ROAD WEARY 2
If you are prepping and
you are getting burned out, most likely it is because you are only
buying crap. My goodness, even a spoiled Yuppie Scum bitch will
eventually tire of stuffing even more shoes into her closet.
Shopping gets old, eventually. Now, if you are shopping for a hobby,
that is different. Because you are creating something out of that
consumption. You are, at least marginally, a producer rather than a
user. Man is meant to build, to create, to innovate. Not just Shop
& Stack. If you are JUST stacking, I can see the lack of
satisfaction and the stress.
*
Take ammunition.
Stacking it is boring. You go out and shoot some of it, then reload
some, now you are more of a producer. I mean, not really, because
instead of buying and forgetting you are just buying separate
components, assembling and THEN forgetting, but at least you are
doing SOMETHING worthwhile instead of JUST shopping. Why do you
think a cake mix that calls for adding ingredients sells better than
one just asking for water. By adding the eggs, the customer feels a
sense of accomplishment. It is a FALSE sense, granted, but no one
said your Monkey Mind was Einstein.
*
Not you, personally.
You are my smart little Minion, yes you are! Yes you are! Sorry, I
couldn't resist. My point is that you must understand your brains
simplistic programming and work with it. You need to trick it into
being happy. Because if your brain isn't happy, ain't nobody happy.
The same brain that will make you physically ill if you don't pander
to it ( or, conversely, will keep you from getting ill when you
should be on your death bed, if you have programmed it properly ), is
also the brain that is easily distracted and amused.
*
If you would like an
easy demonstration, get yourself a really thick and heavy rubber
band. Wear it on your thumb and forefinger. Whenever you have a
forbidden thought, say, craving a sweet if you are losing weight, you
grab one side of that band and draw it way back and let it go. Snap
the hell out of the web of your hand ( you might need to switch hands
through the day ). If you hesitate to punish yourself, give it TWO
wacks. Soon, your brain will have reprogrammed itself. Pain is THE
best way to do this.
*
You are saying to me,
Jim, you gloriously coiffeured fool, I'm perfect, why would I do such
a thing? Liar! You are worthless and weak! I don't see you eating
the same food as your storage items. I don't see you cutting back on
the restaurant meals. Brown bag it to work, with plenty of money in
your pocket. If you are tempted to go out and eat, bring on The
Punisher. If you STILL go out to eat, make that rubber band sing!
Multiple wacks. I wouldn't do so as I was eating, as you might
prohibit that certain food from being ingested again. But you get my
point.
*
Your brain is easy to
control, but just like a real computer, you need the exact right
inputs. One mistake and you are looking at the Blue Screen Of Death.
I'm not saying be weary of re-programming yourself. You are already
pretty screwed up from improper input from parents, teachers, spouses
and the like. I'm just saying that if you don't see results you
don't like, you were asking the wrong questions. It is like when you
were wondering what crappy job you had to take, when you should have
been asking how to get by without that kind of wage.
*
If stacking merchandise
is getting old, perhaps it is time to start learning how to
substitute those items, or make your own. Instead of just buying more
food, grow your own. Instead of mindlessly using up ammunition,
start pushing out the distances to be a better marksman. Start
learning new skills to save money. Even if the money is JUST for
prepper stockpiling, at least you have the satisfaction of “earning”
that money ( not spending is easier and more satisfying than trying
to earn more ).
*
How do you think I did
all of my prepping after Y2K? Yes, there I was lucky and found a job
paying extra. But after that I went near two decades where the only
way to prep was to spend less. I just kept eliminating needs from my
list. I am a penny pincher that would make Ebeneezer proud. Even if
I'm spending more, it is to spend less. Eating butter instead of
margarine ultimately saves money going to the doctor ( as does
wearing out more socks and shoes exercising ).
*
Not only do you spend
less on this life, and that itself not only pays but teaches you the
skill of needing less ( what will happen in all of our futures ), the
habit moves over to preps where you learn to need even less on THAT.
Sure, there is nothing you can do to save money on wheat. It is
about the cheapest food per calorie you'll find ( whole kernel, not
store bought flour ). And you have a floor on how much you can spend
on ammunition. But nearly everything else, you can save money on if
you try even a little.
*
Trying to heat and cook
off grid? Why do you need a wood burning stove? Make your own. It
doesn't have to be welded or metal worked. Make a Rocket Stove.
Unless you are a hunting guide hauling all your gear, you can MAKE
rather than BUY. Check out YouTube for rocket stoves and rocket
stove heaters. Cobb ( clay and plant fiber ) and a few bits of metal
pipe. Instead of heating the place at night, invest in a few wool
blankets. Find a few cotton quilts at thrift stores. And top it off
with a synthetic goose down comforter.
*
Don't want to heat much
at all, besides what cooking and coffee peculating provides? Build a
dug-out cabin. If you live in the woods, your biggest expense is
thick plastic sheeting and the book “The $50 & Up Underground
House Book” by Mike Oehler. Want to save on 12v pumps for
plumbing? Just go Gravity Flow. Let nature do all the work. Pretty
easy when the home of at least partially underground ( pile up earth
around the aboveground water tank, to keep from freezing ).
*
A passive hot water
heater too expensive ( it isn't, but perhaps you need to wait for
funding )? Get a waxed cardboard box from the produce section at the
market, bury it half way tilted towards the sun, and put dirt up all
around to the top opening. Place a sheet of glass over it, with
Mason jars half filled with water inside ( you might need to make the
box less deep so the sun gets down in there ). Hot water, free. You
just need to carry the jars back and forth.
*
All of the above is a
skill, working to solve a problem. You get satisfaction out of not
spending money. Just paying a guy to deliver firewood? Not to say
that is unnecessary. But if it can be avoided, or at least partially
substituted, that is much better. Say, for example, you insulated
more. Then those two cords of wood delivered rather than the five is
a lot easier to accept. It is all baby steps, a lot harder than JUST
spending butt tons of money on a problem. But it empowers and
motivates and rarely leads to burn-out. It is a journey rather than
just a destination.
( .Y. )
( today's related Amazon link click HERE )
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support Bison by buying through the Amazon links here ( or from
http://bisonprepper.com/2.html
or www.bisonbulk.blogspot.com
). Or PayPal www.paypal.me/jimd303
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* By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there
I once did some research on reloading and it seemed to be a large up front cost to purchase the tools and equipment.
ReplyDeleteCan you link me to your past writing on how to get into reloading more affordably, i.e., on the cheap?
I know a guy who said it's not worth it to reload your 9mm or .223 ammo. I suspect you would disagree, as I would as well, when SHTF.
The business of civilian small arms is rife with 'guys who said.'
DeleteI've been reloading for most of 50 years now, and casting for almost as long. I know 'them's just words', as a Sergeant of mine used to remind me.
Nevertheless, I'll try.
First, you reload what you shoot. If you shoot 9mm and .223, two very common cartridges these days, reload those cartridges, assuming you mean 9x19mm and 5.56x45mm, since there are many cartridges of 9mm and .223 caliber.
It may be possible to buy useful factory ammo cheaper than you can make them, but I've never found it; again, assuming you are casting lead bullets in 9mm and buying 55 grain FMJ bullet in large quantities for your .223. A large quantity would be in the thousands. If you buy fancy bullets in small quantities, you will pay more. But then, if you buy fancy factory ammo you will pay lots more. What you need depends on what you want to do. If you just want to defend yourself against bad people, and practice that skill, 55 grain FMJ will do that job just fine.
Reloading is quite simple, but exacting. You must pay attention to what you are doing. If you buy cheap equipment (Lee), you will be paying a high price. Lee's engineering is quite remarkable, but his materials are as cheap as possible, and will not last under more than minor use. In my opinion, he makes reloading equipment for people who don't reload very much, if at all.
Start with a decent single stage press (RCBS is typical), good dies, and a powder measure. Then buy bullets, primers, and powder. Brass I assume you have since you have been shooting and would never be so mindless as to leave your brass on the ground. The brass is the most costly of the four cartridge components, so never leave it on the ground. Besides, it is sloppy.
On the other hand, be careful of picking up strange, abandoned brass for you have no idea of its history.
Neck sizing, which Dakin mentioned, is OK under very restricted circumstances, none of which involve ease of feeding in your weapon. If you neck resize you must restrict the ammunition to the single bolt action rifle in which you fired the round, and even then you may have difficulty feeding. Annealing is a pain in the butt and certainly not worth the trouble considering the low price of 9mm and 5.56mm brass.
Buy once fired brass in quantity for the best price. Military brass requires more prep for the first reloading, but thereafter is the same as civilian brass. You will hear 'that guy' talk about differences in military and civilian brass, but that is rare and trivial these days. The big difference is the crimping of primers.
Finally, as I said reloading is quite simple and hard to screw up if you pay attention; casting bullets is much, much more complex. Anyone who says '. . . and $25 for a bullet mold. Boom, done" is misleading you at best.
I hope I'm not wasting my time here. "A man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest."
So, I tried. If you want to know more, there is a lot more to learn. Get a good book on the subject of reloading, keep in mind that most reloading manuals are published by outfits trying to sell their product, and, most of all, avoid "that guy," which includes most bloggers.
Again, I'm NOT speaking of a semi-auto, high volume loader. Rather, a low volume, low cyclic rate post-apocalypse loader, where you are limited in components.
DeleteIf I didn't make that clear, I apologize. That has always been my working model. New readers won't assume that is my paradigm.
DeleteI bought my first guns in summer, '17 and have learned a few things, but I didn't think of other forms of 9mm ammo, but now that you mention it my brain thinks you might be talking about a longer cartridge 9mm. I don't know too much, but I think reloading would be a good hobby since I have too much time on my hands and I like the frugal living and recycling, etc. Even then, you are saying that it may not be all that cost effective for some types of ammo but the math can easily be done. One question is, how many times can you reload the same brass? Another question is, the Lee Loading video doesn't show the process of cleaning the brass by tumbling it. Is it okay to skip that step?
DeleteI want to thank you and James for taking the time to address this subject and I have bookmarked this page to study more in depth. What a fantastic site this is!
I know just enough about reloading and have just enough supplies, to get me through a few thousand cases of rifle, then a few thousand carbine. That is all I value, and all I focus on. If you are going to be shooting a lot now, and PA, yes, go with a non-frugal approach. Personally, I think some rounds will never pay for all the equipment unless you are talking about reloading tens of thousands of rounds. First, ask yourself how many rounds you will reload, realistically. THEN buy the equipment for that. Don't automatically go Full Frugal or Full Professional. I know that sounds obvious, but it seems a lot of people are stuck at the Professional end. They are a hobbyist buying a craftsman's hammer for a carpenter. A widespread disease in survivalism.
DeleteThomas,
DeleteJim is being quite reasonable here. I wouldn't disagree with anything he says. If you aren't planning on reloading more than a few hundred rounds then take your chances on a Lee. I reload a lot these days, altho much less then twenty years ago when I was competing.
First, there are several reasons to reload other than saving money: 1) once you have your tools and components, you are independent of the marketing and legal systems; 2) you get the ammo that you want, for your purposes and your rifle, not some generic stuff made for everyman and everything; 3) reloading is fun and satisfying. It plain feels good to take a major African animal with a round you built for that task, or any other.
You asked two questions, Tom. First, how many reloadings do you get from a piece of brass. I wish I could give you a simple answer but it depends on several factors. Here are some: the quality of the brass (some is just a better alloy than others), the shape of the brass (straight wall.45 APC will last longer than bottle necked .223), dimension of the chamber (Jim's Enfield probably has a somewhat larger than minimum chamber to facilitate rapid, reliable feeding), chamber pressure (the higher, the fewer reloadings), and others, unfortunatly. Expanding and contracting during the firing process work hardens the brass to the point that it breaks. With .223 this is usually a split neck, which is no problem. Occasionally, you will get a case split in half, which is a more difficult problem to solve, and takes you out of the fight until you clear the chamber. Not good.
In .223 excessive use often enlarges the primer pocket and you get primers blown out, often down into your trigger group causing a nasty jam; again, taking you out of the fight.
After awhile you start to feel the primer pocket enlargement when you de-prime your case and so toss that one into the trash.
Generally, I would say I get about five-six reloadings out of a piece of .233 brass in my rifle and my load using Winchester W748 powder.
I tend to reload for accuracy rather than maximum power, so my loads are less than maximum powder.
Your next question had to do with cleaning the brass. I de-prime, resize, and trim my brass (don't forget to keep case length within specs.) and then tumble it with water, stainless steel tumbling medium, and a bit of Tide, maybe a bit of water softener, such as lemon juice. It tumbles for about two hours, is rinsed, separated from the medium, and dried, and looks like new, primer pockets clean, ready to go.
Do you have to do that?
No. But dirty brass does not feed well, and wears chambers. Dirty primer pockets make proper primer seating problematic. And dull brass is harder to find in grass.
You can see why this is a great hobby: there is lot to learn and you get out of it what you put in.
Most of the time you save money, but that becomes a minor point.
If you really want to talk about this, and decide I might have something to teach about it, tell me and we can arrange another communication channel.
Cheers.
Anon: I don't know WHICH anonymous commenter you are as I see a few use the monniker. I think one is in CA and one is in AZ or NV. Thanks for answering my questions.
DeleteI think my strength and interest involve using my small motor skills, and I knew it when I was a kid. I should have gone into the military and then became an armorer. I think that would be good for me had I gone that way.
If I had enough money I would go all-in on a reloading system. And being conservationist in nature, I would collect brass and re-load it.
I think realistically I should only re-load practice ammo and try not to use my good stuff. I am frugal but I have a huge list of gifts my kids can buy for me that are gun related....you know, like guys who play golf or other hobbies, there are so many accessories...but nobody will be buying me Fathers' Day, birthday, or Christmas gifts because they don't make any money. LOL. So retired Thomas has to do it and on less income. The Bison Prepper site makes sense for a guy like me, for financial reasons but also because conservation and frugality were inherited traits.
I would like to own a bolt action rifle but won't do it unless I can afford to --but heck yeah! I know that the ammo costs more but I like precision shooting. My AR is great for accuracy, but I think I really want to be a 62 year old sniper. Thanks for the explanation. I saw a video on You Tube a year ago that showed the process. Reality, for now, says get land and find a way to live on it. Then comes all the other stuff that gets talked about here. I am far behind. But I bookmarked this discussion for future use.
I make sure I get what I can reload on the Lee Loader. $35 for that, and $25 for a bullet mold. Boom, done. Yes, that limits your calibers. You'll be neck sizing only on the rifle. To me, I WANT neck sizing only, as the 303 Brit is rode hard and put up wet in the Enfield. Neck sizing and annulling help stretch out case life. I prefer revolvers to auto's. And I HATE buying reloaders for speed, as it just encourages ammo waste. As far as frugal components, that is a little more involved. I'll have to do a search on my articles on that ( underpowered rifle loads. Reduced power pistol loads are easier as I just load 38's in the 357 )
ReplyDeleteHere is one:
Deletehttps://bisonprepper.blogspot.com/2018/04/baby-bullets.html
I wrote another, better, article on another powder that uses 12g of power to throw a pistol round, from your full power cartridge bolt gun. A minion had sent me a magazine article on it. For the life of me I cannot find the article from the magazine, or my article on it.
DeleteHold on! I might have remembered correctly. Give me a minute here.
DeleteDammit! It was Red Dot shotgun powder used in rifle cartridges to propel a pistol bullet. In my case with 303 Brit, it was using a 32 bullet. And, I'll STILL be damned if I can find anything using the search function on my blog or on a search engine for the internet. Sorry.
DeleteOkay, here it is, finally:
Deletehttps://bisonprepper.blogspot.com/2018/07/real-precious-metal-2-of-3.html
Sweet Baby Jesus! That hurt my head.
It was 13g, not 12g. That might have queered the search. Using 13g powder of Red Dot, and pistol bullets, you get 500 rounds a pound. And shotgun powder is $20 a pound rather than $30. If you can't find cheap lead, locally, try Amazon shotgun pellets. Already at the proper lead/additive mix. You'll be penalized for the weight on shipping, but I couldn't buy lead here, even at the recycling place. Gun store didn't carry it, either.
DeleteHere is 25 lb:
Deletehttps://amzn.to/31e5zP7
Slightly cheaper to buy 50lb, $120 vs $63, but it is near impossible to carry and the PO guy was NOT amused at the weight of the box. And I like our rural carrier clerk-he is good people. Hopefully this is my last entry on this subject.
Thanks, Jim. I like the Lee Reloader idea. I hope this means I won't have to sell out my principles by not buying ammo in CA. No more fees for the DOJ and no more tracking me. And I'm small time law abiding people.
Delete"When the people fear the government, you have tyranny." Jefferson
Nobody quotes his blood on the tree of liberty, though, do they?
DeleteJim, I don't quote "watering the tree of liberty" because I was not trained in the military, so I don't get to talk tough even though I like the quote, believe it, and respect those who have earned the valor to talk tough. That ain't me.
DeleteI did a guest article last February, on the Lee Loader, along with a cost breakdown (Using .45 Long Colt as an example). Might be of interest to some.
Deletehttp://bisonprepper.blogspot.com/2018/02/guest-article-1-of-2-articles-today.html?m=0
Not directed at any one person. My point was, it is now Hate Speech. Or worse. And, people quote one without realizing they need to act on the other.
DeleteI'll be honest with you. I need to move near real patriots who know how to fight. I don't know how I'm gonna do at my age, but I never served and that bothers me. We've talked, you and I, and when we look at the financial system and the direction of the electorate and the government, I don't see any other option because I don't like eating dog food or living on the streets after working for forty years. Not to mention how they've rigged the game so that our posterity won't see the blessings of earlier generations.
DeleteTo practice for the coming guerrilla war, you don't need military service. It might even work against you. Start out reading Seven Pillars Of Wisdom. Might be about all you need. One of the Vietnamese Big muckemucks used it as his bible. If you want practical experience, from a combat vet minion, just practice small game hunting to move like a ninja. Just need a pellet gun or slingshot if you are good with that.
Delete1:11-thanks for the reminder. I can't remember my own articles let alone guest ones.
DeleteLawrence did what HE wanted, not what his superiors wanted. And he was a guerrilla, not a military man.
DeleteLawrence was a Military Intelligence Officer, a species you seem to despise with small reason. He was sent to Faisal for the precise reason of injecting some military discipline in the ineffective Arabs.
DeleteHe did so, using the methods that were appropriate to the mission.
Maybe you should study his book; it seems you might have seen the movie and come to your own conclusions.
Cheers.
I grant you, I probably mixed up my reading with the movie. I go back rereading a book from thirty years ago and am surprised what I've forgotten or "remembered". As for MI, I do not buy that intelligent analysis can be a successful bureaucracy. As for officers, well, the only people that think officers are worth a thimble of warm spit are other officers. Exceptions proving the rule.
DeleteAnd yeah, if what I'm remembering was from the movie, I'm an idiot. Movies like Lawrence and "Michael Collins" are great for inspiration and ideas, not for historical fact.
Delete"...the only people that think officers are worth a thimble of warm spit are other officers..."
Delete==========
I'll add, people that don't know any better and were trained from birth to respect gov't regardless.
I lived with em for 4 years so yeah, I'm an authority.
If you ain't did that you got nothing to say to me. If you did, and still suk officer dik, then you are stupid beyond belief. This isn't directed at you Jim.
Nah, didn't take it that way.
DeleteOh, and BTW, thanks bunches for getting me worried about upper receivers! :( Midway has free shipping and $45 units-I just don't know if I should wait a bit longer and buy the $290 complete kit. As far as stocking and gambling, not really my thing. But I do want to be all in and done prior to any law changes.
DeleteHi Jim,
ReplyDeleteThis may be a bit off-topic as it is not necessarily ammo-related.
I read an article posted on Zerohedge authored by Michael Snyder:
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/historic-midwest-blizzard-has-farmers-seeing-massive-crop-lossesas-devastating-weve-ever
Post-endless-rain,
"An unprecedented October blizzard that hit just before harvest time has absolutely devastated farms all across the U.S. heartland. "
Now may be a great time to re-visit your excellent advice on stockpiling food. Corn, soybeans, wheat and potatoes will soon be in short supply albeit with a short window to consume that which has already been processed.
Regards. And I enjoy reading your articles. They are increasing in coherency and humor.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50054044
ReplyDelete"In other breaking news, every White male is a pedophile and the NSA has proof on all their computers"
DeleteEverybody understands what BBC stands for, right?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDon't discount the pagan fire gods. It's probably the closest most of us get to nature.
DeleteAmen sir - use the entire tree. We use pruning shears to cut the smaller twigs away from branches AFTER they have been allowed to dry out. This is fire tinder - no need for accellarants if constructed correctly. Then branches cut up for kindling. Then larger thickness of branch, then the actual fire wood. The fallen leaves are the only item we dispose of. We soak them in pail of water, drain and chop up with hoe to smaller pieces, then use as mulch. to keep week growth down. That is a bit of a bother though. Oh - we mix the ashes of previous fires into leaves and soil. Some people use the ash of certain trees for soap lye - we're not quite that resourceful (yet).
DeleteLike you, firewood is for cooking, wilderness TV is wasteful of a resource.
Most agreed. I do all my heating and cooking on wood. The smallest twig is very useful. I suspect people waste the twigs because they are work to use.
DeleteBelieve it or not most firewood is used INSIDE the house. Therefore they want the cleanest burning stuff there is. Ever cleaned soot off the walls, ceiling, floor, and ever surface of everything in a house that has been indundated with soot? I have. Outside? Sure, I burn everything in the firepit, especially the stuff I cut off the wood that will be used inside. None of it goes to waste, and now and then I run across some wood that I make money off of. I use it all, no waste. I just don't burn all of it inside.
Delete“And top it off with a synthetic goose down comforter.”
ReplyDeleteTimely post, as I’ve been looking at blankets very similar to the one that you linked, and that one might even be perfect, as it’s under 5lbs. I’ve always been a dyed-in-the-wool, wool aficionado, but really, when you think about it, a wool blanket does not really offer anymore loft, than one of those quilted blankets, and the thicker wool blankets weigh the same or more than the quilted blankets. Wool costs a lot more too.
I’d like to get something that isn’t too heavy, as I would like to possibly use it for backpacking, as I don’t like sleeping bags very much. I want at least a Queen, so that I can use Dave Canterbury’s multi-layer wrap system for colder weather.
I’m also thinking about getting the one below, and it’s actual down, but it weighs 6.5lbs, and costs $67.
https://www.amazon.com/puredown-Weight-Luxury-Comforter-Stitched/dp/B07GH85F1M?th=1
But even for those on a budget, the synthetic quilted bags are a good deal, and are very warm. Below is a heavy duty quilted blanket ($47 for a queen, and weighs 7.5lbs). You can’t lose either way. Both wool and these synthetic (And to a point, even down) blankets have hydrophobic properties.
https://www.amazon.com/Beckham-Collection-Heavyweight-Alternative-Comforter/dp/B01N81ALA0/ref=cm_wl_huc_item?th=1
By mixing and matched different materials, clothes or bedding, you seem to get far more performance. As always, nothing beats experience.
DeleteI've used an older mattress pad (the elastic pad on top of bed mattress) as a bed cover sheet. Very light weight like a comforter. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm guessing that and a rain poncho would make for a lightweight sleeping bag.
DeleteThere is also a thin sheet of squishy foam. You can use under the sheet to keep cold away from underneath, and perhaps even use it as the majority of your homemade sleeping bag. Perhaps in between sheets or the mattress pad you speak of.
DeleteI would not recommend using the piss stained pad for a sleeping bag, the woman will not want to sleep with you!
DeleteAnd they do now? :)
DeleteMy wife just got one of those pads for our king size bed, think she got it off amazon. It was in a fairly small box, considering, but then it was rolled out and allowed to "inflate" for a couple hours then it became about 4" thick. Real soft, feels like sleeping on a cloud. Just went and looked at the box in the garage, it's called Linenspa, all one word. Don't know what it cost.
DeleteWater on-demand is a great thing. Even if your source is a 5 gallon bucket, and no 12v pump, you can have clean hands. https://www.amazon.com/Pactrade-Marine-Accessory-Manual-Extractor/dp/B00S5A7AEQ/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=galley+foot+pump&psc=1&qid=1571189934&sr=8-6
ReplyDeletePlease change link to Bison Prepper sponsorship.
At max pumping, this is 3 gallons per minute and your leg doing the work. I do not like hand operated pumps on sink with the wig-wag lever, like some awful travel trailers have.
Pdxr13
Here it is in Easy To Pay Me link:
Deletehttps://amzn.to/2BhZuq8
The reviews say it leaks a lot, keep looking. Kind of expensive too for what it is. I'd just hang the bucket up high and let gravity do the work. Yeah, I know, a filled 5 gal bucket weighs about 40 lbs or so. That's what wives are for.
DeleteI was thinking about a gallon hung up, and a lever to the side for on/off. Use your elbow to turn on after using the toilet. Well, one would hope you have at least one hand unsoiled, but in case your hands are greasy from tool work, then the elbow comes in handy.
DeleteThat's the fun part - experimenting and learning. Anyone can buy their way out of a problem, but to really understand how it works, deeply, is fun. I've made everything from wine to sheds to makeshift tire chains for my lawn tractor.
ReplyDeleteFun.
But you have to have time to do it and at least a little sense of adventure. And a tolerance for the mistakes you'll make and the blood you'll spill.
I probably wouldn't try to make my own brake shoes. I'm not quite that adventurous.
I stumbled on to a rocket heater video yesterday. They run it TWO hours a day, for a family size off grid cabin. And that was when the temps were seriously below freezing. Two cords for three months of use. Its a metal drum, a lot of fire bricks, and some chimney pipe surrounded by a lot of cobb. The drum could get 800 degrees and the exhaust pipe not much over 100. Similar to the big Russian masonry stoves that are similar in performance and appetite, but a lot easier and cheaper
DeleteLink?
DeleteHere is a search page at YouTube:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rocket+stove+mass+heater
Here is the guy I was watching last night, but not the exact video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2M3pMQLTYo
Okay, here is the exact video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoOcsq12UkE
I'm wondering how they run it for just 2 hours a day? Takes time to start it up and get it up to 800 degrees, maybe an hour or more. Then, once it's up to 800 and run it for 2 hours the fire won't instantly turn off. I haven't viewed the video yet but will later tonight. Wood fires don't have on and off switches, more like dimmer controls.
Delete2 hours was total run time, including it getting warmed up. When the last wood burned down they shut the intake. The cobb retains the heat a long time, slowly releasing it.
DeleteI've built and used several nice wood stoves, very productive, using 55 and 30 gallon (30 as combustion chamber. Several hundred pounds of sand as a heat sink, lots of fire bricks. Worked just fine; better than anything I could buy.
DeleteHOWEVER, within three years, the metal drums, however protected, burn through; the higher the temperatures, the fasted the burn through.
I have photos of the construction of the best of the several, if anyone wants to make a really great wood stove, for very little money, that lasts three years.
Oops! Kind of an overlooked factor in rocket stove heaters. I've never seen it mentioned elsewhere. Kind of like nobody saying anything about the HK-91 receiver dent problem for decades, until a minion mentioned it. Much kudos to minions.
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