Tuesday, July 26, 2016

frugal survivalist digest 9 of 10


FRUGAL SURVIVALIST DIGEST VERSION 9

 

LIGHTING

Way back in the day when Tappan gave advice live ( as opposed to from the grave ) and the Evil Empire was thought to be ready to Push The Button at any time, off grid illumination blew rabid monkey balls.  You had a couple of choices, neither good.  You could stockpile fifty gallon metal drums of kerosene, mantels and lanterns, producing heat in the summer and carbon monoxide all the time.  Or you could jerry rig a Rube Goldburg windmill to charge a few batteries to run a 12v auto bulb for an anemic pathetic source of illumination for a short period of time.  And of course you remember those next to worthless flashlights of yesteryear that got minutes rather than hours of light, when the bulbs weren’t breaking.  Well, we never got flying cars or dinner in a pill, and certainly not the Magic Of The Atom For Un-metered Power, we at least got great off grid lighting and better battery powered everything. 

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I have clear memories of life before popularly disseminated computers and I think I much prefer Then, which would be wonderful if for no other reason than Bill Gates could kiss my ass.  But I would miss LED’s.  They are wonderful sources of illumination, using almost no electricity and costly less every year even as they increase in power ( Moore’s Law seems to still be alive and well in computers but much more noticeable in LED lights ).  Pre-Y2k I could only find them in bicycle lamps, they cost $35 and they used up a set of batteries in around ten hours or so ( if memory serves me, which it might not ).  It was still cheaper than a $1 flashlight using a regular bulb which I zip-tied to my bike to avoid the Florida constables harassing me.  Now, LED’s are everywhere, even replacing street lights.  They are offering LED tubes to replace fluorescents!  Obviously I haven’t lost my enthusing for them over twenty years. 

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If you are really poor, buy the $1 garden lights.  You know the ones, you stick the stake in the ground and the thing charges all day and gives off some light at night.  You put enough of them out and you can see burglars in your yard.  They are, however, usually an anemic 1 lumen.  Better than nothing.  Charge all day and bring in at night and you put them around so you can at least not trip over crap.  I find they last around two or three years-not too shabby.  Just buy spares.  If you ramp up in power you’ll need to buy a solar battery charger.  The small book size one costs around $25 and a bunch of rechargeable AA’s and AAA’s ( standardize to those two sizes.  Others are too expensive ) about the same.  Now you can buy more powerful flashlights and lanterns.  If you want the power but not the expense, Wal-Mart has brand name garden lights in a four pack, and they get 7 lumens.  $20 for the set. 

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Another option is the Tooblite.  Those are the rechargeable green sticks.  They last, literally, forever.  They are NOT illumination but rather light markers.  But you can read by one when fully charged.  Leaving in the sun and then using after doesn’t work except the first five minutes, so you need to recharge its light artificially.  I have some 600 lumen LED flashlights and if you hold them next to the Tube for ten seconds it is fully charged.  Just build a box to hold both so as not to ruin your night vision.  Now place the Tube under the line of text you are reading.  They aren’t necessary, having limited utility, but a nice additional toy. 

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BUGGING OUT OR STAYING PUT

Bugging out is stupid, but so is staying in place in a large population center.  I would strongly advise you downsizing where you live, regardless.  Less people means safety ( relatively speaking of course.  A Podunk town of 100 is just as dangerous if they turn on you ).  If you have to bug out you are doing something wrong, IF there are safer places you already should be.  Bugging out itself is fine, going from a small city or large town and arriving at your bug out location less than a day later.  Living in a smaller place NOW, is far better than living in the big city.  I don’t care who you are or how much money you have, big city living is bad. 

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I’ve been in your shoes-staying out of loyalty for family.  But notice how it is all on their terms?  They expect giving from you.  Would they consider leaving to still be close to you?  Of course not, that is why they are staying in the big city and are guilting you to stay also.  They dismiss your fears as groundless.  Since they don’t agree with your worries, by definition they can’t be legitimate.  Sound familiar?  As far as you are concerned, they are placing your life in danger with their expectations.  What happened to letting the hatchlings leave the nest?  I know there are other legitimate reasons.  In this economy, forget finding another job.  Right?  Have you noticed the economy getting better?  Not me-I’ve only noticed it devolving less quick, and now picking up the pace.  It will only be a matter of time before that job of yours is toast.  With an employer, again, the loyalty is all one way.  From you to them.  They will pink slip your ass in a heartbeat.  Move while you have the resources to do so, and take any job once there.

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Of course you don’t want to hear that-I imagine you thought for a mere grand your life would be middle class luxurious after the apocalypse?  Survivalism used to be serious business when nuclear holocausts were imminent.  Then it kind of lost its way, playing at Militia Porn, worried our power would go out, bleating painfully if any deprivations were in store for us.  Time to get serious again.  Time to Cowboy Up, yo!  Grow a pair and embrace The Suck, learning how to do without the Girly Man soft life.  John Wayne should be turning in his radioactive grave ( it is thought his cancer was from filming at location down wind from a test site ) right about now.

END

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14 comments:

  1. OH Illustrious One wit the curly locks, Howsabout Propane lanterns teamed with methane generation. Stock lotsa mantles, require some "injun nooity" but all in all is pretty simple leverlock barrels, hose, one way torch valves, inner tubes for storage. abarrel properly loaded with waste, grass clippins,etc., generates methane for about two weeks..a few barrels will furnish enough light and cooking gas.
    By the way there is a bolt rifle called a mini-mauser made in 762x39 that will enable longer distance shot accuracy and better ammo conservation than the sks..got my sks 20years ago..the mini-mauser a year ago.

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    1. I love the idea of a single shot 762x39 for those reasons. What I don't like is the mini-Mausers price tag. Methane for cooking I think can go for some time IF you find something more permanent than an innertube. But for light? NEIN!!! A waste ( get it? Methane, a waste? ) when solar and LEDs are around.

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  2. Is bugging out any different than an escape and evade strategy? Even in my remote locale, I can go even more remote for a few weeks if trouble was coming, wait for people to move on because theres not much to take ( food is buried good luck finding it)

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    1. Bugging out doesn't entail a return, in popular definition. Well, at least that is how I use it, and I'm pretty popular with myself.

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  3. Jim with the low cost of solar and LEDs its a no brainer. Bugging in in the city is delayed death at best. Bugging out gives most people a 5% chance if no advanced location is stocked. If a person has followed your minimal advise + a little its may be 50-50. The bad news for some is even bug out to a Rawles level location the Odds don't improve. The real bad reality is if your a homicidal sociopath your chance of survival is 80%

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    1. No, dammit! If you are a loner doing bad things, you are a homicidal maniac. If you do the same things on behest of your group/tribe, you are just a badass warrior Viking dude. Semantics matter! But you've hit the nail on the head.

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  4. "...bunch of rechargeable AA’s and AAA’s (standardize to those two sizes. Others are too expensive)..."

    Very wise advice. And if you already have things that use C or D cells, you don't have to ditch them any buy ones that use AA cells - just get some C and D sized carriers like these, available through Jim's Amazon link:

    https://www.amazon.com/WAYLLSHINE-Battery-Converter-Batteries-included/dp/B01508425K

    https://www.amazon.com/VONOTO-Battery-Adapter-Spacers-rechargeable/dp/B00Y2IIPJY

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    1. Thanks. Yes, please do order through my ads. I've once again bought up all the $5-$7 books on my wish list so the average price has increased.

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    2. I got the C and D adapters for my Eneloops and didn't care for them. I put the D's in my 3 cell Maglight and the performance was terrible. The mAh for an AA is dismal compared to that for a D.

      I also have the book size solar charger and it too was disappointing. Takes only 3 batteries and takes direct sunlight for at least 8 hours to charge AA's. Seems like the size of the solar cells is where the problem lies. There are better solutions but not in that price range.

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    3. Isn't a Maglite more for use as a improvised club than for a light source? Much smaller lights can blind you, and use AA's.

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    4. Maglight 6-cell used to be the pre-LED go-to krypton beam (for 40 minutes $10 alkaline D's) until 8-AA's crank out 900lumems for 90 minutes Fenix TK41 is a great bike light. Too bad they are so expensive now.

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    5. For cheap bike light, just zip tie a regular flashlight to the handlebar.

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  5. Garden light on a stake frequently use a single AA battery, so they are "repairable" by giving it a new battery after 1000 cycles.

    pdxr13

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    1. Are the cheap lights worth a new battery? The plastic should be ultraviolet degraded. Although I guess you could take out of the plastic sleeve each night and just expose the bulb. Still, at a buck each for the 1 lumen units, buy many. I'd save by rechargeable batts for other items.

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