Survival strategies/natural or manmade disasters

[jdkid]

Hi ya
well i'll side with ya on a few points.. if all hell brakes out and ya had to loot to keep going what would ya get ?????????think about it ! most here would go for fuel and food and water where some city people would also get new TV's cd players computers .alot don't think out a few months or years most food will not last fresh meat/veg's /frut etc etc .Phred made a good point of getting reloading gear ,primers powder etc i'll run down a list i'd shop for if put in the worst case
reloading gear for black powder firearms ..make ya own powder! oil/fuel ,fan belts and car parts ,but ya will not need many as people will ditch there cars once they run out .. seeds to keep growing food ,water and a way of treating water ,battreys heaps of them all kinds .chain saw chains and parts .drugs ie frist aid kind of stuff ,hand tools .consturion stuff ie steel wood nails etc etc motor bikes ,better on fuel than pick ups oh yea books!!! how to kind of books ie make bio fuel, power from wind etc etc .camping gear sleeping bags water proof gear gas cookers .i think parts for my lawn mower would be way down the list.... a point people make about being out of the citys being safe is not true once the citys run out of food etc etc the people will move out to find food these people will be armed and wanting food .you would also find people banding together to look after them selfs so haveing something to barter or skill will help .like alot of people on here will have seen the many survival shows on TV ...not the sas or seal kind of shows, it shows up at sad fact that 99% of people if put in that kind of siturtion they would fail they forget water /food/ shelter ,ok i'm talking WORST case here where we are looking at world wide stone age but even in the best of times it pays to have few things in stock ya never know when the next flood or snow storm is coming
take care
JD Kid

 

[patrickg]

Yeah, I took a look and recall that I had seen some of the posts. It is an engineering trade off issue, really (some economics too but that is a given). You have a strong engine, why not use it. Fine idea, save money to use elsewhere... Some of us have tractors with engines way beyond what a generator of the size we woud buy needs so it isn't a particulary efficient marriage. What if you need to use the tractor for something else? If the genny were only to charge a batt bank then charge it and then go use the tractor but if the genny is lighting the house and running your freezer you have just elliminated your tractor and obsoleted all other implements.

I could see a combo generator/welder as a portable tractor PTO driven "Power Implement" that could be taken to any work site on your place or surounding area. Although a good use isn't neccessarily an emergency use it would be available for an emergency. I have problems with tying the tractor down during an extended (multi-day or multi-week) emergency as in many emergency scenarios a tractor could be a good tool to have for any number of reasons.

Maybe its just me but the only way I would opt for a PTO genny is the portable welder and elec source ref above or if it were a choice of PTO versus no genny at all. I'm sure there are different best answers and or preferences for folks with other circumstances.

I have used various gazillion in one tools/implements. Better than not having the ones you use at all but no comparison to having one each of the ones needed. Some folks around here buy a second or third tractor just to "ALWAYS" have a brush hog or box blade immediately available and use the other tractor to do the mix and match swap implements game.

Patrick (Just glad to have one good little tractor, L4610HSTC)

 

[dmccarty]

Here is my two cents on PTO generators....

I want one! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I sized my tractor to run a PTO generator. Since Hurricane Andrew chased me from South Florida and I moved to "safer" NC, I have been through three major storms if I'm counting right. Not to mention a couple of bad ice/snow storms. I KNOW that my property, even though its off a major road and near a town, will take a week or so to have power restored. So I have to have some way to run the septic pumps if I have one, the well, run the fridge/freezer, and some light duty stuff.

I don't plan nor would I want to run the generator all day. I figured I would hook up the generator after the storm has passed. I would only "turn on" the power first thing in the morning to run the pumps and power the fridge/freezers. Cook breakfast and let the fridge/freezers cool back down. Turn everything off until lunch time and repeat. Do the same thing around dinner. Before bedtime to it again if the freezer/fridge needs to be cooled. I would hope I would not have to run the tractor more than 4-5 hours a day. I'm not sure what my tractor burns at PTO speed but it can't be more than a gallon an hour so I need 4-5 gallons a day. I refill the tractor right now out of two cans but the truck would have 34 gallons so I should have 44 gallons of fuel which should get us through the week.....

Once we are on the property I'm going to look into getting a tank to store the fuel but I'm not doing that until I move out there.

Taking the PTO off and putting on a box blade tain't gonna be a problem all things considered. And I think any work I would be doing with the tractor would be storm clean up and overwith after a couple of days. At least the immediate must get done work. I'm still cleaning up and will be for years after storms five years ago....

The PTO generator is much cheaper than a genset of the same power rating...

Later...
Dan McCarty

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya
true story the guy next door to us years ago got a PTO welder/gen just in case the power went off and to weld up cattle yards etc etc well he never used it for years then in 92 we got a real bad snow storm prob was weld/gen was at house but tractor on a fence line 3 miles away with no way till the roads were cleared to get it .. self contained would be my way of doing it i have even looked at them from the point of haveing a bigger welder than i can run on our power lines also means ele/tools can come into the fields
take care
JD Kid

 

[StanInCalif]

A Ruger 10-22 and a Remington 870 in 12 ga. with improved cylinder or modified barrel would be my choices to round out your arsenal. - Stan

 

[ejb]

Like your ideas..thanks. A few question. Why keep the ammo in ammo cans? Like I said, I usually have a few thousand rounds around and usually just keep them in the box they came in..stopped in the local Army Surplus store and picked up 4 .223 ammo cans for about $4/each, seems like a pretty good deal but I may or may not use them for ammo...does the ammo box provide some benefit other than convience?

Been shopping the last few days, picked up 4 more 5 gallon gas cans at walmart, so now I have 25 gallons at any given time, but that doesn't seem like much...any cheap sources for 55 gallon or bigger gasoline tanks? Any reason not to just keep it in a used 55 gallon drum? I have a couple of big blue 55 gallon drums that previously held some sort of chemcals, probably a cleaner, but not sure. Is that a crazy idea? I don't worry about storing a lot of diesel (I usually have 250 gallons on hand), but gas is a whole lot more flammable....

 

[Phred]

Patrickg,

Lots of good info.

However, I think a modern semiauto is good enough. Maybe not quite as reliable as a pump, but my benalli has never jammed and with a high capacity mag it makes one heck of a self defense gun. In my opnion the much faster follow up shot is worth the slight reduction in reliability.

Fred

 

[gws]

Your supplies are only good if your near them. In a disaster you might not be with your food. Take NYC, People who live across from the WTC might have all the food they needs, just lots of police to keep them from getting next to them. Maybe its a freight train carrying harzardous cargo, your evacuated. oops no food and supplies.

Gary.

 

[ejb]

>>Your supplies are only good if your near them

True, but if you have NO supplies, then it doesn't matter if you are near them or not...If a nuclear bomb goes off in my house, all the food in the world isn't going to matter, but if it goes off 1000 miles from me, and it causes huge disruptions to society, I'll be glad to be prepared as best I can. Hope I never need to use it, but I'll be glad to know its there (I also hope to never need my car insurance or life insurance, but again, I still have it).