beta carotene, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin C.
Here are a couple good links for anyone interested in trying them!
How to Eat Cattail
Cattail
One page I read claims cattails produce more starch per acre than any other plant on earth! It claimed that if WWII had gone on much longer our troops would have wound up eating cattail starch instead of potato starch! Every part of them can be eaten at some point through their growth.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I just found a GREAT website dedicated to "foraging". Check it out when you get a chance. Eat The Weeds by Green Deane, the most watched forager in the world

 

[jeremy]

Used to eat Cattails when I was a kid...

Quite tasty actually...

 

[bluewraith]

Spent the afternoon pulling cattails and roots. What a bunch of crap....wish I had a backhoe, it would make the project WAY easier and might even get enough out to keep them from coming right back. We got about a fourth of them cleared. Many may wonder what this has to do with prepping, so here it is: Clearing the area makes it WAY easier to harvest fish, PLUS it allowed me to try something I've been reading about. They taste like cucumbers! You know when you pull a long piece of grass and chew on the sweet moist end? The cattail "fingers" taste like that only way more of it, giving the impression of cucumbers. From what I read, they are pretty high in beta carotene, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin C.
Here are a couple good links for anyone interested in trying them!
How to Eat Cattail
Cattail
One page I read claims cattails produce more starch per acre than any other plant on earth! It claimed that if WWII had gone on much longer our troops would have wound up eating cattail starch instead of potato starch! Every part of them can be eaten at some point through their growth.

I would rep you, but I'm out. Those were some very interesting articles to read. I never knew that they were edible!

 

[sentinelrepublic]

finished ceramic gravity filter
put my .223 pile at 1,220 rnds
sanitized my canning stuff
veggie garden rockin hard
went fishing with my daughter
exercized
drank beer
all in one day

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Went to watermans and picked strawberries and sugar snap peas with the kids, cleaned them all and froze them with the wife. Ate cattails for lunch. Picking berries the day after being hunched over pulling cattails was not the best idea ever, back and hamstrings hate me now...cleaned off the bottom leaves from the mater plants and sprayed them with fungicide when I noticed blight already starting to set in. Maybe I can beat it this year, just gotta remember to go easier on the watering routine. Going to till in some corn meal this fall.