Author Topic: What did you do today to prep... (Read 4958496 times)

Smurf Hunter · « **Reply #24930 on:** February 10, 2018, 01:16:04 AM »

Linux in the ham shack!

A friend who's moving gave me a free 27" display that luckily had HDMI input. So I hooked up a raspi 3 running linux.
On this little $35 single board computer, I've got 3 sound cards:
1) onboard default for system sound
2) external USB that receives input from an airband scanner which I broadcast to the internet (https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/27342)
3) USB signalink that I use for digital ham radio applications

The last one had some confusing bits related to settings, but it's squared away now.
Really the only radio application I can't run might be Winlink Express, but I'll work on that.

hemmywill · « **Reply #24931 on:** February 10, 2018, 08:50:24 AM »

I bought a BOB on amzn.

Knecht · « **Reply #24932 on:** February 10, 2018, 09:07:51 AM »

Been developing a custom fiber optic sight set for Saiga 12 in my head. Now waiting for all the parts to arrive and I'll see if my idea was good or bad. Gonna use couple cheap chinese airsoft parts for the bases and Hi-Viz shotgun sight set for the actual sights. All has to be modified and one or two parts will likely have to be made.
Received a belly/groin additional piece for my plate carrier (IIIA aramid fiber).
The cobs from my 2017 white corn harvest are dry and I'll get the grains out for Spring planting. Can't wait to see if the seeds I've grown will work. It was my first season of corn.
Picked up my antique rolling-block 20ga with new mainspring from a gunsmith. I tried to make one myself and mechanically it worked, but it broke soon. Looks like my heat treating skills, while good enough to make living on forging knives, are not enough for hard working springs, I need to learn yet. Anyway, I was happy to let that guy do the job, he's very handy and I've ordered couple more things from him. Good to keep in touch with such man.
Finished the Kellokoski axe restoring I've mentioned above. Works well, the edge seems to be holding great. It's a bit unusual shape and different blade angle than other axes I've worked with, but I'll get used to it. Also planning to forge a hewing axe and some other tools for traditional carpentry that I'm studying lately.
Snow and wind have done some damges to my trees, so I had to cut clean some broken limbs and when it stops freezing, I'll seal the wounds woth some latex paint. Mainly one of the red plum trees got one of its three main branches broken away, but I think it's gonna make it, these are tough trees. Plus I have two more.

Greekman · « **Reply #24933 on:** February 10, 2018, 09:49:28 AM »

Knecht, why don't you track down a copy of the American Gunsmith institute DVD on making gun springs?

Knecht · « **Reply #24934 on:** February 10, 2018, 06:24:43 PM »

^ I know the overall principe, just need to practice some more.

Stwood · « **Reply #24935 on:** February 10, 2018, 06:50:53 PM »

Quote from: hemmywill on February 10, 2018, 08:50:24 AM

I bought a BOB on amzn.

mountainmoma · « **Reply #24936 on:** February 10, 2018, 08:36:10 PM »

- Driving : Realy, this is the most driving I have done in years. I have Lyme Disease, and for me, this makes driving take an awful lot of concentration, I also dont feel well enough to get out the majority of days. But, I was feeling good yesterday when I heard of an opportunity 3 counties away. It helps with confidence to have had a good trip, too. I stopped often and took the scenic route -- I was so happy that I was still feeling good that on the last leg of the journey, I stopped at a beach and spent a few minutes walking barefoot on the beach and getting my toes wet -- It was a beautiful day

- Clothing/Fabric skills : Natural dying. There was a community dye pot going of an Indigo reduction, this indigo was grown by the man leading the workshop, and local in Sonoma county, he said he had about .1 acre as his largest grow, and then various other smaller plots in others gardens. They managed to get enough to do a composted reduction, and we played with the dye pots. I dyed an undyed cotton skirt ( bought from Dharma Trading co) and it took the indigo very well, no chemicals or mordants or anything, just into the dye pot. The woman there with me ( people signed up for time spots, 2 people at a time over 4 days ) dyed some handspun alpaca yarn, and there was a wool yarn from the organizer that had been left overnight. So, it was very interesting to see how it worked on different materials. To me it was very interesting that indigo has such an affinity for cotton, as I have done dying in the past and generally silk and wool dye very easily and cotton is hard and needs mordants and such to get it to take. I was sceptical, and am now a believer. I dropped by the actual physical Dharma store on the way home and bought some thread, another skirt, and some Madder Root for when I can get around to more dye experiments here.

Knecht · « **Reply #24937 on:** February 11, 2018, 11:09:46 AM »

Took a walk around the property and beyond, now it's a good time to find tree burls and other interesting materials (no leaves yet and snow is mostly gone here).
Installed top rail on my Saiga and before I finish the fixed sights, I've put a small red dot sight on it. Also tested a thigh rig for its large magazines.

Stwood · « **Reply #24938 on:** February 11, 2018, 01:42:38 PM »

Building storage boxes for the house. The ones that take the cloth and fiber bags/baskets.
More hidy holes.

Canadian Prepper · « **Reply #24939 on:** February 11, 2018, 08:06:55 PM »

Just got back from the first two days of a four day course to qualify for a trapper`s license.

I learned a fair bit about the threat of Lyme disease in my region and met a number of people who may become part of my local network of friends with different skills and connections. The trapper teaching the course has a trap line in one of the areas that I hunt, another participant owns or rents a good portion of the farmland in the area, and others will likely make for future neighbours, etc.

I got some decent practice with winter driving and assisted a woman who drove her car off the highway and into a snowbank. I left after the police arrived to help.

Applejack · « **Reply #24940 on:** February 14, 2018, 06:12:41 PM »

Got some more 5 gal. buckets from market and stored dried beans in mylar bags with O2 obsorbers to put down in bags. Also did same with some non fat dry milk and coffee beans as well. Replaced kitchen light as the other one had a fan on it we never use and it quit working. It was much warmer this afternoon so looking around yard for best place to put the new greenhouse.

Stwood · « **Reply #24941 on:** February 14, 2018, 08:45:20 PM »

Getting back into the goat raising. Brought home two bred 2 year olds. Had a little rodeo going there at the last.

mountainmoma · « **Reply #24942 on:** February 15, 2018, 12:04:41 AM »

Quote from: Stwood on February 14, 2018, 08:45:20 PM

Getting back into the goat raising. Brought home two bred 2 year olds. Had a little rodeo going there at the last.

My goats were awful silly girls today too, actually frolicing, at their age -- maybe just a silly goat day. Congrats on the new additions, which breed ?

Stwood · « **Reply #24943 on:** February 15, 2018, 10:03:38 AM »

Nubian. Wife seems to think one of them has a bit of Alpine in there also.

mountainmoma · « **Reply #24944 on:** February 15, 2018, 06:57:58 PM »

Nubians are a very vocal breed, should be good milkers.

- Garden/community building : Went to a seed exchange at the UC farm program yesterday afternoon. I picked up some 2015 and 2016 excess seeds from the farm program, including some italian sweet pepper I needed, carrots, dill, etc.... And, as a bonus, there may be an apprentice coming there this spring that needs a place to stay. I havent done this in years, but am ready to again, I have a detached 100sq ft room (with access to the main house, of course) that I have used for the warm half of the year in exchange for a small amount of garden help. The young man there said that they let in a young woman in an excess spot, meaning they have no housing space for her, and she is not local already, he thinks it sounds like a good fit, So, I think it would be too, hope she calls me ! I also talked with a woman there my age-ish who lives not far, I gave her my number so if she doesnt lose it, she can drop by and see the goats and try some milk and just talk homesteading --

Sewing skills/supply chain building : Received a yard of french terry in the mail today, nice surprise when a package gets here. It is organic and color grown cotton, so naturally a nice shade of brown, California grown, USA spun and woven, I bought it off the website of the cotton farmer/breeder, Sally Fox. I have a few things I bought 20 years ago commercially made from her organic, color grown cotton, the pair of short overalls in the brown canvas I am still using to garden every year ! So, supporting a local plant breeder/farmer and having clothing items that hold up like this is a win-win. Keeps them in business, and even though it costs me more initially, overall, it costs me less due to high quality. Got it washed in hot water and downloaded a pattern for it, I am not too big, so I will be able to do it with a yard. This is 60" wide, I could do a pair of sweat pants using my PJ pattern with this yard. But, what I need is a top. This one, http://ahappystitch.com/2017/11/22/anegada/ to wear with jeans, but my color is a brown, not too dark, that goes well with jeans.

Greekman · « **Reply #24945 on:** February 17, 2018, 02:54:38 AM »

Does helping others "prep" count?

The past three days I have been feverishly compiling a conscript/call into arms Gearlist. I solicited the help of two friends, an ex Sf guy and an airborne reservist organized in a club.
there has been a serious naval incident between Greece and Turkey, which stopped at the special reaction teams mobilization and did not go further.

mountainmoma · « **Reply #24946 on:** February 17, 2018, 10:17:19 AM »

Quote from: Greekman on February 17, 2018, 02:54:38 AM

Does helping others "prep" count?

The past three days I have been feverishly compiling a conscript/call into arms Gearlist. I solicited the help of two friends, an ex Sf guy and an airborne reservist organized in a club.
there has been a serious naval incident between Greece and Turkey, which stopped at the special reaction teams mobilization and did not go further.

absolutely is prepping ! Good luck

Carl · « **Reply #24947 on:** February 17, 2018, 10:53:00 AM »

Quote from: Greekman on February 17, 2018, 02:54:38 AM

Does helping others "prep" count?

The past three days I have been feverishly compiling a conscript/call into arms Gearlist. I solicited the help of two friends, an ex Sf guy and an airborne reservist organized in a club.
there has been a serious naval incident between Greece and Turkey, which stopped at the special reaction teams mobilization and did not go further.

Easier than defending your house from them,Good prep and community.

Redman · « **Reply #24948 on:** February 17, 2018, 12:24:34 PM »

Today I canned 12 pints of meat. Checked the sweet potatoes I have stored in wood shavings inside a 64 qt. cooler. All good, I'll work on canning them tomorrow.

Canadian Prepper · « **Reply #24949 on:** February 17, 2018, 07:31:33 PM »

Second weekend of Fur Management/Trapper's course. Passed the exam and have the in-field portion tomorrow, which might provide the details of another access point into one of my favourite hunting areas.

I put down a deposit on a nice used Tikka T3 in .223 and plan to trade in a few safe queens to cover the rest. Eying another toy in the store as well and going through the inventory of other potentail trades to cover the cost.

Getting some good contacts from the trapping course for future hunting opportunities in my area.

Stwood · « **Reply #24950 on:** February 17, 2018, 09:53:07 PM »

Bought canning lids at Menard's. Regular mouth $1.76 box

Redman · « **Reply #24951 on:** February 20, 2018, 07:58:10 AM »

I have the last of my stored sweet potatoes in the canner now. 12 pints, didn't think I'd get that many as I used some another way and had to throw out several. Probably could have gotten 14 pints but I ran out of syrup and didn't want to use water. We'll eat the rest over the next few days.

Stwood · « **Reply #24952 on:** February 20, 2018, 09:27:04 AM »

Need to make sure the gen will fire today. Temp is dropping and they are forecasting ice tonight.

Redman · « **Reply #24953 on:** February 20, 2018, 10:03:17 AM »

Just heavy rain and a little bit cooler for us.

Knecht · « **Reply #24954 on:** February 22, 2018, 07:03:30 PM »

I've decided I need to lose some weight, so I asked my friend who knows quite a bit about this topic for advice. The result being, I'm eating lots of rice twice a day and some meat once a day, plus some vegetables and fruit. The prepping point is, it gives me a great insight on what amount of rice and meat I need to function. It's a lot less than I thought. It also allows me to cycle my supplies. I eat rice a lot anyway, but this helps me to utilize some of the oldes meat cans as well (I prefer cooking fresh meat for this, but I'm planning to eat about one can every week).

Stwood · « **Reply #24955 on:** February 22, 2018, 09:01:31 PM »

Yesterday, fresh gas in the gen and tested. Started on 2nd pull.

Redman · « **Reply #24956 on:** February 24, 2018, 10:22:45 AM »

Canned 15 pints of white potatoes this morning. I didn't expect to get that much from 10 lbs. I cut them a bit too big I think.

Stwood · « **Reply #24957 on:** February 24, 2018, 10:26:20 AM »

Quote from: Redman on February 24, 2018, 10:22:45 AM

Canned 15 pints of white potatoes this morning. I didn't expect to get that much from 10 lbs. I cut them a bit too big I think.

We try to cube about 3/4
We have sweet taters we need to be canning.

Morning Sunshine · « **Reply #24958 on:** February 24, 2018, 10:44:17 AM »

I attended a learn-to-weld workshop, and made a horseshoe craft. It was kind of scary, but I did it!

Knecht · « **Reply #24959 on:** February 24, 2018, 10:49:02 AM »

Reloading 9mm and .40SW ammo...can't have too much of that....unless your house is on fire of course.

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Author Topic: What did you do today to prep... (Read 4958496 times)