Everyday Urban Citizen also known as Prepper
In an urban life, gifts come and go. I found this cool knife still in a box, for many years I presume. My recent fascination with carving spoons and utensils, I met some resistance from my prepper compadre in using wood utensils, so I thought I’d share this new found hardware. The Swiss army utensil knife? Not sure what I should call this, but once I opened the box, I was pleasantly surprised of its usefulness.
So I’m walking around the urban homestead the other day and said, “jeez look at all the flashlights I have”. Time to collect and organize. All of the lights still work to some extent. The small white with blue band was the only one that didn’t light up. It looks like it runs off of those small coin batteries. I recommend shying away from these lights as I think coin type batteries will be near hard to find during and after an incident of major proportions. Here is a quick rundown of my favorites. LED is the way to go nowadays.
Many of you, I’m almost certain have bought, received or been gifted a survival book or two. Make an effort to gather these up and place on a shelf for reference and pleaseurable reading. Below are a sampling of the collection I’ve started thanks to many like minded friends and family. The art of book reading requires no internet, batteries or monthly subscription. Reading keeps your brain sharp and open to learning. It is great for discussion with others. Collect up those books and enjoy some cerebral excessive.
At our remote location, we are blessed to have two shallow wells. One close to the house, this is our primary supply and one lower on the property that proves useful in times of drought when the upper well runs dry. The wells only had a wood cover, with plenty of room for critters, dirt, runoff to get in to it. This was not a great selling point with the spouse. Clean water is a must for spouses, and my survival. We added a concrete curb generously around the existing shallow rock well. Then built a wooden cap with an easy to lift lid and vent. The whole project took less than a week to complete including paying a brave chap to pump the well out, climb down into the well and wash the rock walls with a bleach solution and let it regenerate with water. This project adds a layer of confidence when cooking, showering and brushing your teeth. Do everything you can to keep your well water clean.
Desperate times will call for creative repairs. I broke an old hoe and also had a broken rake. I fashioned the end of the hoe handle to fit the rake as I use the rake more frequently and I can mix concrete with a shovel when I need too.
Using an axe, I roughed the end down to match the smaller diameter rake handle. Fine tuned it with my carving knife. Located and hand drilled the bolt hole. Scraped the new old handle down and sanded off the old weather. Then gave the handle a heavy coat of boiled linseed oil. Bolted the rake head back on and I’m back in business.
My good friend brought to my attention the importance of vision after the big event. I quickly organized the few old pairs of prescriptive glasses I have held onto through the years. If you wear contacts, buy several boxes. Stock up on solution as well. These old glasses may prove to be invaluable when you can’t run out and get a new pair,,,, even if you may look like Sally Jesse Rafael. That was the style back then! LOL
From time to time, I come across a movie, I. This case two movies that captivated my attention. I pray I never have to live either of these story lines. The Survivalist is on Netflix and 100 Mornings is on Amazon Prime.
With the new year upon us, I decided to search out my lifetime collection of pocket knives. They have been purchased, gifted or acquired over my lifetime. I was surprised at how many I had scattered all over. Brought back a few memories as well. My first knife was the Boy Scout knife at the bottom, it was also the first time I realized, knives are sharp. To add insult to injury, I didn’t win the pinewood derby.
Back to the carving stump. Today I wanted to make a beard comb, unfortunately things didn’t work out as planned, much like prepping. All was going well with the beard comb until it came time to make the tines. I will cut the tines earlier when there is more meat on the blank, then sand it down to a finer edge. I need a butter knife anyway. When life gives you beards, make butter!
And so the pantry stock begins – 10 for $7 #survivalist #preparedness #stockpile #naturaldisasterplanning #NewYearsResolution
