Thoughts on Preparedness, another idea

I have a repair kit of sorts for my weedwacker, lawnmower, and vehicle. Oil, spare parts, tire repair kit, filters, air tank, etc. I also have nails, screws, some spare lumber, and assort home repair items. I also have different types of chains, rope, and wire.

If you have a regular sewing machine, you can get a treadle kit for it.

It is hard to think of everything, isn't it?

 

Those are all good ideas. Have you considered throwing in a soldering kit and soldering wire? Other kinds of wire would be good to have on hand because of their infinite uses. There was a time in history when most people fixed things that were broken before replacing the items. Over the years that has all changed. If we were to have a major nationwide disaster, we will have to go back to that practice. There are a lot of people that are so conditioned to the disposable mentality and will have a hard time adjusting to not being able to run to the store to buy what they need.

 

DH and I have been thinking along the same lines now that our food and household products are at our original goal. Thanks for reminding me of shoe laces. DH is making a list of things he would need in the shop, like chopsaw blades, tips for burning torch, welding and braising rods, welding wire etc. I already have a stock of iron on batches % hemming tape and a iron that would heat on the wood stove. Several types of glue, tapes, string, eye glass kits, thread and needles a treadle sewing machine, sorry I can't remember everything. It's the little things that will make life easier when the balloon goes up.

 

Centraltn, regarding your sewing machine battery, you might be able to get a solar battery charger for it, depending on what kind of battery it is.

If you have space to store it, you could look for a treadle sewing machine. Surprisingly enough, they're easier to use than one might think, and they're tough and durable. My husband has used ours to sew a canvas tent and to alter a wool coat.

It's a good idea to have repair kits for common things. As we go along using things, we should stop and take a look and think "how would I fix this if it needed it and I couldn't go buy another one", and prepare accordingly.

 

This is the subject I have worked at for the last 5-6 years. Still not there, but closer than before.

Lists, lists and more lists.....:scratch

Yeras ago I started cans with loose screws, nuts, bolts, washers. I have a bad habit now of when I throw something away that has screws or whatever holding it together, guess what? I remove the items and they go in the cans.

Personal hygene items, various sorts of lighting items and their fuel, clothes cleaning items, bleach, vineger, baking soda, ziplock bags, garbage bags, concentrated fertilizer, peroxide, alcohol, Dawn dish soap, spare towels and wash rags, lots of batteries, paper towels, TP, oil lamp oil, oil lamp wicks, matches, engine oil, antifreeze, home a/c air filters, complete basic cooking set, aluminum foil, spare shoes, spare fishing equitment, spray lube, glues of every type, handtools, rope, block and tackle and much more.

Main thing I've tried to do is make sure most everything is no-energy use items.

Still making lists...

Jimmy

 

I looked on there, and saw the ones that run on 4 "AA" batteries. You can use rechargeable batteries and a solar battery charger very easily.

It would also be VERY easy to convert to 12 volts so you can run it off of a car battery. I would use ceramic "ballast resistors" from old Dodge/Plymouth cars to step the voltage down for that task.

Soldering?
Hmmm... probably not so much, unless you tinker with a lot of electronics kits/repairs(use rosin core solder), or work with a lot of copper plumbing(use acid core solder). I keep some acid core solder in my truck since it still has the "old fashioned" brass radiator in it. I can solder a leak/hole shut if I need to. This doesn't work with the newer aluminum radiators, although "JB Weld" seems to work pretty good if you can get the repair area really clean and dry first.

The best "repair wire" anywhere is music wire, so anytime you see a junk guitar or piano, keep all the wires from it for this supply

EPOXY!!! Get epoxy glue of all types - - it is the most amazing glue to work with - most of the time - for stuff that is "rigid" (not for use on rubber things). It varies from 5-minutes cure time (very weak - but good for fast, temporary repairs) up to 24-hour cure times (strongest). Good "marine" epoxy is in this category. Incredible stuff.

For rubber repairs, nothing works better than automotive windshield urethane adhesive. That stuff is INCREDIBLE!! Unfortuneately, it is spendy - - and has a short shelf life :cry:

 

Got things that use AA batteries? Get some of those cheap solar garden lights that come with two rechargeable AA batteries to operate the LED light after dark. Keep rotating batteries through the solar light by day to charge them. Pull them out when it gets dark in the evening. We don't even bother to put the clear plastic globes/covers back over them and just use the charging part of the lights.

I've heard that the types of glue that you don't mix until you use them store longer than premix like superglue. I still buy superglue, though, and vacuum seal the unopened packages for longer storage. I have no idea if that helps. In another year or so I'll open one!

 

I too store spare car parts, such as a complete set of plugs, injectors, computer, plug wires etc for my truck and car. Also, will be putting a few sets of flat repair etc together for the flats that always come along. Sewing repair kits are a must item. Also, lots and lots of first aid supplies will always come in handy. You may also consider getting a 25 lb bag of casting plaster so that you can cast a broken limb.

 

WAIT - try it first!!
I have found the solar garden lights don't fully charge the NiCad batteries inside on just one day's sunlight. The solar panels on top are TOO SMALL. They only charge enough to make the little LED (which doesn't use much power at all) run for the one night. You can cut the LED off of the circuit board if you like, so the battery doesn't drain.

The real way to make these work is wire a better quality solar panel into the charging circuit. If you look at the junky panel on top of the path light, you will find it is just a couple of chips (the blue parts) soldered together, and a whole LOT of unusable "black space" around the blue chips. I found some small solar panels on ebay that I glue right over the top of the junky ones that put out at least 4 times as much "juice". With a better (higher output) solar cell, they actually will charge a battery to capacity. Otherwise, they will not.

Keep your cyanoacrylate glue (super glue) in the freezer. It'll last years.

 

Something else to do is visit an electronics store and grab your basic SPST (Wikipedia link) and wire it in, use your Dremel to open up a small hole so that the switch can be accessed and then use products like Plumber's Goop (or basic silicone) to make sure that you get a good seal. Place the switch between the LED and the battery so that the mini solar-panel will keep the battery charged. You can also wire several of the garden lights together to keep all the batteries juiced up ...

 

Been doing it for 8 years. They also charge the Kirkland (Costco) regular AA batteries quite well. In summer we have enough hours of daylight this far north to charge any type of AA battery in a day, but in winter it can take as many as 3 days. We just pull the end of one battery out of each light at dusk and let it sit until morning, then push the battery back in and line them up on their edges in the south-facing windows over the day, solar panel side facing out!

Our kids used them for nightlights when we moved here (off grid) because it was safer than giving them oil lamps (fire danger).

Some of us off-grid people don't have that option!

 

Great idea - Never thought of that - I'd probably make a broken limb worse! That will require some homework - waaaay outta my league. Ouch!

 

I have noticed that the first path lights people bought (I think they were about $15-$20 at first, a decade ago) were much better qulaity.

Now, they just keep getting "cheaper" and "junkier". The panels are lower capacity, and the circuits are the really cheap surface-mount components, unlike the "good old fashined" soldered-on-a-PCB-separate-components like the older ones were.

The newer ones are usable (to a degree) but aren't as well made as the older ones. The older ones always used two "AA" batteries, too. Now they use just one "AA" or even a single "AAA"

 

Well...
If you have a fair chunk of change handy, you can always get a DC powered SunDanzer freezer
SunDanzer Solar Refrigerators & Freezers

Then you could always build a Crosley IcyBall, as well.

 

This is where I would insert a smiley icon that is dripping drool! Ah, maybe someday a sundanzer, the cadillac of off-grid food-cooling!

Yes, I've noticed the older solar lights are better. We paid about $30 for our first pack of four lights 8 years ago. Then a few years ago I added to our supply with some cheap newer ones. The batteries didn't charge well, didn't last long, and the little solar panels became filmy-looking. Last year I bought a quality clear-LED-bulb solar garden light, which we use for a porch light, and it's a wonderful light. If I needed to I could charge batteries in it. We paid $20 for that one light.

But we also bought a solar battery charger that will do AA, AAA, D, and C batteries, plus charge cell phones and small electronics, and I can even plug in a small radio while I'm working outside if I should feel the need for such racket in this wilderness environment! It's one of the best investments we've made!

 

Skills lacking, cost prohibitive parts & cheaply made items

Perhaps one reason that most people have gotten into the habit of buying new items instead of repairing them (not motor vehicles, firearms, etc), i.e. appliances, TV's, computers, etc. is for the simple fact that there most people don't have the skill to repair anything anymore (not the relatively few who took small engine repair, HVAC, electronics, etc. but MOST of the population).

The last 3 times my wife and I had an appliance repairman out to look at our washer & drier 2 of those times we were advised that it would be cheaper to purchase a new one. The 1st time with the washer time he replaced the clutch and belt, but warned that it probably wouldn't last.....it didn't, we had to buy another one 7 weeks later. *No, I cannot work on washers or driers although I did take a quarter of electronics in trade school (DC, so I'm marginal on DC stuff, although no "expert" by any stretch).

As he pointed out, there are no more commercials showing a bored Maytag Repairman, their appliances are not made by them anymore and actually break down faster than some of the less known brands (that actually cost LESS).

The simple fact is that, with the exception of most motor vehicles (which are actually lasting a LOT longer than they used to), firearms, some cutting tools, etc. many things are not made to last, but to break down and be cost prohibitive to repair them. The parts needed for many of these items are priced so high that one might as well replace their old, worn item.

I also keep repair kits for those items I CAN repair.

 

I understand that there's an economic advantage to replacing some broken items vs. repairing them, but it won't be easy to do that during an extended major disaster. Clothing items are an example of something that could easily be fixed when a seam gets ripped or a button goes missing. Most people that I know have never held a needle and thread in their hand, much less know what to do with it if their clothes needed mending. By no means at all am I an expert at fixing things, but I am someone that acknowledges the possibility that someday the option to just throw away broken things and run to the store to buy new ones won't be there. I'm sure everyone on the forum has at least once considered that possibility, but the majority of the people outside the forum haven't.

 

If you have a regular sewing machine, you can get a treadle kit for it.


Where can a treadle kit be ordered from? I had never heard of that but it sure would be great!