peev2c14part3

PEEv2c14part3

Bare Bones List

#6

LED Lights

You need to see at night. You don't need as much light as we use today, chasing away primitive demons under searchlight intensity illumination. But you need SOME light. Myself, being a reader, judge the lumens I need by whether it is comfortable reading by that level of illumination. You might feel you just need enough light to find the bathroom with as you become drunk. But you need some kind of light. It can be as feeble as a garden stake light, or as varied as specialty tools for different tasks.

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You don't need the most expensive light, as that is usually just peacock feather boastfulness, a horny teenager imagining a cool car will get him laid. But do not buy the cheapest crap either. Dollars to donuts, a $1 flashlight is usually a hunk of crap that will not last. A $5 one is probably a lifetime tool ( future readers, your Bic Mac might cost you $100, but this was written as silver is $19 an ounce and wheat is 25cents a pound at the feed store ). Buy many and varied, but don't save TOO much money. Or spend too much. You need a reliable tool, not a substitution for a small penis.

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A headlamp is great while working, a lantern good for area light and a flashlight delivers strength or distance. JUST using a flashlight doesn't work, reading or playing cards. Just a headlamp, and the band starts chaffing and irritating after a time. Just a lantern and no light is focused on one spot. Mix and match accordingly. LED's are now so good that if I were doing my off-grid hovel over I would probably not even hook up 12v light bulbs for room illumination. AA and AAA battery lights are really good now. And a 12v marine battery dies every time you recharge it, even if you barely sipped power for a lightbulb.

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If I was doing a 12v battery over again, I would switch from marine batteries to sealed deep cycle. They cost four times as much as Wal-Mart batteries, but last four times as long. And they are nice and small so that you can easily tote them around. Why? Because 12v wiring loses power if it is too long. And because with the bastard crackheads around now, I want to bring batteries in after charging. Also, I can bring a battery to an appliance rather than creating a battery bank and wiring to everywhere. After the collapse, thieves will be more violent, less lazy and more bold than today's variety.

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And forget going to candles. They suck mightily. Way before solar panels were as cheap as today, way before I knew they offered 12v lightbulbs in LED, I had too little panels and too many days of overcast ( and energy hungry incandescent auto bulbs for my RV ) and I ended up using candles for a week straight. They were next to useless, no better than weak nightlights. You could do nothing with them except look at each other blankly and wonder how the hell you ended up here off grid. Invest heavily in mass quantities of LED lighting.

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#7

Solar Battery Charger

I don't particularly care for the solar battery charger that they sell. There is really only one design. It is about the size of a paperback book, and you install your rechargeable batteries inside ( AA, AAA, C, D and 9v ) and a very small solar panel charges them. They are flimsy and one wonders how long the plastic will hold up. But, I have two of them and a minion care packaged me a third. So that is what I stick with. You can just use a bigger solar panel, through a charge controller to an inverter and into a 110 wall plug in charger, but I believe the design is for speed and am not sure if the batteries are damaged by this.

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You can bypass the need for a charger at all, by just using garden stake solar lights, the panel and charger built in to the unit. If you don't JUST buy $1 ones, and get $3-$5 units, they will be of higher quality. Some even have glass rather than plastic, but you can always detach the head of each unit and place them in the sun, keeping the plastic out of the UV rays. Which fog up the windows and you get crap light out of that. Or, just detach the tops to bring inside, careful not to hit the LED bulb now exposed, for full light exposure. But, again, REALLY low lumens.

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I will only use lights powered by AA or AAA now. I tried D lanterns and they sucked. Not only that but a solar charger takes days to recharge D's, whereas AA and AAA are almost always ready after one day in the sun. PLUS, a D or C rechargeable battery is insanely expensive. Usually $5 compared to just a dollar for an A. Which means you can buy a lot more A's and you can go decades using LED's and can avoid candles as long as possible. Because candles blow, they are dangerous and they use fat you need to eat instead, if all the bees are dead.

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#8

Wool

You are a damn fool if you live in a winter wonderland and don't own wool. Not a fool. Not a garden variety fool. Not a damn fool. A GOTT Damn fool! You can own plenty of cotton, plenty of synthetic. They are more comfortable and in many cases warmer. But wool must be used WITH them. In conjunction with. For the longest time, I refused to wear any synthetic coat. A coat was a windbreaker, to use over wool. But synthetic is a lot warmer without the weight. Add a synthetic shell over wool and you are roasting up, even at fifteen degrees under zero ( that is non-communist Fahrenheit ). With cotton over wool, you stay warm enough but no where near as warm.

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So, synthetic has a place. But without wool underneath, it sucks. Without wool, and ONLY cotton, it is almost impossible to wear enough layers to stay warm. But just ONE wool sweater, over a cotton one ( or two ) and you are toasty warm ( not factoring in wind ). Wool socks make all the difference in the world. And some people need warm feet to have a warm body. Wool socks are also the only cheap wool, other wool garments being priced as if gold was interwoven into them. Don't get too low a percentage of wool. 10% wool is not really a wool sock, more of a gimmick.

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I can't tell you the best percentage, but I've had good luck myself as low as 30-40% wool. Higher is better, but experiment. My litmus test is wearing soccer slides with the wool socks to walk the dog. You know REAL quick if they are going to work. Wool blankets. Don't buy under three pounds. Three and a half is better. Unless they are cheap and you stack more than one. And don't buy under 70% wool. If you cannot find weight or wool percentage, most likely you are getting ripped off. And you can always find a good bargain on a wool blanket and turn it into a poncho.

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Wool gloves. If you can, go with the ragg wool mittens. The military surplus green gloves are not very good below freezing. Never clean wool ( except socks, as long as they aren't 100% wool ) in hot water, nor using harsh detergent. If you don't have Woolite you can use dish soap. Never, ever, except for socks or blankets with mixed fabric, hang up to dry. A pure wool garment, if hung, will stretch and keep that shape. Lay down flat to dry. Keep OUT of the sun. If it says Dry Clean Only, and is wool, you can clean it yourself. Just follow the instructions above.

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Like a rifle, wool is NOT inexpensive. But like a rifle, it is perfect for certain jobs, and little can substitute for it.

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Next time, the Bare Bones list continued with #9.

( .Y. )

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