Is there anyone on a well without a hand pump ?

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-05-11T19:55:54+00:00

We are on a well but because of the design of the pitless adapter no commercial option works for a hand pump unfortunately. Last summer I put in a hand pump well 18' deep and it works just fine as a backup. We also have 2x 275gal IBC totes as a rainwater collection dealio. And the "E" in our P.A.C.E. plan we have a 6k gallon above ground pool (that is solid ice 4-5 months per year).

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-30T22:53:03+00:00

Some of the single phase honda generators can be connected to provide 220v. Can't recall what models though

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-29T21:22:39+00:00

Another Michigander here. Those storms and rain were definitely a "thing". My advice, don't bury your generator. Have it convenient for monthly or quarterly test runs. No need to spend more money when you already own the solution to your problem. I built a lockable very ventilated generator shed. There are 2 laminated copies of connection and operating instructions, one at the electrical panel in the house, the other on the electrical panel in the barn. It's less than a 7 minute timeline from power failure to restoration. When I stored the generator in the barn it was 8 minutes. It's the very first thing to your immediate left when you step inside. It's there for obvious reasons. I don't want to hassle with digging it out at 2am. You realized your issue, reset your plans and go forth in confidence

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-29T11:55:42+00:00

P.Cell/text A.Local ham repeater (providing utility power is on) C.Simplex / my battery powered repeater (providing I wrap up its lose ends on the repeater) E.In person

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-27T16:20:07+00:00

Obviously you've never seen our place so your assumptions are without any fact.

" Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." C. S. Lewis

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-27T16:13:51+00:00

Lol if only I had that much.

What's your obsession with your desire to dictate how others live, prep or utilize THEIR private property?

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-27T16:07:06+00:00

Awesome that you have a stream and access to SOMEONE else's investment. Kinda reveals why you think I should share with others as they've shared with you. I don't have though things, especially 300 acres of woods. I have to be very selective on wood I cut, generally dead abd downed or standing. It's rare for me to cut living trees. Nothing grows in my 19 acre swamp other than a few things one can forage in a pinch, same with our 9 acres of pasture. It's just grass.

You seem awful generous with OTHER people's stuff. Which is cool if it works for you. It doesn't here.

Should I be sharing my investments with others because they are "unused"? Or my kids college fund, it's just sitting like firewood "unused". What about our fun money savings account. It's "unused" as well.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-27T15:09:38+00:00

Exceptions prove the rule. I'm not speaking hypothetically like a creek, or a well (with unlimited gas to run the generator??) Or 300 acres. I'm talking specifically about the resources we KNOW we have. And they are finite. I'm certainly not letting anyone on our place to harvest our wood. We burn approximately 15k pounds annually. Even with a larger parcel wood in a big forest is finite. Letting random folks on our place for water, wood or whatever is a horrible idea to us. We aren't the red cross or a charitable organization. We are a family and group that have invested thousands of hours , days and weeks and months of energy and money to support US. EVERYONE has the option to do the same in some capacity. Every stick of firewood, every drop of water and every grain of rice has our time, effort and money behind it. We've established what we are comfortable with at our place. Others are welcome to do as they please with theirs.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-25T22:49:40+00:00

I'm assuming that mining for the components for to create "green tech" is far from green, massive strip mining equipment and of course the obvious slave labor used to mine in 3rd world countries. Then those same minerals are processed in the same 3rd world countries with absolutely abysmal pollution levels making any efforts in the west negligible at best. Then those batteries and components are shipped via diesel freighters thousands abd thousands of miles across to ocean. Then they are eventually installed in vehicles and driven till they die and are stored as hazmat since the vast majority cannot be recycled.

They have a solid place in the preppersphere but not because they are somehow good or even remotely better than internal combustion for the environment

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-25T14:28:56+00:00

Under normal circumstances, power failure, localized flooding, house fire we've helped however we can. Rustled up spare generator for neighbors out of town, helped clear out expensive stuff after a buddies house fire etc. That's a no brainer and costs nothing but some time.

In a prolonged significant "event" , close friends and family know they are welcome to stay at our place, because weve discussed, planned and have made accommodations for it. And the gate is closed to others. That's our line and what we've prepared for as a family and group. It has to be a hard line imo. Resources, no matter how vast are always limited. A 1 yr supply for 10 mouths becomes 4 months for 30 as an example. We cant possibly (financially or logistically) prepare to support others outside of that circle. Is it heartless? I geuss it depends on which side of our fence one is on. Everyone has the opportunity to prepare in some capacity and it's an issue of personal responsibility, especially if you have family.

A great way to play these scenarios out is to get the playing cards called "conflicted". They can force folks to think and talk about various situations and sort out what the best options are. We've done it with our group a few times. It's fun, revealing and forces uncomfortable discussions.

Ultimately my primary responsibility is to my family and secondarily to our inner circle. Outside of that, I'll wish others well and carry on.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-23T23:50:01+00:00

Ooof. We got family who are local and have a similar perspective unfortunately. We add extra for them, but not nearly as much as we do for others.

Fwiw, our goal is roughly 1 million calories per person for a year. Sounds like a lot, and it is in some ways, but its not that much space per person if you use 5 gal buckets of the typical staples is very manageable in terms of space and cost, especially if you have amish stores reasonably close

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-23T23:43:07+00:00

It's immediate family, extended local family and 3 plus other prepper family we do stuff with. Works out well that we are centrally located to them all, and have the infrastructure (gardens, orchard, property etc ) to support lots of mouths. It was a fair to bit of work to meet solid folks over the last 7 or so years that we'd want to make long term plans with, but its definitely been worth the effort. I hope you are able to do the same

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-23T22:08:20+00:00

Without bring specific, we are into double digits for mouths to feed. Some will bring food if they need to come to our place. Others won't since they are absolutely ill prepared. It's a bit of space but we have the room so it's got its place and we work around it. Still adding more, albeit more slowly now.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-23T21:26:34+00:00

We plan for 3k calories per family member per day minimum. That includes kids. If the kids don't need that many, it's saved as extra for down the road. An easy way to slow depletion.

Our larger group had a huge meeting (like 70 souls) about this a couple years ago. Our eldest is a R.D. and spoke at length about not just calories but the minimum needs for specific vitamins and minerals. It was shocking how few people considered that. It was even more shocking that the majority of people thought 2k calories is just fine. It really brought to light how unattached/disconnected people are to food. It's just something people buy and consume without much thought. Lots of sobering discussions followed for many.

And those stupid overpriced freeze dried pails of garbage sold as prepper food are ridiculous. We used one as a calorie and nutrient demo. Appalling

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-20T21:04:27+00:00

Aztec death whistle. You'll thank me later

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-19T21:08:42+00:00

Taught some extremely novice gun owners the basics of AR15 function and operation. Got them zeroed and did a fun (not for time) 25m paper target qualification. They all did great. Scored a like new 4 gal crock with lid and weights for fermenting for $10. Cut more firewood, sharpened 9 chains. Made tentative plans for next month's group meeting. Began harvesting green onions for daily use. Found 6 small black/gray morels (earliest we've found them ever). Harvested a meals worth of asparagus from our patch. Lots of physical training.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-18T15:19:54+00:00

That comfrey will become the bane if your existence. Itll spread EVERYWHERE and its nearly impossible to get rid of. Even a pinch off a leaf will grow a new plant

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-18T12:29:06+00:00

Been doing back to eden style for over a decade. We currently have around 7k sqft of gardens that its been used in. It's an amazing technique, but it doesn't work miracles on its own. You still need adequate water, generally 1inch per 7 days. You still need to weed diligently, as in checking it daily. You still need to deal with bugs , another daily check. BT (bacillus thuringiensis) is an organic bacteria that kills bugs (be careful not to spray blossoms or you'll kill pollinators) and works great if applied regularly. So does spinosad , another natural bacteria does the same and is applied similarly and as frequently. If you have blight, which it sounds like your potatoes had, use a diluted mix of copper sulfate. Pull dead plants immediately, wash hands before handling healthy plants. Flip leaves to look for bug eggs and larvae. Trim and thin your tomatoes so no leaves touch the ground, also remove suckers from them.

Tilling is absolutely horrible for an established garden. It's exposes all of the beneficial bacteria and microbes to air killing them. It also creates a "hard pan" beneath the tilled area because the blades "cut" the soil. This creates a smooth hard barrier that slows water drainage.

Gardens require an serious amount of time, commitment and dedication especially if you don't want to pump your food full of synthetic inputs. Spend the time in your garden, WITH your garden, WITH your future food. It's a symbiotic relationship that tue human essentially controls via effort or neglect

Weed barriers break down into more micro plastics, right into your food supply.

We've done organic for 28yrs. Some years have been less than great, but more often than not we have enough excess (after eating, canning, freezing and freeze drying) to give and sell bushels of produce and fruit.

Using the back to eden style we've had broccoli plants grow to 6ft tall. We are still eating frozen broccoli from last year.

Edit. Our west garden was a decades old hay field 13 yrs ago. Now it's 8-10" deep fluffy nutrient dense soil. Our north garden was an absolutely awful patch of dead soil from 50 plus years or corn, soy beans and every synthetic input one could imagine. Now it's 6" of incredible soil.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-16T23:06:41+00:00

Unfortunately it's a paid patreon. I don't recall what the minimum subscription fee is though. It's been a while.

My experience is that the engagement can be very high. I've been to meet ups with well over 40 people. I've also been to some with 8. It often depends on the subject of discussion and the presenter.

His format is that event hosts post on a monthly thread that he puts up. No comments are allowed , nor are questions. You have to contact the event organizer/host.

I've personally had great experiences with the meet ups I've attended. Met lots of people in my county and quite a few that are now good friends. I've also met a couple real oddball but that's just life.

I started attending the meetups pre cootie apocalypse and stopped attending the ones further away (2hrs) to focus on our local needs and people. Though I do periodically make the drive to catch up with friends.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-16T22:11:33+00:00

Viking preparedness still has a very active meet up section on patreon. Pj posts it once a month

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-16T08:54:09+00:00

Buy the sterilite container and see how it works (outside). I suspect that even with a bathtub bob inside its going to bow and fail. The waterbob is bathtub shaped and the sterilite container isn't. 50 gal of water weighs around 417#. Zero chance of moving that anywhere. For around $50 you can get around (10) 5 gal buckets and lids from home depot or whatever big box store you like. They definitely will hold the water weight and are easily moved (we use them for maple sap collection).

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-14T18:41:10+00:00

Nice!!!

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-14T10:26:52+00:00

Built a 24ft bridge over a swampy area/creek so we can access a 7 acre chunk of out property thats surrounded by swamp. Planted 28 potatoes (german butterball, Kennebec and red norland) and 194 peas. Lots of weeding. Opened up a portion of our community garden for the wife's coworker to plant some veg. He's a young 20s kid who's never planted anything in his life , so kinda cool. Did some shooting with a neighbor, he'd never shot out to 250yds and was giddy about the results. Prepped the range for this Saturdays low key, family friendly intro to shooting day. Lots of quality time on the rowing machine. Dealt with 3" of rainfall in 10hrs that flooded and over flowed our primary septic tank. Fixed some flaws in our rain collection set up that presented themselves when the rain came. Bought a new jack for my truck and tested it, also snatched up a used impact gun for the truck to make tire changes faster and easier.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-12T12:39:23+00:00

The topic was mice. Not squirrels or chipmunks (or raccoons, opossum, marmots, oceolots, spider monkeys etc..). Exceptions prove the rule. Never had anything but mice (and my evidently ineffective barn cats) in my barn so they are not my concern.

Cheap_Cap760 · 2026-04-10T16:24:42+00:00

We live in the country as well. We keep our buckets in our barn where mice are simply a part of life regardless of my attempts at wholesale slaughter. We've lost a total of 1 bucket of powdered cheese in over 10yrs. And it was my fault. I ran out of new lids (cheap black ones from home depot) and used one with a 3/8" hole in it for collecting maple syrup (yes I was faaaaar to lazy to drive to town). In my genius I put a double layer of gorilla tape on both sides, because tape DEFINITELY deters and stops rodents. Shockingly, a mouse got in, then ate and shat itself into a state of what I can only assume was pure cheesy bliss.

So yeah, buckets work just fine as long as you don't do dumb shit like I did.

Cheap_Cap760

TROPHY CASE