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Rolling your own may be the best bet. After many searches, much reading, and no definitive answers, my mind has been doing what it does in the background. Though I have no clear idea if this will work, I am considering the possibility of using one mylar bag as 2 to 4 storage bags. This would be a waste of oxygen absorbers and desiccants as the volume they are designed to handle would be 2 to 4 times what they might be used to handle. I am thinking that 4 x 10 to 12 pound bags of various goods could be created out of one mylar bag, sealing each section. This would allow for an easier use of the goods in a timely fashion and less chance of a total wipe if one bag somehow still goes bad. I am curious what others think though.
Research and more research. When one issue becomes frustrating, I move on to another issue. I am not sure I really get anywhere, though I suspect I am making my way. Sometimes I find direct information, other times I only find indirect suggestions, while other times ideas simply come to me in spite of finding nothing substantive.
I did, finally, program the programmable thermostat. It was not difficult, it simply was not intuitive, at all. Further, I messed around to figure out the features I like and would use, such as a filter change warning (indicating furnace run time, so when to replace the furnace filter) and temporary temp set and set and hold features, all while setting the whole thing up (each day at a time, what a pita). Oh, it was a little thing. But it has been on my list and my mind for a very long time. In spite of the cold and rain, the house is staying right at 68 F, without the furnace. This home is quite the find and buy.
Now that I am getting food prep underway, I am considering alternative heat sources. Wood and coal burning, of course, are the main interests. I cannot be certain, though I suspect coal is probably something that is around if it might not be currently mined. Wood, of course, because of the mountains, would be plentiful if quite a task to obtain barring vehicles. I am also very tempted to find out if the fireplace originally built into the house would still be viable or perhaps be able to be repaired. That, though, would take a wad of cash just to investigate with no certainty of value. If it has merely been walled away it could still be good. I would also truly love to separate the front room and bedroom, new (70's additions) front parts using weather doors. I can investigate costs, complexity of installation, and such on that at least to a degree. Money, money, money, and all of it fiat at that. Bah!
This house, even with the rough kitchen, was an excellent buy for a prepper. It was suggested that this and these houses were excellent regarding heating and cooling, with the proviso that they take a bit more to initially heat if left cold (which they actually make up for by retaining heat). This house had been completely functional for at least 90 years without a furnace and possibly even without electricity or running water, definitely without those for some large chunk of that first 90 years. There are things which might not be as modern, then again I am not so sure modern is all that desirable. Real wood rather than particle board, metal plumbing versus plastic, stone versus 2x4s, sheathing, some sort of insulation, and drywall.
It is bedtime. I am pretty much letting that just happen when it does, at this point. Staying up today was a little hurrah into near normalcy rather than a definite trend. Still, 6 hours of sleep might see me up by noon. I may call my friend and see if he wants a visit and to look for a bit of trouble... or simply try to get some domestic chores done and use him and an outing as a treat?
The only other proviso regarding smaller mylar bags in the pails is that you won't fit as much per pail. The big mylar bag set into the pail, filled, and then sealed, gets the most product per pail because it form fits it to the pail dimensions.
ReplyDeleteYep, a consideration. Another inefficiency. I just have to think 40 to 50 pounds, even split as rice and beans... is a whole lot of food for a single guy. Even shared it is quite a lot.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I did pick something interesting regarding beans. Something that was not on the radar. Grinding them, more into meal than powder, will cut down on both soak and cook times. Add in a pressure cooker and, lights out or not, those might be a lot easier and quicker to cook.
Oh, but you are probably right.
ReplyDeleteTrue it's a lot, but those beans and rice in the opened pail won't be going bad in a few weeks either. If that is your primary food source, it will be gone in about 2 months. The only thing to watch for is weevils getting started once the pail is opened. I have learned that 24 hours in the freezer stops them dead in their tracks even then.
ReplyDeleteOn another topic, fireplaces are grand and beautiful things to sit in front of, but are horribly inefficient heaters. A modern airtight woodstove will keep you warm many times longer on the same amount of firewood.
ReplyDeleteI have getting one down on my list somewhere. The "trees" around here would yield enough wood to cook on using my rocket stove, but I'd have to be very careful how often I heated with wood lest I run myself (and the neighboring state land) out of usable wood.
Even a high efficiency fireplace? Probably I suppose. The thing is, at least in a pinch, I might already HAVE a fireplace. If it would merely be a matter of figuring out access and maybe a cleaning it might offers something quickly. And, with some of the camping gear and the cast iron I already have, I could figure out cooking with that.
ReplyDeleteA solid wood burning stove, plus footing, piping, and roof vent... I can only shiver at how much it all would cost. And of course, then comes installation. The cook stoves I have looked at come in at $4.3k to $5k themselves (airtight and efficiency, with top and oven, without any bell or whistle and before tax or delivery). It wouldn't surprise me if, all said and done, it might well come in about the same cost as a potential well. Further, if the collapse happens in a day, there will be no chance to get and install such a device.
Sometimes I think I am insane for doing all this. Even if what us doubters are sure of comes to pass, it doesn't seem likely we will be all that much closer to various security than the average non-preparer. If we can't cook or stay warm enough, what good will having a ton of food, seed, and gear really be? Climate zombies will be no better than food zombies. Bah, I'm a born complainer and problem finder. And, problem solver on my better days.
Ah, but you need to look at Craigslist. For some reason there is a fairly regular supply of antique cookstoves that come up locally in the "few hundred" price range. I keep being tempted, but I have no place for it yet, and won't unless and until I get my front deck built and enclosed with the patio cover and seasonal window walls. It would just sit somewhere rusting until I got to it.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't try to heat with an old cookstove except incidentally. For that you could look into fireplace inserts if you can find where your fireplace has been enclosed. They don't come anywhere near those cost figures, since they use your existing fireplace for everything except the actual burner box. They slip into an existing fireplace opening, and are basically the same as a stand-alone airtight stove but without the cost of the stovepipe, roof vent, heat resistant base and wall covering, etc.
For cooking, I should remind you of my successful purchase and test of the Stove Tec rocket stove. You must use it outdoors, but it is an extremely efficient and reasonably easy way to cook on minimal amounts of wood. Fifty bucks thereabouts means you can have this basic setup ready to go while you make plans for more elaborate and convenient cooking later. Mine is parked in storage and ready to go as soon as the last gas delivery runs out.
I should also remind you of Momcat's very successful solar oven. Just this afternoon I ate some chicken soup that was cooked in it yesterday. They make a great no-fuel alternative whenever the sun shines. These are little more than insulated boxes with reflective panels that bounce sunlight in through a heat resistant glass front. Simple, almost child's play and yet they work!
I also have parts squirreled away for a high temp solar concentrator for quickly boiling, frying, etc. It consists of a large (8 foot) beach umbrella of the kind with many more segments than the usual, and a roll of aluminized mylar. When I have the time and the need the two will get glued together (inside the umbrella) and a framework fabricated out of PVC pipe to hold it steady. That much sun concentrated into a small area will be almost dangerous, but certainly capable of hi temp cooking when needed. I will also need some way of suspending kettles, grills, pans, etc in the focal point and I have a few ideas cooking in the back of my mind for that requirement.
I will have to keep my eye on Crag's List then. I see here, and again, why I would like to build or buy a trailer. There are so many things a trailer would help with. At this point, even with the Xterra, I would not really have a good way to bring such a thing home. Sometimes I feel buried alive in simply trying to get what I need to do what I can. Sure, rentals, but that adds up quickly too. Still, a good deal on a woodstove would be worth it.
ReplyDeleteThe cooker you discus is on my list, short term. My ultimate goal is to build a larger structure based on that principle, with areas for baking, pressure cooker cooking, smoking, drying, and true barbecuing. It seems like it would be a large device, but not so much. I have been reviewing U.N. online books on the topic. (yeah, U.N., but if they do something right, why waste it?) I would guess a 4x6x4 or 6x8x4 structure could easily incorporate all of those cooking areas, if kept smaller. Though smaller would provide more than I could completely utilize, so could be a community use item.
Solar ovens, too, are in my list. The problem with them is more the initial expense, running $250 and up for a well recommended one. Building my own would be easy enough if I had definite plans for one of a size I would be interested in. Small ones, I suppose, would be fine. But I would like a slightly larger one. I have looked at the idea you are suggesting with the umbrella type deal. My problem here is it looks very complicated, exacting, and fragile. Further, I am hard pressed to be convinced on that. I have seen a solar cooker bake potatoes in 3 or 4 hours, maybe less, over in Logan (so I know it works in my area). I worry about even a pressure cooker at my altitude. They say it works, just add time, just like with boiling water. Odd thing is, I am actually finding, for whatever reason, that things cook faster for me here than in Iowa. I think my heavy pans (cast or tri-ply stainless aluminum core) added with a new(er) glass top versus an old electric stove in Iowa? Still, I have having to rethink all of my cooking knowhow here.
The thing with an insert is the upfront cost of seeing if the fireplace is still at all functional, if not what it would take to do that, and then considering an insert. Lots of stuff to consider.
It is great to have someone else towing the same line and pretty much in the same direction though. If it wasn't for the community and you in particular, this would become impossible quickly.