Category: HVAC

Letter Re: Observations on the Recent Missouri Ice Storm

Mr. Rawles, I live in Southwestern Missouri. Did you followed the ice storm that buried the Midwest? We got hit pretty hard. We get hit hard every four or five years. Which brings me to my point. I have never seen so many unprepared people in all my life. After day two of the ice storm power was out (for a month in a lot of places like Springfield). There were no gas cans to be found at any store. Batteries, disposable propane bottles, flashlights, milk, and meat were missing from the shelves of every store. Even Wally World [Wal-Mart] …


Letter Re: Observations on the Recent Oklahoma Ice Storm

Jim: Well, I just got back online. I had to go up to the roof and thaw the wireless [Internet] antenna with a heat gun. It seems the ice grounds out the antenna. It was an easy fix with my heat gun for heat shrink tubing. More precipitation is on the way but colder. It will probably just be snow. We never lost power but were ready anyway. I have friends with no power and they have been without power for days and no idea when it will be back on. The further out you live, the less chance of …


Pre-Crisis Survival Skills, by D.A.L.

Pre-crisis survival skills: The only tool more valuable than knowledge is an attitude of self sufficiency. The mere willingness to provide for your own needs can pay off everyday, even absent any “end of the world as we know it” event. In fact, simply being willing to provide for your own needs can pave the way for not only learning valuable skills, but saving money to boot! By way of example let me tell you about a recent experience with the steam heating system at my lady friend’s house. It is a Victorian house and the main boiler furnace was …


Letter Re: First Hand Observations on the Recent Pacific Northwest Wind Storm

Background: I am an 11 year veteran peace officer and survivalist, or in more politically correct terminology, a POP – Preparedness Oriented Person. I work in a moderate sized city in the Seattle area. On 14-15 December, the Tacoma-Seattle-Everett metropolitan area suffered one of the most deadly and damaging windstorms in recorded history. The storm easily eclipsed the last major deadly blow on Inaugural Day, 1993. That storm had been identified as a “once in a century” type storm. At the peak, over 1 million people did not have power. This storm was modeled and forecasted with accuracy five days …


Two Letters Re: Build Your Fallout Shelter From Barter Goods, by Mr. Yankee

Jim: Regarding Mr. Yankee’s article: Salt in some water softeners is potassium chloride, not sodium chloride. Both are ‘salts’ but they behave differently. Be sure you are storing the sodium chloride variety.- SF in Hawaii   Mr Rawles, Hope this finds you and your family doing well. I’m not sure if this link has been disclosed in the past, and I am certainly no expert in this field, but this seems like a well thought out presentation for a fallout shelter. Keep up the good work, – R.C.


Three Letters Re: Build Your Fallout Shelter From Barter Goods, by Mr. Yankee

Hi Jim. Just felt the need to re-emphasize the point you made with regard to Mr. Yankee’s ideas about an improvised fallout shelter. First, I applaud his view that one should not count on being able to pull together an adequate expedient shelter when the need arises. As simple in theory as it seems, in practice, few would end up with a shelter they would want to rely on to save the lives of their loved ones. Second, as far as the point you made, Jim, it is indeed very important to over-engineer any sort of structure that will be …


Letter Re: Emergency Shelter Air Filtration

Hey Jim, Just a couple of articles [over at the Alpha Rubicon site] that you might find interesting: Safe Room Fan and, HEPA Filter Regards, – S.C. JWR Replies: For any SurvivalBlog that might have overlooked it at my Links page, I highly recommend the wide variety of practical free references available at the Alpha Rubicon web site.


Letter Re: Emergency Shelter Air Filtration

Most of the modern home vacuum cleaners have pretty decent high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in them nowadays. Assuming you still have power (a big if) you could seal a room to the best of your ability and leave your vacuum cleaners running (with the air intakes off the floor). If you have a bag type, remember to put a new bag in. Presto, filtered air, McGyver style. If all you have is an older style vacuum cleaner with no filter, then put a damp rag (and keep it damp) over the air intake, but be careful not to …


Letter Re: Storing Coal for Home Heating at Your Retreat

Jim: Regarding he recent thread on coal storage, old factories and military installations that used coal (some barracks were coal heated and still have bins outside) often have large amounts (suitable for the survivalist or amateur blacksmith) of coal that’s not cost-effective for the operation to do anything with. If one offers to clean it up, it might be available free. I know there’s lots of anthracite coal outside old barracks at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Perhaps someone in the area would be able to salvage it. I’d appreciate a load for my forge for the referral if anyone does this. …


Two Letters Re: Storing Coal for Home Heating at Your Retreat

Jim: As a retired firefighter I want to mention that stored coal must be kept dry. I you do not, is will start an internal combustion fire deep in the center. To put it out, you must dig down to where it is hot. Regards, – G.C.P. James: You brought out some very important points about the differences between eastern (anthracite) and western coal. Most coal stove manufacturers recommend using only anthracite coal. A few go so far as to void the warranty on their stoves if you burn anything but anthracite. My pantry is located in an outbuilding and …


Storing Coal for Home Heating at Your Retreat

James; One thing I haven’t seen discussed at SurvivalBlog is coal. It is an excellent survival fuel. I would recommend purchasing ten tons of coal for your survival retreat. When the SHTF, you would basically have over a three year supply of energy, with no trees to chop. Best of all, there are no storage problems. You can leave it in a pile, or bury it in a hole. It will keep and will not degrade. Coal is very cheap. If possible, get a low sulfur anthracite coal. However, if your budget is tight, you can get a higher sulfur …


Four Letters Re: Uses for CONEXes at a Retreat

James: We used some CONEXes to build a workshop. We built a wall halfway down the box with a door in it, insulated the front half, and put in power and air conditioning. It works fine, [but] the back half gets really, really hot. I’d recommend painting the container a heat reflecting color, try to put it under some trees out of direct sunlight, build some kind of roof over it or something to cut the heat like trellis planted with vines. We use the Rough Neck RV roof mounted air conditioners. I would recommend cutting a hole in the …


Letter Re: James Kunstler at Midwest Renewable Energy Fair

Dear Jim: I was also at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s (MREA) Energy Fair, just about in the exact center of Wisconsin near Steven’s Point, a week ago. For me, the home tour was the most interesting part. For about $20 they load you on a school bus and take you to 4 local homes that had alternative energy incorporated into them. This included things like solar panels for electricity with a battery bank, heat pumps with in floor hydronic heating systems, soap stone fireplaces (like the Russian design) that burn 2 hours and radiate heat all day (some with …


A Survival Retreat for Under $1,000, By Wolverine

Call it a survival retreat, hunting cabin, or summer cottage, a place away from the crowds and turmoil of the cities is a dream most of us share. Some folks plan out a survival retreat in such detail that long-term storage, over lapping fields of fire, and fuel supplies are worked out. Others, like myself, approach it as a vacation spot that can be readily converted if need be to an alternate living location. Back in the late 1960s my family had a small two-room cottage on a lake in northern Michigan. The cottage had no electricity, no running water, …


Letter Re: Sources for Greenhouses and Coal Stoves

Jim: First, I have no interest in either of the following mentioned companies other than that I’m a satisfied user. I recently got a bigger greenhouse for my birthday and have used it for this years garden plants. A little over 200 plants so far. They have two models on sale right now. I do recommend completely caulking every panel with adhesive caulk. The large one took 30 tubes. I have ordered this stove to heat my greenhouse in cool weather and through the winter. I keep two tons of coal for the house coal stove anyway. This combo will …