Sears is closing it’s store in American Fork. A fourth of the store is already empty. I was there last night and it appeared that everything was thirty to sixty percent off. I was able to get bunch of batteries and toilet paper. Their prices are higher than Walmart to begin with so I am not sure how much of a deal it really is, but even saving a little is worth a trip when buying in bulk. Other things I saw while there were tents, canopies, air compressors, tools, and clothing.
Review: Volcano Stove II
Last week I had the opportunity to get in on a group buy for the Volcano II stove. (Sorry, I would have shared the details but I found out about it very last minute and barely made it in myself!) I had heard good things about this stove, and after a brief review of its features and online ratings, I decided to acquire one.
The main reason I wanted to add this to my supplies is its versatility—Volcano stoves can use charcoal, wood, or propane (with the adapter). I found this setup very desirable, since while my fuel may be diversified, this single stove can handle almost everything I throw at it. It’s made to accommodate dutch ovens, or you can lay down the included grill on top and use a normal pan, pot, or cook your things directly on it. And cleanup is as simple as turning the stove over and dumping the remnants out (unless you’re using propane, of course).
Another great feature of the Volcano is its unique heat chamber that channels the heat upwards towards your food, instead of wasting fuel by expelling heat out the sides and bottom. This also means that the area surrounding the stove is cooler than conventional stoves, allowing you to cook with the stove on a variety of surfaces that you normally might not use for putting your stove on.
Below are the pictures of my grand unveiling when I opened and first used the stove.
Food Prices: Up, Up, and Away!
Since most people who know me also know of my passion for all things preparedness, I’m often asked what is a good idea for investing one’s hard-earned money. With $7 trillion (yes, with a ‘T’) of “wealth” having been wiped out recently, people are looking at their 401k results in abject horror. What to do?
Any good investor will tell you that it’s important to diversify, or in other words, not to put all your financial eggs in one basket. For that reason, my advice for the start of a solid investment usually consists of one word: food.
Pandemic Preparedness Lecture in Spanish Fork 25-Jan-2009
BE PREPARED NOT SCARED
Topic
How to Prepare for a Coming Pandemic
Learn:
What your family needs to do to prepare. Pandemics can be survivable with proper preparations – learn those guidelines NOW.
Where:
Spanish Fork East Stake Center
870 East Canyon Rd. Spanish Fork, Utah
(major cross streets – Main and 300 South
300 South transitions into Canyon Rd.)
When:
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Time:
6 – 8 pm in the Chapel
Dress:
Church Dress – We are meeting in the chapel.
Speaker:
Kenneth Moravec
Kenneth Moravec’s professional training and reputation makes him an excellent instructor for Pandemic Training. Joanne and I have heard him speak several times, he is great. Please come and listen to him, gather this important information for your family and ward. You may want to invite others (age 18 and older), your family, friends, neighbors, business associates and etc.
We look forward to seeing you there
Hosts:
The City of Elk Ridge – Spencer Sheets
Are You CERTified?
Too often I feel that we get into a “bug out” mentality that leads us to think we’ll be fending for ourselves in all circumstances, always looking out for number one.
I disagree. While there are a select few instances in which we must reduce our focus to our own life and our immediate family, I think that the majority of scenarios will involve neighbors (ideally and hopefully) working together to get through whatever has happened.
Enter CERT. Becoming CERT trained is an important part of your personal preparedness and a necessary tool in being of use to neighbors during a TEOTWAWKI scenario. Here’s a summary of the program:
Emergency home heat
My next preparation project was obtaining an emergency heat source. This is a purchase that I have been researching and planning for a quite a while now, wanting to make sure that I had adequately weighed options and made the best choice. There are a lot of factors to consider including the size and shape of the areas you want to heat, altitude, portability, direct versus ambient heat, ease of use, safety, ventilation, and fuel source.
For me, fuel source was one of the most important factors. And, while availability, storage life, and heating power are importing things to consider, my main concern was selecting a universal fuel. Whether I am cooking, lighting, or heating, my preparations will be much more effective if I only have to store one type of fuel. I would also like a solution that I can use regularly in addition to working well in an emergency. Continue reading “Emergency home heat”
Prepping for and Surviving an Airplane Crash
Yesterday’s incident of a crash landing on the Hudson River where there was a 100% survival rate got me thinking about airplane crash survival and prep. Apparently several others were thinking about it too, there are several articles out in the last (less than) 24 hours about surviving a plane crash. Hopefully I can provide a useful summary and some fresh thought on this topic.
The NTSB released a study of plane crash statistics and survivability in 2001 they analyzed data for crashes from 1983 to 2000. I’ll be summarizing and referring to it frequently, the entire report can be found here. I was surprised to find that, overall, plane crashes are indeed survivable. Just as with surviving a nuclear war, I had assumed or thought I knew (without any research at all) that if a plane crashes you’re pretty much dead. With that foregone conclusion, I had not really looked into it at all. Here’s a quick shot of data from the NTSB study regarding crashes in a year and the number of survivors from those crashes: Continue reading “Prepping for and Surviving an Airplane Crash”
SOS Sportster Solar Oven
I ordered a Solar Oven Society Sportster Oven with optional reflectors on a Monday and it arrived on my door step a precisely one week later. My neighbor has a Global Sun Oven, but hasn’t used it. Not having any experience with this subject, and not knowing anyone who had used one, I performed some research online.
One of the best reviews I read was by Cook’s Illustrated based on the number of models, the breadth of tests and overall quality of the written review. My wife swears by their advice and their reviews are generally spot on, so I ended up going with the model they recommended most highly. I’ll freely admit that it didn’t hurt that the oven was similarly priced with its closest competitors but also included two pots, a water pasteurization indicator and a cookbook.
A post reviewing the performance of this model (SOS Sportster Solar Oven) as well as a comparison with the Global Sun Oven is on my list of projects. If all goes well, I will be able to perform those tests this coming Saturday.
So without further ado, Unboxing the Solar Oven Society Sportster Solar Oven:
Continue reading “SOS Sportster Solar Oven”
Vision Prep – storing eyeglasses
If you’re like me and can’t quite make out that big E on the eye chart from 5 feet away without vision correction or even if you’re not quite that bad, this post is for you. Probably everyone that wears vision correction has thought about having a backup, but what about 5 backups? One backup is great for if you break or lose your glasses/contacts, that’s a great prep to have. But what if we’re in a TEOTWAWKI situation and you can’t get new glasses at all for a very long time? It costs a lot to get replacement glasses and it’s a huge investment – usually – now enter Zenni Optical.