Recumbent Bicycles. Texas Wildfire Averted -- AmRRON Activation

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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To begin, SurvivalBlog reader H.L. sent this: New Report Details How the Federal Government Partnered with Universities to Censor Americans’ Speech.

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2A Victory: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Biden ATF ‘Ghost Gun’ Limits – Rules Agencies Cannot ‘Write Laws’.

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And more good Second Amendment news in this video from Armed Attorneys: Nationwide Injunction: ATF Brace Rule Stopped by Court. (The meat of it starts at the 2-minute mark.)

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Reader C.B. liked this recent post by friend-of-the-blog Patrice Lewis: Harvesting potatoes.

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SaraSue sent this snippet:

“The first piglets to be born on this farm made their debut. Their mom handled it all, overnight, without any assistance. Although, if I had spent the night in the barn with her, I might have been able to save the one that didn’t make it. I’m not one to stay up all night with birthing animals – some people do. I don’t. My philosophy is that if they are healthy, they should be able to do what nature intended for them. I do everything I can to make sure their environment is a good one, and check on them often. The ones that made it are lively and healthy. I am thankful.”

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Rep. Massie tried to stop automobile “Kill Switch” technology but was blocked by fellow Republicans.

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‘The First Amendment Is Done’: Tucker Sits Down With Internet Troll Convicted For 2016 Election Meme.

Mike in Alaska wrote:

“I read the article in the recent blog article about cycling, especially during a grid down catastrophe or TEOTWAWKI situation. Thay was a great article. I see a lot of bikes up here all year round. Yes, even in the winter there are fat tire snow bikes folks ride though it’s a bit much for this old fart. I have seen a number of recumbent bikes too and they seem quite nice for the exercise but I am not sure about utility. I have seen recumbent bikes with a small child carrying cart attached and mom or dad peddling with child in tow.

This article was a good one as it was direct and to the point and the author did talk about his limitations. Thank you for posting; we’ve looked into some form of bike alternative for both exercise as well as a possible source of transportation though off-road options up here are quite limited.”

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Neil McCoy-Ward on the recent protests and some monetary news: THE LAST 72 HOURS CHANGED EVERYTHING…

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And on the same topic, reader Large Marge wrote:

“The author wrote of inexperience with recumbent bicycle styles. I strongly recommend investigating recumbents for several reasons:

A — Pedal pressure can be many multiples of body weight.

On a diamond frame bicycle, the only power to the pedals is some fraction of body weight.

For example, I weigh 220#, so the maximum I can push would be around that number.

However, a portion of my weight is supported by my hands as they grip the handlebars.

Another fraction of my weight is on the up-stroke pedal, reducing the power potential further.

In — instead of ‘on’ — a recumbent, the operator pushes on the pedals with the hips pressed into the seat and its supports, generating significantly increased thrust compared to a diamond frame.

Picture a squat machine in the gym, Sitting in the contraption, the operator presses both feet into the foot-board while simultaneously countering that force with the hips into the seating pads, moving as much as several hundred pounds with each repetition.

B — On a diamond frame, part of the body-weight is supported by the seat (‘saddle’).

The seat design is ideal to injure the delicate nerves in the groin. Riders are at-risk of incontinence and sexual dysfunction.

C — injuries to the delicate nerves in the hands and wrists are common because they support much of the body weight. Add the vibrations and jarring transferred through the front suspension, and injuries are cumulative.

D — in a recumbent, the operator sits in the equivalent of a recliner in the living-room.

The national position approximates neutral-G or zero-gravity, with little-to-no pressure on sensitive nerves.

E — the pedal-pressure (‘thrust’) available is many times that of a diamond frame rider.

In a recumbent, acceleration is breathtaking.

F — if a recumbent operator begins to lose balance, simply put one foot on the ground.

As so vividly demonstrated by Glorious Leader Joe Biden in the place now known as ‘Brandon Falls’, the wreck of a diamond frame bicycle can be devastating… and humiliating… and can impact future employment opportunities.

G — for recumbent steering, my preference is under-seat.

The hands naturally fall into the handle-bars, stressless.

The shoulders are comfortably relaxed, the neck is naturally arched, the wrists automatically placed lightly on the grips.

An aside:

I am all about the comfort, so my recumbent has a head-rest with bolsters.

Alternately, some recumbents are engineered with the steering in front of the operator’s face, the grips at eye-level.

Unfortunately, the shoulders need to be constantly semi-rigid to support the weight of the arms and hands.

If a car-door opens in my path, I simply raise my feet to bounce off the obstacle.

My hands remain on the grips.

In the same situation, with face-level steering, all that metal is a potential irritant.

H — recumbent trikes are a blast!

The operator sits mere inches above pavement, offering a significantly lower center-of-gravity… with its associated handling benefits.

I — downsides of recumbents:

Visibility — the lower operator seating position is often below the windows on vehicles.

To counter this, some operators fly a flag, similar to speedy off-rode vehicles in dunes.

Pushing — in the event of a break-down, the recumbent operator either:

a) bends over to the level of the handle-bars, or

b) lifts one end of the bicycle so it can balance on the good wheel.

Off-road paths — the lower seat restricts the vision, so the recumbent operator has less notice of changes in the trail ahead.

In my opinion, regardless of type or size, travel during the remainder of this collapse puts a big target on every vehicle.

Only the quietest traveler is in a position to ‘stalk’ the opposition.

Meanwhile, the opposition is stalking me… evaluating my potential as a source of goodies.

I think that silent and ‘invisible’ is better than going face-to-face with unknown opponents.

During the remainder of this collapse, I think a diamond frame bicycle can be useful for carrying a tremendous load as the operator walks alongside.

However, riding a bicycle with loaded panniers severely restricts mobility.

The added mass tends to want to continue in a straight line, often contrary to road conditions.

Conclusion:
Although each bicycle style has a purpose, I preferred a recumbent — back in the olden days — while we were semi-civilized. During the remainder of this collapse, anything other than understanding my ‘target status’ is a recipe for disaster.

My plan:

Slow, silent, eyes open, and head on a swivel.

A bicycle is engineered for rapidly getting to the destination.

During the remainder of this collapse, I think the speed of a bicycle is too great to recognize brigands and their road-blocks in time to safely avoid them.

And if you manage to initially escape us, your tire tracks are easy for me to follow.”

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Massive Homeless Encampment Fire Shuts Down Los Angeles Freeway Indefinitely.

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WSJ: The FCC’s New Racial Broadband Rule.

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Another from H.L.: West Texas rattled by one of state’s strongest earthquakes over past 123 years.

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Reader Steve Z. had this snippet:

“We spent the weekend clearing and burning brush, picked up all the ground apples and leaves and cleaned the chicken coop. All of it dumped on the garden and rototilled in and covered with black tarps for the spring. The black tarps are something new this year as we read that it will help heat and kill weed seeds and warm the soil for early spring planting. Since we don’t use any herbicides in our garden we are hoping it will lessen our weed pulling next year. We planted 3 pounds of hardneck and softneck garlic in the two far left rows a few weeks ago and covered them with leaves. Mrs. Galt has been busy dehydrating apples, pears, peppers, and anything left over that wasn’t canned. She also moved several of the pepper plants from the garden inside under the grow light. This will be the third year for one pepper plant which was loaded with Serrano peppers and has become somewhat of a challenge to see how long it will live.

I ran the backup diesel generator for an hour for a test and to warm up. Eastern parts of our state saw a heavy wet snowfall on Halloween and some of our friends lost power for up to 12-14 hours while crews repaired downed lines. Meanwhile, we are making some progress on the cabin and delivering 9 KW of solar panels, racking and equipment next week. Working on plans for a greenhouse with an earth storage battery. I’m intrigued with the design after watching several YouTube videos of folks growing crops in the winter in the Dakotas.

I took the advice of SurvivalBlog writer M.M. on the November 3rd article and bought two deluxe sets of tire repair kits and spare patches, something we didn’t have. Speaking of tires, the Mrs. bought me a Milwaukee M18 tire inflator for my birthday. It works great and not only saves me from dragging out a corded compressor but is portable. Our corded tools get used less and less but I refuse to get rid of them because they are technically still EMP proof, unlike a cordless, full-of-electronics Milwaukee power tool. I am still looking at a 16″ Milwaukee saw like our daughter has, as a back up to our Stihl. My thoughts were that if gas became scarce we could always charge the cordless tools off the solar system.

Keep your head on a swivel.”

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US Government Agency Blocks Bank Transaction by Producers of “POLICE STATE” Movie – Dinesh D’Souza Describes Harassment by Same Agency that Monitors Terrorism and Trafficking!

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Reader M. wrote:

Good morning, James. I wanted to demonstrate how the information that you publish and share was put to use to prevent a fire from spreading to 2,000 acres of land and the destruction of homes. See: Texas Wildfire Averted — AmRRON Activation Testimony – AmRRON. During the past few months, we have developed a persistent presence net on the AmRRON 146.420 MHz in our area. All my family members are ham techs and have radios in their vehicles. My whole family was involved in the linked report. Thank you for the valuable info you share.

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Arizona woman dies after elk tramples her in backyard; first fatal attack reported in state.

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And lastly, reader A.M. had this comment:

“Re: Dog run garden cage: I also am a big fan of chain link panels. I have many bought 10×6 panels that I use for various things, such as chicken pens (with a flat metal roof) or sheep/goat birthing pens. Since I learned the value of such panels, I have begun to construct my own panels from trampoline frames and chain link wire I found at the dump. The frames can be welded, if you so desire, or screwed together with self-tapping screws. You can make them into any shape or configuration you want. We made a 14’ round pen out of the round part of the trampoline frames and stretched 6’ chain link wire around it. We have had offers to buy it. Most of the panels I’ve made are square, however. I made a whole bunch of panels that are about 4’ square (from the trampoline frame legs), and we welded them together, with rings on the side to slip a bar into for easy assembly. When I say “welded together,” in most cases that means acetylene/oxygen welding with a clothes hanger. Sometimes he uses the mig welder. Sometimes we use the frames off of swimming pools, which are thinner than trampoline frames. Our most recent project was to piece together several panels to make a round hay ring for the goats and sheep. Once the welding is done, it is my job to brush and paint it. I cannot tell you how useful this has been around the farm. I have pieced them together for dog pens or around raised beds and many other places. I have used them to fence in goats if I want them to mow down a spot. If you want the panel to be taller then piece together the vertical part of the frame and find a taller piece of wire to put on it. You can use any type of fencing you find. I’ve made panels from the round trampoline pieces, which seem to be the last to be used. I put welded 2X4 wire on several of those panels and on one piece, I used some concrete wire and then put 2×4 welded wire over it to make the holes smaller. Some, I have reinforced with the coils off of refrigerators. Someday, I’m sure I’ll end up using Red Brand bull wire on some. I’ve tied them (with random piece of wire) to T-posts, to create a semi-permanent fence. The possibilities are endless.”