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From the Desk of John Rourke – February 19th, 2024

Written by

JR

in

Hello all! Hope everyone’s week has started off well. Tonight it’s going to drop to around 6 degrees here in Maine. It’s been a very easy winter as far as snow goes. Currently, the forecast is calling for some snow on Friday and Saturday but a lot can happen between now and then.

We shall see.

wood stove, survival, winter, heating, prepare, prepper, get ready

I recently picked up a partial cord of wood from https://www.youtube.com/@woodtimesinthe207

I didn’t need the wood, but, like ammunition, if you have a wood stove you simply can’t have too much. I’m so glad I connected with “207” as he’s a great guy and provides a fantastic product. All the wood I got tested out at between 10-14% moisture and was extremely uniform in size. I’m going to reach out to pick up another load soon.

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Maine Prepper Girl and I enjoy going to antique shops and estate sales. At a recent estate sale, I came across an old Coleman lantern pictured above. It mounts atop a standard 1-pound propane canister and shines extremely bright. As part of our grid-down preps and combined with redundancy with battery-operated lanterns and candles it alone can light up the entire cabin.

I ended up ordering two more identical lanterns off eBay and picked up a bunch of the mantels for them. Over the coming summer, we will stock up on 1-pound propane cannisters for the following winter. Now – these are not only winter items. Light is needed all times of the year.

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Communication is a part of preparedness that is largely overlooked, but, at the same time over emphasized. Yeah, doesn’t make sense I know. The bottom line is I place a great emphasis on “local” communications. I’m talking short-range. From our property, I’d like to set up a communications system that can reach out close to a 5-mile diameter. This means from one side to another – 10 miles total. I own a GMRS repeater that has NOT been installed. I have a 2-meter base station and need to mount an antenna as high as possible to reach mobile units as far as possible.

Come Spring there is a lot of work to do. November 2024 is our target date to get so much accomplished – and to be as ready as possible for what may await us.
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My local Tractor Supply just got in a huge variety of plants, and seeds, and is getting set up for baby chicks. MPG and I are planning to get a chicken coop and caging in an area for them. We are looking at adding additional blueberry bushes and also planting several apple trees.

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Stay safe all and please…..keep preparing.

Rourke

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Comments

3 responses to “From the Desk of John Rourke – February 19th, 2024”

  1. Chuck Avatar
    Chuck

    I remember at deer camp when I was young waking up to the hissing
    of the trusty Coleman Lanterns and the smell of bacon and coffee.
    Of course in those days we used Coleman white gas for fuel.The small
    bottles of propane were not on the market yet but I recall that they cost
    less than a dollar. Touching the mantle with the match and breaking it
    got a major stink eye from the old folks.I’d give a lot to turn the clock back.
    Those were the best of times.

    I would like to mention that fire is our best friend and can be our worst
    enemy. We work hard and sometimes struggle to get all of our preps in order. Any time a flame is used for lighting purposes there is a chance
    of an accident.Whatever you have on SHIT Day is probably all you have for
    a long while.
    We have a good supply of 100 hour liquid paraffin candles but they will be
    used only as a last resort.
    Our go to lights are Dynamo/Solar/AA lanterns.The solar outdoor sidewalk
    lights also work well.I can think of no use for empty propane bottles.

    The price of fire wood has gone crazy all across the county.As John said
    you can never have too much.
    For those of us that are old and rickety we have a place that sells fire
    wood by the pound.Just pull the truck or trailer on the scale.They weigh
    empty and load you up with a conveyor belt and then weigh again.Pay up
    and head for home.We are lucky to have neighbor kids that will unload
    and stack for pizza and root beer.

    Reply
  2. JohnP Avatar
    JohnP

    Redundancy is good

    Reply
  3. Brad Law Avatar
    Brad Law

    Just a tidbit for those like me that don’t throw out much. You can buy an adapter to refill the one pound propane bottles from the twenty pounders. Seems like I got mine from Harbor Freight. I’ve had good results using them. Stay safe and prep on.

    Brad

    Reply

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