What was your prep for today?

These two water proof compression sacks are in my car year round.
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In the larger one, you'll find a heavy fleece jack/shirt a fleece liner jacket, and a gortex water proof outer shell. Also a pair of socks, and two thin plastic bags to use as a water proof barrier for dry socks, should my shoes and feet get wet. In the winter months I'll add a pair of gortex snow pants.

In the smaller one, there are more socks, a towel, and a couple of pair of undies.

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I also always have a urinal, and toilet paper. Also a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, warm hat and gloves, road flares, and ofcourse flashlights are always included. I usually have 2-4 bottles of water. Come to think of it, I also have a few of those $3 ponchos, mylar blankets, chemical handwarmers, duct tape, fire starter, bic lighter, whistle, and paracord, always in the trunk.

During the winter months, I add the bag of trail mix, a long handled shovel, a length of rope, and a sleeping bag in a compression sack.
 
Bought some summer sausages the other day to put in the vehicle for the winter, just in case of getting stranded. Plan on adding some Hershey chocolate and some peanut butter cheese crackers, and maybe some other stuff to the grub box. Thinking maybe with the sodium content, Gator-Aide might have a lower freezing temp than bottled water, so may add that to the vehicle preps. Anyone have any data on that?
Modern Gator-Aide doesn't have much salt anymore. Keep in mind many birds get their water from seeds. Sunflower seeds for example have water. Peanuts have as much as 10% water. Carrots, peas, corn, etc. So what you do is keep a few snack size ziplock bags in the car, add some frozen whatever and stick it in your pocket to thaw. Get some hydration that way. Grapes are mostly water.
 
Trail mix, peanuts, sunflower kernels, cashews, Life Savers, Werthers Originals, beef jerky all added to my shopping list. I may also add some small boxes of just raisins, too, for some who may not want the trail mix. "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't." :crackup:
 
Modern Gator-Aide doesn't have much salt anymore. Keep in mind many birds get their water from seeds. Sunflower seeds for example have water. Peanuts have as much as 10% water. Carrots, peas, corn, etc. So what you do is keep a few snack size ziplock bags in the car, add some frozen whatever and stick it in your pocket to thaw. Get some hydration that way. Grapes are mostly water.
I think I'll stick a bottle of G-A outside on the porch, near my thermometer, and see if it freezes at the temps we are going to get. I think it is supposed to snow this weekend, so this would be a good time to test it out. Thanks for the tip on the lower sodium content, bykfixer. (y)
 
Tell you what; raw unsalted sunflower seeds can fuel a person in a good way. Mixing maybe a quarter ratio with roasted unsalted cashews can be a good way regarding taste.

Consider not going overboard with salt unless snacking. Of course hot humid sweating a person needs salt.
 
It's time to recharge my batteries!

Flashlights are stored on the top of my dresser, on a shelf of my mirrored hutch, hanging on a lanyard in a dark closet, and in a drawer of my roll top desk. Otherwise they can be found lying around the house. People use one, and lie it down somewhere to end up inside a drawer, or something. They'll frequently/often put it back where they got it from.

Yesterday my grandson took a Maglite M25LT stoked with an 18650, from the top of my dresser. Only to find that it was stone cold dead!

I guess it is time to gather up the lights and top them off. I like to keep them fully charged. I know that is not the best for the battery life, but I don't care.
 
Minor preps. today:
Bought a folding and locking Klein Tools drywall saw (obviously useful for other tasks). Bought a compact folding and locking saw that takes standard sawzall blades (very handy if you don't have power for your power-tool). And finally, a very compact, hand-held bicycle pump w/ a gauge on it.

Toss that thing in your glove-box so that you have a car tire inflator in case your battery-powered one is dead. Yeah, you'll be out there for quite awhile. But eventually your tire will have enough air in it to get you home. Handy if you Fix-a-flat ain't cutting it, and your new car model didn't come with a spare.

Edit: Typo.
 
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Minor preps. today:
Bought a folding and locking Klein Tools drywall saw (obviously useful for other tasks). Bought a compact folding and locking saw that takes standard sawzall blades (very handy if you don't have power for your power-tool). And finally, a very compact, hand-held bicycle pump w/ a gauge on it.

Toss that thing in your glove-box so that you have a car tire inflator in case your battery-powered on is dead. Yeah, you'll be out there for quite awhile. But eventually your tire will have enough air in it to get you home. Handy if you Fix-a-flat ain't cutting it, and your new car model didn't come with a spare.
Here's something you might find useful.

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Wow Dave, that's interesting.

My dad had a SLOw leak. Since he has a couple Ryobi tools, I bought him a Ryobi One+ tire inflater, for him to keep in the trunk of his car.

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I think it was about $39, now I see that it is $58.
Wow!!!
 
…Bought a compact folding and locking saw that takes standard sawzall blades (very handy if you don't have power for your power-tool)…
Much appreciate the idea. I was looking at bone saws at Cabelas but now we have replaceable stainless steel blades said to be suitable for food prep. If we get a sawzall, bonus.

Seems like C. Gardener liked sawzall tools.

Note the blade design of the butcher blades; no kerf, grind is cut interior of teeth (but the spine is not thinner like a Corona pruning pull saw)


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The weather is getting nice, and I want to get a jump on those Jersey mosquitos that will be getting thirsty very soon. I sprayed the front and back yards with bug killer.

I also picked up a thick 12 inch aluminum pan with non-stick coating, and a stainless handle. I may use it in the house, but I got it as a throw-away pan to use on my grill. I tossed the thin one that had much of the teflon scraped off of it. Now, I seasoned it with olive oil, and it is ready for a cooking experience in the back yard.
 
Wanted to ask if anyone has a mini chainsaw as part of their preps.?
Won't lie, I'm not much of a power-tool user. And you're not ever going to see me swinging a full-sized chainsaw around. But these significantly smaller ones seem as though they would be handy for a lot more than simply tough pruning jobs around the home garden. For anyone a bit confused, I mean these things....
 
I prefer a cordless reciprocating saw w/ a 12" wood blade to the miniature chainsaws. Easier to replace the blades when they go dull, just as fast (if not faster) to tear through whatever you point it to. I never use the little chainsaw anymore.


 
Wanted to ask if anyone has a mini chainsaw as part of their preps.?
Won't lie, I'm not much of a power-tool user. And you're not ever going to see me swinging a full-sized chainsaw around. But these significantly smaller ones seem as though they would be handy for a lot more than simply tough pruning jobs around the home garden. For anyone a bit confused, I mean these things....

No, not me.
One of my preps is a fiskars pruning saw.

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But if I need to cut downed trees out of my way, I'll use my 18" electric chain saw powered by a portable generator.

I have to admit that I am periodically tempted to buy an 18V ryobi chain saw. Then I think back on how many times I used my chain saw over the past 20 years or so that I have owned it.... may be four times? Nah... I don't need another tool cluttering my shed, just so that I feel good about having it.
 
Went a little overboard with the credit card yesterday, filling in a few holes in my preps.

- Off-brand budget electric screwdriver that did surprising well in independent testing. (The brand is called "NoCry." Hey, I didn't name it.)

- Craftsman 12-piece screwdriver set. Low-price but good quality.
Realized that one set of excellent quality screwdrivers (Milwaukee) wasn't enough for me.

- Fiskars Axe and knife sharpener.

- Kobalt 4AA battery-powered LED Work Light. Got lanterns, and headlamps but realized, no Work Light.

- "Black & Decker Home How-To manual, Updated 2nd Edition."

Yeah, I know.... Friends don't let friends buy Black & Decker. But this is a book. Plus, I think the brand gets a very bad wrap. Ideal for those on incredibly tight budgets who might use their power-tools literally a handful of times a year, but want to have tools. B&D is like that one handy neighbor who can fix a lot of things. But best not to trust him with the more complex home repair projects.

Otherwise he'll accidentally drill a hole through a water-pipe in your wall, and you'll have to call a professional plumber to come fix the mess. But if you need a broken bed-frame support repaired, or a loose chair-leg fixed; Sergay can handle that. In exchange for a few bucks and a glass of whisky. That's Black & Decker power-tools in a nut-shell.
 
Yeah, I know.... Friends don't let friends buy Black & Decker. But this is a book. Plus, I think the brand gets a very bad wrap. Ideal for those on incredibly tight budgets who might use their power-tools literally a handful of times a year, but want to have tools. B&D is like that one handy neighbor who can fix a lot of things. But best not to trust him with the more complex home repair projects.

Otherwise he'll accidentally drill a hole through a water-pipe in your wall, and you'll have to call a professional plumber to come fix the mess. But if you need a broken bed-frame support repaired, or a loose chair-leg fixed; Sergay can handle that. In exchange for a few bucks and a glass of whisky. That's Black & Decker power-tools in a nut-shell.
+

Black & Decker owns:

DeWalt
Craftsman
Stanley
Irwin
Lenox

not bad for any prep
 
+

Black & Decker owns:

DeWalt
Craftsman
Stanley
Irwin
Lenox

not bad for any prep
Black & Decker doesn't really "own" Stanley. That was a proper merger. Is Stanley Black & Decker now.
But yeah, that group owns a bunch. You're right on the money there.

Most of the power tool companies are like that. The only real independent brands left are Hilti and Makita.

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+

Black & Decker owns:

DeWalt
Craftsman
Stanley
Irwin
Lenox

not bad for any prep
I simply meant their line of power-tools are not highly regarded by many. If I owned those other brands, as the CEO of B&D, I'd change the color scheme on a few of the tools from those other brands to Black & Orange, lower the price a tiny bit.... Then just put them out there to mess with the haters. YouTube vids. from the power-tool channels....

"I swear this new Black & Decker drill is the same as this DeWalt! Only a different color and somewhat cheaper! I swear it is!"

Won't lie, despite having standardized on Ryobi, I'm taking a serious look at that Black & Decker 8-piece power-tool set that is centered around their drill. Yes, my expectations are realistic. But that set looks like excellent value for everything you get, compared to the price. Also, the space savings would be fantastic.
 
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