With the car as it is, not going to be able to do my usual trip to Oaken Barrel to buy a beer for the guys. I may see if I can get down to the Church later to say a prayer, already done one here at home. I plan to cook some hot dogs, enjoy a good beer, and celebrate their lives even as I honor their sacrifice. Please join me in remembering:
ENS Albert Foster Powers, MIA 1945 Japan LCPL Bill Stelpflug, Beirut COL Rick Rescorla, NY 9/11 SPC Ryan Dallam, Iraq PFC Damian Lopez, Iraq SPC Marieo Guerrero, Iraq CPT Anthony Palermo, Iraq SPC David Behrle, Iraq SPC Joseph Gilmore, Iraq PFC Travis Haslip, Iraq SGT Jean Medlin, Iraq SSG Christopher Moore, Iraq PVT Alexander Varela, Iraq LCPL Jeremy W. Burris, Iraq SSG Brian Cowdrey, Afghanistan MAJ Andrew Olmstead, Iraq CPT Carroll LeFon, CONUS
Thank you Lord that such men lived, and heeded the call to protect and defend. We are all the richer and the better for them and their brothers and sisters who lived the words “No greater love…” You are remembered. You are not forgotten. You are missed. God Bless.
A truly substantive post is not likely today, just a head’s up. My schedule has gotten a bit awry, and I still live by routines, schedules, and lists more than I care to admit.
I got my smoker back from the housemate and got it into place and cleaned as necessary yesterday so as to be ready to go this morning. What I did not do, that I should have done, was to do a full function test. When I went to get started this morning, no go. I could not get it to light and limited trouble-shooting did not help. Given all I have to get done today, schedule demanded I drop back and punt, and as such am doing the pastrami in the oven.
Now, on the bright side, it guarantees even heat and it is the way it is done in several of the better pastrami places in New York. However, the smoke adds flavor and helps with preservation, which was the point behind pastrami in the first place. It was a way of preserving meat (and making a tasty product) in the days before refrigeration was commonplace. Really wanted to do it that way. Oh well.
This has thrown off the baking schedule rather badly, to the point I’m not sure I can do my normal baking today given that the oven really was needed for proofing and such. The pastrami takes 5-6 hours to cook at 250, which is way too warm for bread proofing, so, rethinking a number of things. So, recalibrating.
Also, need to spend some time today trying to figure out Monday and Tuesday. On Memorial Day, it is my tradition to go have a drink with the guys as it is the one day of the year I’m buying. I usually do this at Oaken Barrel down in Greenwood, but without a car…
I’ve decided to try to get the zombie car to at least get me to the consult on Tuesday. It may be that I’m there an hour or less; but, there is also the chance per the doctor’s office that I may get sent for some tests while I am there. As such, not keen on asking someone to potentially give up a day to help me. Renting a car is out right now (Memorial Day and Indy 500 have cornered the market as it were), and the cab companies are rather unreliable (per painful experience). So, will see how it goes.
May you have a good Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy yourselves, but take the time to remember why we have this holiday. As long as we remember them… For me, thinking that if I can’t make it down to Oaken Barrel, I may just pick up some really good hot dogs and enjoy them. Take care, be safe, and keep your things where you can find them in the dark.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Last week, I talked about layers of protection and the need to seal bags. I’ve been putting off talking about the sealing as I had the opportunity to try a 16″ impulse sealer, and was given the strong impression it could and would handle the 5-gallon mylar bags. First, let’s look at some of the options for sealing.
Here we have a small impulse sealer often advertised for resealing chip bags and the like (crisp bags for the Brits). Next to it is the venerable iron, which is good for much more than clothes. At the top, the extra-long impulse sealer.
The little bag sealer is touted for resealing bags and sealing a variety of small bags. Short and sweet: I was and am spectacularly unimpressed with it. Save the $8 or whatever.
The iron, set to wool, does a good job with the mylar bags. The drawbacks for me are getting a uniform width on the seal, and not overdoing it on the heat. That said, this is a good way to go, especially if you are on a budget. As an FYI, I use a scrap piece of lumber covered in cardboard as my sealing surface. Works like a charm.
If you get a good impulse sealer, they are wonderful for a uniform seal and can be adjusted for a variety of bag thicknesses and even bag types. The drawbacks are that there are far too many out there that don’t work as advertised and some apparently go through internal fuses and heating elements like candy.
The one I got to try did a good job on most bags, but despite the length it did NOT fit the 5-gallon bags as indicated. This meant that I had to do two (or more) sealings at various angles to get a full seal. Thinking it best to do those (and liners) with an iron. Glad to have tried it, but if you are looking for something to handle the 5-gallon bags in one go, this isn’t it. Save some money and get a smaller to do the most common bags.
As I noted before, for Long Term Storage (LTS) I do recommend sealing the bags and not just using the inner ziplock. For short or medium term, you can get by with just the inner seal. To me, it’s all about the layers and making it as redundant as possible to limit any leakage of light, air, or water into what is being stored.
Questions or suggestions, sound out! I’ve already picked up some good tips from you, and hope some of what I do may have returned the favor. With the way things are headed, not a bad idea to have a few things tucked away.
Remember, there is no such thing as Preparedness Club. Meantime, be safe, be prepared, keep your friends and family close, and your things where you can find them in the dark. More soon.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Sorry to not post a lot, but it has been an interesting week. As noted on Monday, lots going on and trying to get ready for the medical consult next week. Also trying to start recovering from having to replace everything in the freezer.
I think I mentioned that I am doing an experiment with homemade pastrami. Originally, it was a means of preserving meat in an era before refrigeration became common. After brining the meat for about five days, made the final cure/rub yesterday and coated it. It’s sitting in the refrigerator until tomorrow when I plan to smoke it at 250 for about six hours, though I may have to do part in the oven (depending on circumstances/weather). If it turns out decent, will share the full recipe and such.
Got a bunch of biscuits made this morning, though getting the right amount took making three batches of the recipe I have. Have marked it to double at least, and maybe triple, next time.
Also, a batch of sourdough buttermilk pancakes. Gotten them and the biscuits individually frozen, and a few other things done today as well. More soon.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Looks like I may have to spend today and part of tomorrow running around doing errands. Looks like the Grace period for my car is at an end, so one of the things I need to do is line up transportation to the cardiologist/medical consult next week. I remain very, very thankful that it ran so well and got me through all the events leading up to my Baptism and even on through Bright Week. In fact, it got me home yesterday, though it got interesting towards the end.
All that said, I hope to get up some decent posts this week. If I might ask a favor though, here’s part of what I posted at GiveSendGo:
Things are tight for us all these days, but today I want to ask for some specific prayers. I have an appointment coming up next week with a new cardiologist who is going to be reviewing my case and helping to rule in-or-out some of the “mystery” diagnoses that popped up in the records of one health group. The mystery is who made them and on what basis, which I have not been able to find out so far. If I go spend a day camped out at the central medical records office for that provider I might be able to find out, but when neither I nor my doctors can pull up that info on our own…
The fact is, I need a fresh pair of eyes to look over as much as possible. I especially need to have one particular diagnosis ruled as real or wrong so I can know if I will be able to move to the Southwest or not. What I can do, and when, rides on my health and my insurance coverage. The insurance I have right now will not transfer to any of the SW states. Getting new insurance takes time and things like pre-existing conditions comes into play. So, I need data. More importantly, I need good care.
Thus the specific prayers. If you could say a prayer that this doctor have the skill and experience needed; that he have the wisdom and compassion to provide the care needed; that he be as thorough as needed and that my insurance allow him to do all that is needed; and, that we get the data that is needed to assess my condition(s) and develop the proper treatment plan for same.
For all that I want the worst “mystery” diagnosis disproven, I’m trying to simply pray to “let that which is right be.” Whatever we find out, I will be glad for it as one way or another I will be able to start moving forward on a truly new life.
Thank you for your patience, your encouragement, your inputs on so many topics, and your prayers. It’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks, but I will be the better for them.
Oh, before I forget: I haven’t been able to do as much with the guitar as I would like, given all that has been going on. Good news is when I can work at it, I’m not torturing the cats or the landlord (too badly). Hoping to start setting up regular lessons soon. Did find out that my ability to read sheet music took a hit, so literally doing both singing and the guitar by ear. During Bright Week I found myself a chanter, candle lighter, dishwasher, and more. It was during those services that I started to remember a small amount on sheet music and that I needed to go by ear.
More to come!
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Friday has turned into my baking day, which also means it is laundry day, cleaning day, cooking project day, and a few other things. The sourdough for this week is proofing, the brine for an experiment is cooling, laundry is mostly done (need to put up last load), and I could shed a tear or two after going through my spice totes.
For a number of reasons, I keep my spices and salts (mostly) in two plastic totes. My cabinet space in the kitchen is quite limited, so I just keep a few things I use every day there. The plastic totes hold all the jar/container spices not in the kitchen (mostly alphabetized), and the second tote holds bulk spices and salts. I knew it had been a while since I had gone through things, but found some odd spices that were more than a decade out of date. Clear what I use the most… Threw away a lot of old stuff, though saved a few of the good bottles for other uses.
The title of this post pertains to the tale of the zombie car. Regulars know my car has issues and pretty much died a few months ago. While this tends towards what Sarah A. Hoyt refers to as “woo woo” I thought I would share this with you.
A while back, I volunteered to cook lunch for the Church. I tried the car, and it not only ran, but for the ten days of prep and cooking, it ran smoothly and didn’t leak a drop of any fluid. Now, about two days after the lunch it went back to spewing fluids of various types and running rough (to be polite). Right up until I stepped up to cover another lunch at the last minute. Ran like a top while I did so. Did the same thing a few weeks later as I cooked and we went into Holy Week. Looks like I’m going to be doing some more cooking and kitchen help soon, so hoping it will keep doing this.
Other than that, no comment. Am beyond thankful and have expressed my thanks. Well, I will say that I am not taking the Priest up on his suggestion to cook every week. Not in the budget… Wish it was.
More soon, off to finish working the bread dough and start the experiment (homemade pastrami). Once the bread is finished and in the refrigerator, think I’m done for the day.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
The fact is, there are a number of natural events that can dump large loads of energy into systems not designed for them. There are also acts of man that can do the same. In some cases, there may be warning. In others, particularly the acts of men, not so much. Let’s take a look at some of the threats, then we can get into what preparations you can make.
EMP stands for Electro-Magnetic-Pulse, and is best known as being the result of a nuclear bomb exploding. While there are some natural events that can produce EMP, most of what we have to worry about come from nuclear weapons and other devices designed to create EMP. It is a matter of public record that there are a number of non-nuclear devices, sometimes referred to as e-bombs, that can produce damaging EMP. One of the big worries the pros have is a terrorist group/rogue state using such a device in or above the U.S.
That great big fusion reactor that is our sun also throws out energy on a regular basis beyond mere sunlight. Sunspots, coronal flares, and coronal mass ejections can give us everything from the aurora borealis to the Carrington Event in the 1800s that dropped enough energy onto Earth that it powered the telegraph systems. If memory serves, we have even seen some ejections headed away from Earth that if they came at us would qualify as a Extinction Level Event (ELE). Those of somewhat lesser power would wreak havoc on the power grid, electronics, and communications.
There are also some apparently naturally occurring phenomena that produce energy pulses that don’t qualify as EMP, but can affect electronics and power. If what I remember is correct, we really don’t understand some of these events and as such we may not have a good read on what they can do.
The other thing that can throw large amounts of energy around is lightning. More localized than the others, but something to factor into your planning. Speaking from experience, having that much energy hit systems not designed for it can have interesting and even catastrophic effects.
Given the amazing amount of damage done by lightning each year, it is well worth implementing protections for your home, which will also help those within. I’ve used industrial-grade surge protectors for years when I could not do a whole-house system. Pro Tip: If the surge protector doesn’t have a $10,000 or better warranty, it’s not a real surge protector. The company that made the ones I used the most back in Huntsville ended up buying me a large screen TV. They may have also been the ones who paid me to ship it back so they could do a failure analysis on it.
Also, near and dear to my heart (pun pun), when buying or building check to see how often lightning hits in that area. For some reason, certain locations seem to attract hits. If the property is one such, look elsewhere. If there is one tree in the area that gets hit a lot, cut it down. Side note, my landlord did cut down the tree at the root of my getting hit. I’m good with that.
When it comes to other events, Gryphon in his comment makes a good point. The best protection is not to be plugged in.
EMP and dangerous surges are going to do more damage when you have a larger “antenna” as it were. The miles and miles of transmission lines that are part of our power grid make for a huge antenna. Solar events will give at least some time for warning. Barring terrorist attacks, the rising tensions should give some warning. When things are tense or the boffins are weaseling on what the sun is doing, get in the habit of unplugging appliances and electronics. If you know things are bad or a major solar storm (or a severe lightning storm) is about to hit, I’d recommend flipping your main to off. The more gaps in the system, the better.
Under those circumstances, I’m also going to be putting my laptop, emergency radio, other electronics, chargers, and things with transformers (lots and lots of wire) into one of the metal cannon ammo cans. For most things that aren’t an ELE, they will likely provide sufficient shielding. I can hook them to a ground at need as well. And for general preparedness, but particularly in the event of something like this, have some GOOD radios for communications as you might not have the internet or cellular service for a while. The $5 special at the big box store is not what you want, go for something a bit better. Yet another good reason to check out ARRL for advice, or to get into real radios if you or someone in your family/group gets into it. Me, I sucketh worse than a Hoover at Morse…
Given that you might not get warning for acts of men, it would not hurt to have that can already filled with an emergency radio (crank & multiple power sources), personal com radios, solar charger(s), other chargers, and other electronics or backup electronics you think are needed. Use the personal com radios on a regular basis so you are familiar with them and are keeping them ready to go.
As for vehicles and all the computers in them, well, that’s a good question. I’ve had people tell me that newer cars will be okay overall. I’ve had yet others say the opposite. I’ve put my own car issues on hold for now, but leaning towards something that might not have as many computers and won’t snitch on me. The short take from others is that if you have a metal garage, you should be okay with most events; if there is terrain/earth between your vehicle and the source, you should be good; and, if you are at a sufficient distance from man-made events, you should be good. My personal take is that no one knows for sure, but am hoping for the best, planning for the worst and will take what comes.
Please do take lightning seriously, and plan and prepare for it. If you do, you will find you have done a lot to EMP-proof your home and electronics. There even could be insurance and other benefits to doing it as well. If you get and stock that can, and unplug as much as possible if things get dicey, you’ve done about all you can. Just some quick thoughts that I wanted to share.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
As I mentioned the other day, my freezer door came open a bit and I lost pretty much everything in it. It is an older model and doesn’t have an audible alarm, so by the time I found it…
The freezer is cleaned out and I think I’ve figured out what happened. Edited to remove a comment I decided wasn’t appropriate.
Part of the problem
Since we moved here four or five(??) years ago, the landlord has been using the top of my freezer to store things. This led to my having to sand, semi-repair, and repaint the top of the freezer after bleach leaked and corroded the top. Most recently, he’s started putting heavy bags of cat food on top to keep them away from the orange cat.
I think that this weight resulted in flexing and bending of the top, with the result that the interior ceiling is now bent down and away from the frame. If you look above, you can see the gap that has been created. This has also made the door closing somewhat tenuous. It will close, but it can and will pop open at any nudge, and you really have to close it to get it to close.
Efforts to rebend and reseal didn’t do much.
I bought the landlord a container to hold the cat food, and have moved it off the top of the freezer. I’ve also put up an empty box with notes on it asking that nothing be put on top of the freezer, period. I don’t expect him to be happy about that, nor do I really expect him to do anything about the situation. If he does, great, but the short version is that I think I can get it to limp through the summer but I can’t count on it for the long term. I’m going to go buy a mechanical latch that I screw into place to hold the door shut. But, with the roof bent and the gap in place, it’s just not going to last.
Of course, this freezer model is no longer made by GE. I can go for smaller (no) or for larger. The larger, even on sale, could run up to $1,000. Not happening, at least not this year unless something radically changes. I’m almost scared to try to refill it even with the latches, but will see how it goes.
So, that’s what’s going on with that. Life goes on, and I do have faith that what is right will be. Now, to see what that is…
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Plastic gets a deservedly bad rap on occasions. A number of cheap plastics leach bad things into food or other items stored in them. Cheap plastics will also turn brittle relatively quickly, sometimes even in less than a year. Yet other plastics don’t readily biodegrade and/or contributed to microplastics in the environment. Modern biodegradable plastics are proof that the road to hades is paved with good intentions with the wiring harnesses of our vehicles, military equipment, first responder vehicles and equipment, and much more being extremely tasty to a variety of critters. Not to mention that it can biodegrade while still in use…
However, there are some plastics that are good for Long Term Storage (LTS) of food and other items. These are made with plastics designed not to degrade, not to leach anything, and remain useful for a number of years. These plastics are your friend in an emergency.
The most common one you will be need are food-grade plastic buckets. You can get them square or round, and in a variety of sizes. You even have options on the lid, and while there are pros and cons to each, I mostly go with a screw-on airtight lid (gamma seal may be a brand name) as it gives the most flexibility for the future. The biggest problem in my book is getting the rings on the bucket, which is helped by using a 2-lb weighted mallet. Do not give into temptation and use a sledge hammer. No matter how tempting it is.
While I’m still experimenting a bit, I tend to use 2.5 gallon buckets to hold multiple small bags of spices and such, or to hold non-bulky items. The size gives you a lot of flexibility on storage, and also make it easy to do multiple smaller packages of items so you can distribute them around for redundancy. Also, if they are not heavy, you can stack them on each other. For LTS, I tend to put heavy at 10 lbs or less of weight, preferably less. This reduces load and sheer stress on the containers.
I use 5 gallon buckets for bulk storage or for very bulky items. I’ve found that they are the perfect size for 25 lb bags of beans and other food items. They are also a good size for storing large amounts of toilet paper, feminine products, and other non-life-saving-but-you-really-want-to-have items.
I like the screw tops because they make getting stuff in and out easier. More to the point, you really should rotate or use some of your stocks over time to ensure a fresh supply. The airtight screw tops help preserve once you open the bags within and start using the beans, flour, or whatever is inside. Again, right now it’s just me so buying bulk gets me the best deal and the screw top helps me stretch out the shelf life.
Quick Note: DO NOT STACK 5 GALLON BUCKETS! They are bulky, they are heavy, and the load and sheer stresses placed on the bottom buckets can cause them to fail within just a couple of years. Loudly and messily. I know this because my landlord helpfully stacked some buckets I had in the garage, which had water in them. He then put yet more stuff on top of that. One of the bottom buckets let go, and a fun time was had by all. No, landlord still doesn’t know why I had them or what I do have, unless he is reading here now.
For LTS, what I am currently doing is three levels of containment. Maybe I spent too much time around NASA and others where three levels of redundancy was considered a good start. But, emergencies are not nice and they often can damage more than our calm. Hence, three layers. Bucket, mylar bucket liner, and special mylar bag designed for LTS of food. Above, the buckets with liners in them.
Now you see a bucket with the special 5 gallon food bag placed inside the mylar bucket liner.
Click to embiggen on all images
Now, we get to something that can make some people scream. In the bottom, you see four oxygen absorbing packets. There are a number of writings on the right size for every circumstance, the best way to employ them, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera as the late Mr. Brynner used to declaim. Seriously, they are well worth reading and you can use the knowledge.
Me, well, the rule-of-thumb I go by is that you need at least a 300cc packet per gallon of space. I use that as my minimum and go from there. For example, I think the photo above may show 500cc packets as they came with some bags I ordered. I put four or five in the bottom of the 5 gallon bag, add my storage item, then drop four or five on the top before trying to get as much air out before engaging the zip seal on the bag. I then drop four or five more into the bucket liner before sealing it. I then drop four or five more into the bucket before screwing the lid shut. Since they often come in sealed packages of ten, if I find myself with one or two left out of the packet, I will drop them in rather than waste them.
Yes, it’s overkill but I don’t care. The packets are cheap, while my life and the lives of those I help in an emergency are not. If there is a leak in the main bag, there are two other levels to prevent problems. If the bucket springs a leak, there are two other levels to prevent problems. If you end up with larger packets and more packets than the optimum, well, in my book that’s okay. I consider the 300cc per gallon as a minimum and if the bags come with something larger, I cheerfully use them.
The only thing I don’t use the packets with are salt. With salt, I may use a silica gel packet for moisture control if it is humid the day I store it, but not an O2 packet. Also, don’t try to use silica packs and O2 packs together, as the silica needs O2 to work. Salt is generally good on it’s own.
I’m going to get into sealing the bags next week, as I am both trying something new here soon (I hope) and because it is important. You can get by without the bags and sealing, just using a bucket, but you really do want to use the bags and seal. No, you do not want to trust the zip seal, which I see as just one more layer in preventing air from getting into your food.
Before I wrap up for the day, one quick thought on non-food-grade buckets. In fact, the buckets you can get at the paint store (often much cheaper than can get them at the big box stores). They really aren’t that good for long-term storage but they do have uses so it is a good idea to keep a few around.
For example, if you know something is about to happen, you can fill them with water for use later. If you want to ensure potability, drop in one of those 5 gallon mylar bucket liners and you are good to go. Otherwise, you have the means to flush a commode or bathe at need.
Another good use for them is as an emergency toilet. Dean Ing has good instructions on this in his book Pulling Through. Short version: line bucket with three garbage bags; use cardboard to make a seat if you like; use for solid waste. Again, if a long-term disaster strikes I highly recommend using one of these to collect urine for purification/recycling. Back to topic: when half full, secure bag, secure the next bag to ensure no leaking, take to storage area, add new bags, and you are good to go. My memory/mind is mush these days, but seem to remember that at some point someone was actually making toilet seats for such buckets for camping or emergency use.
Finally, there are some plastic cases that are designed for security and long-term storage. Pelican is probably the best-known brand name, but it has competitors and Bill posted about one he’s tried in the comments to a previous post. Such cases are very good for things, particularly things we might want to protect for or in an emergency. The case you see in that first picture was my travel humidor. While I am giving away most of my smoking gear, did keep a few things just because.
Also, do check mil surplus for such cases. Somewhere I have a very good rifle case that was surplus, and such cases and others can be used for a variety of contents. While food and water are crucial in any emergency, long term emergencies or disasters require a lot more for you and yours to survive in some measure of comfort.
So, have as many options as you can for storage. The more you store and the more you can disperse items around to keep any one disaster from claiming all, the better. The more you can re-use your storage in preparation or in the disaster/emergency, the better. Just as glass can be re-used or even re-purposed, so to can your plastic (and metal) storage containers. Factor that into your planning and budget, as I don’t like single-use items. Most items should be able to pull double or triple duty in an emergency, or even more.
More on sealing soon. I may get into some nice-to-haves and other items for consideration tomorrow. And some cheap or free sources for food-grade buckets. We will see.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
Rather than press ahead as planned, recent weather has caused me to reconsider and move up my planned discussion of metal containers for Long Term Storage (LTS). No, not terrestrial weather, but space weather — specifically solar weather.
If you were fortunate enough last week to have a clear sky (we didn’t, alas), the aurora borealis was seen with the naked eye as far south as parts of Texas. Normally, such is only seen at the higher latitudes such as in norther Alaska and such. Thanks to some very energetic solar storms and coronal mass ejections, we have had quite the light show.
All well and good, but if you are not familiar with the Carrington Event you should read up on it and the potential for the Sun to do much worse. Let’s face it, the event allowed telegraph operators on both costs to disconnect their batteries and keep operations going for hours, which means a tremendous amount of energy was getting pumped into our Earthly system. It had some amazing effects then. Dumping that much or more on us now has the potential to be catastrophic.
Now, in terms of normal preparedness, metal cans meet a lot of needs. They are long lasting, resistant to a variety of harms, can be easy (if heavy) to carry, etc. There are commercial containers available, but I tend to be cheap so go for mil-surplus you can get for a good price (normally, but not as much recently).
I like the cans as they come in different sizes, the gaskets are usually good and will stay that way (resilient), and even if buried good for a decade or three. They can hold ammo, cigars, and a lot more. They are great for controlled environment storage. For cigars (before I effectively stopped recently) for example, I lined a can with Spanish cedar, loaded in my cigars with cedar sheets in between layers, threw in some Boveda packs (the single best way to get perfect humidity for storage of cigars, guitars, and much more), and checked on them every six months to a year. They are also the best option for semi-dangerous storage, things that are flammable or could otherwise do damage if stored improperly. Also, with padding, great for storing fragile items.
Metal is going to be the most protective material for any storage, much less long-term. It gives a range of options to you and can be modified at need. Drawbacks are weight (good cans are heavy, but you don’t want cheap and thin cans) and cost.
Now, given our recent solar weather, here’s another advantage to metal cans — they can be shielded. The can itself can provide some level of shielding, and my plan if there was advanced warning on a nuclear exchange was to put as many of my electronics and chargers in a metal can as possible. To make it even better, keep it in a basement, or better yet a shielded area in a basement and run a lead to a good ground, and you’ve got decent protection for those electronics. Key is, you want the items unplugged (longer the “tail” the greater the chance for EMP or anything else to burn out the electronics, and the tail doesn’t get much longer than the miles and miles of lines bringing you power to your home), shielded by other metal (grounded by preference, and underground and grounded if at all possible), and powered down.
For LTS of goods, metal is great. For LTS of foods, it is not necessarily as good. Some metals can and do leach like bad plastics. Some metals can oxidize in ways that can harm food. So, if you want to use metal cans for LTS of food, go in layers. Use mylar bucket liners (available in a variety of sizes) plus mylar food storage bags (just like you would for LTS of food in food-grade plastic containers), and you should be good. Just use good quality cans that are properly finished. Using Cousin Abdul’s homemade cans with his special “secret” finish is not the way to go. Go good mil-surplus or storage grade commercial, it is worth the money.
Oh, if you are going to go for LTS of musical instruments, wooden items, or items needing a bit of humidity, look at using both large mylar bags (sealed with Boveda or other inside) inside metal which also has a controlled environment. Two or more layers of protection, plus the metal will give maximum protection to the contents. You can go for certain grades of plastic case (think Pelican as one brand), but keep in mind price will be high, it may not be the same formulation as even a few years ago, and plastic will go brittle before metal.
For truly critical items, consider some form of normal case, inside plastic, inside metal. This works for artwork, instruments, and much more. Put the final case into storage in a geologically-stable area underground, and you are golden.
For home use, you can get a lot of protection via layering. Depends on what you are trying to protect, why, and for how long.
Just some quick food for thought this morning. The world is wonky. The Sun is being interesting (keep an eye on Space Weather Here). Be prepared. Remember, keep your family and real friends close, your preparations as complete as possible and as close to your vest as possible, and your things where you can find them in the dark.
Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
