When Do We Change Masks? – Part 2, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

61

(Continued from Part 1.)

GET SUNNY!

Another option would be to expose your contaminated masks to sunlight. The UV component in sunlight will kill viruses. And if you position the mask just right, as the sun moves across the sky it will irradiate the entire face of the mask without any part being shaded and untreated. (You could even hang your masks from a clothesline if you clip the clothespin to one of the tabs where the strap attaches to the mask proper.)

Unfortunately, for the Shepherdess and I and many other preppers, the weather here in Spokane does not cooperate with this strategy for much of the fall/winter season. It will be too cold, too cloudy, too windy or rainy or snowy to make sunlight sanitation work. And I don’t trust the moose either. But if you’ve got sunlight – put it to work!

Just don’t put the mask on the dash of your car – the lamination of the windshield will block most of the UV light. And if your side windows are tinted that too will block UV. You could make a little aluminum-foil-covered cardboard frame to hold the mask, and cover it with Glad or Saran wrap to keep the dust and bugs and bird poop out of it. Just make sure the frame doesn’t shade your mask!

ULTRAVIOLET (UV) LIGHT

Here’s what we know:

1. We’ve known for decades that ultraviolet light works, especially the higher frequency end of the band, UV-C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_germicidal_irradiation Even at low power output, UV-C light tears the living daylights out of bacteria and protozoa and viruses (and you, and your eyes if you’re not careful, and pretty much anything living). https://www.americanultraviolet.com/uv-germicidal-solutions/faq-germicidal.cfml#germicidalLamps

2. “…for influenza virus, dozens of UVGI [UltraViolet Germicidal Irradiation] disinfection cycles could be performed on respirators without the UVGI affecting their performance.” The filter fabric begins to weaken against tearing (and weakens more the higher the UV-C exposure) but it doesn’t affect the filtering efficiency (until the fabric gets too weak and tears) and it doesn’t affect the head straps as much. Simply testing the fabric and straps prior to wearing the mask should be adequate. This seems to be the only downside. (1)Continue reading“When Do We Change Masks? – Part 2, by ShepherdFarmerGeek”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

49

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This week the focus is on some Hunkering down “how-to” and supplies.  As near as I can tell, our infection curve is about  2 to 3 weeks behind Italy’s. Do the math folks. It is logarithmic. Extrapolate. Yes, it will peak in a few weeks, but we are nowhere near the top yet. Our hospitals may be overwhelmed, just as they were in Italy. Plan accordingly.

Books:

A now often overlooked classic text American Red Cross: Home Nursing Textbook

o  o  o

Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening: How to Grow Nutrient-Dense, Soil-Sprouted Greens in Less Than 10 days

o  o  o

According to Hoyle: The Up-to-Date Edition of the World-Famous Book on Rules of Games

o  o  o

Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

13

“I personally believe that we don’t need a lot more laws, I think we’ve got far too many laws on the books now, that’s part of the problem…. We don’t need more government, more laws; we need a lot less. I’m up there [in Washington, D.C.], trying to dismantle a lot of this giant government…. When you ‘pass a law’ with the current attitude in the Congress what do you get in a law today? You get either more spending, or more taxes, or more controls…. Which do you want? Do you want more spending? I think we’ve got too much. Do you want more taxes? I think we’re taxed too heavily now. Do you want more controls over your life? Does anybody say ‘Hey look, I really believe the federal government needs to control me. I want to be a slave. Please tell me how to run every facet of my life.’ I don’t hear many people saying that. I think most people say ‘I think it’s time we get the government off our backs, and out of our pockets.” – Congressman Lawrence P. “Larry” McDonald

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 17, 2020

42

Today would have been the 101st birthday of famed mercenary Thomas Michael “Mad Mike” Hoare. (Born 17 March 1919) He just recently passed away in Durban, South Africa at age 100 on February 2, 2020. The book Mad Mike Hoare: The Legend is fascinating reading.

—

Welll folks… I’d say that at least in San Francisco, the Schumer has officially Hit Fan.  Headline: San Fran Shutting Down for 3 Weeks … 24-Hour Curfew Starts Tonight.

Meanwhile, some Petty Tyranny, in New Orleans. (I believe that Madam Mayor LaToya Cantrell is a bit late with her scheme, since all of the local gun shops have likely already sold out of inventory.)

Key questions of the day: Do you have enough cash and have you topped off your fuel tanks yet?

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 87 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

When Do We Change Masks? – Part 1, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

62

Editor’s Introductory Note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series.  It was written by one of the most prolific contributors to SurvivalBlog. We’ve posted more than 50 of his articles and letter over the past 15 years.

—

You have your N-95 filter masks. Now how to you get the maximum use out of them?

They’re “disposable.” But can you safely re-use them?

Does anybody have “enough” masks?

Fluorescent powder distribution. https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-019-4109-x

DUST?

So, when DO we change masks? Well… The tiny virus-containing droplets take a LONG time to actually plug up a filter mask (unlike dust or smoke). The mask will still filter for quite a while, but with virus droplets stuck to it, it’s now dangerous to put near your eyes, nose and mouth.

Thought exercise: Imagine that you’ve smeared the outside of your mask with “deadly poison dust.” Now, if you aren’t really, really careful when you’re putting it back on you’re going to get dust RIGHT in your eyes! (And that’s an already known avenue of infection.)

Yes, you could just put your (non-vented) goggles on first, and THEN the mask. But it’s still risky. And, yes, it’s true that wearing SOME mask, even a mask you’ve already worn, is theoretically better than wearing NO mask because you’ve run out of them.

The other problem is what to do with a potentially contaminated mask in between wearing it? It’s smeared with “deadly poison dust,” remember? Where do you store it? How do you keep the dust from getting disturbed and getting on the other side of the mask, the clean side?

In a perfect world you’d have a $500 pile of masks and discard them after even one wearing. That’s why we call these “disposable” masks. But if this becomes a pandemic in the US and there are sick and contagious people out and about for more than a month (easily), you won’t have enough masks to do that, while going about your ordinary routines.Continue reading“When Do We Change Masks? – Part 1, by ShepherdFarmerGeek”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

20

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on the belated arrival of COVID-19 in the relatively isolated American Redoubt region. Redoubters already practice Social Distancing. Locally, it is just called being ornery and clannish.  We need to just amp that up a bit, and we’ll pull through, just fine. I predict that the Redoubt’s rural counties will have some of the lowest virus death rates in the nation.

Region-Wide

Americans are running for the hills

o o o

Dozens of Spokane, Coeur d’Alene events canceled due to public health concerns over COVID-19

Idaho

Reader M.D.B. sent this legislative alert: Senate Bill 1384 — Weapons, firearms, school property.  This bill: “…allows public school employees with an enhanced carry permit to carry a firearm on school property with certain restrictions. ”

o o o

Black Rifle Real Estate has a new listing that caught my eye. It is a very nice log house on nearly 19 acres, north of Libby, Montana: 1776 5 Mile Road. (In case you are wondering: It is above the waterline of Lake Koocanusa.)

o o o

Idaho health officials confirm three coronavirus cases

o o o

K-9 unit ‘backbone’ of Idaho search, rescue group

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“[I]t is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in the power of one, or of any number of men, at the entering into society to renounce their essential natural rights, or the means of preserving those rights, when the grand end of civil government, from the very nature of its institution, is for the support, protection, and defence of those very rights; the principal of which, as is before observed, are life, liberty, and property. If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up an essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right of freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.” –  Samuel Adams

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 16, 2020

11

Today is the anniversary of the Battle at Pound Gap, Kentucky. (1862)

—

There are now less that two weeks left in for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  Please get your entries in soon!  Note that they must be at lest 1,500 words long. Articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

—

Normally, on Mondays, I post product reviews by our stalwart Field Gear Editor. But given the urgency of the current pandemic, I’m postponing the review article that I had planned to present. Thanks for your patience.

But first and foremost, I need to mention that the “panic buying ” is for much more than toilet paper and hand sanitizer. The TP Locusts(TM) have actually started thinking and therefore have moved on to buying staple foods, guns, and ammunition, in quantity.

Oh, and please read this news.  Thanks, – JWR

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 87 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

COVID-19: My View From The Powerhouse

23

I thought I’d give some insight on the COVID-19 impact from my perspective in the hydroelectric power industry.  As a journeyman hydro electrician, I’ll provide a “boots on the ground” tradesman’s point of view.  I’ll do my best to give a short- and medium-term interpretation of this event’s impacts insofar as keeping the lights on.  While not as prevalent throughout the entire country, hydroelectric projects (dams) are the major supplier of electricity for the bulk of those already in the Redoubt and BC.  While all the windmills along the Columbia produce more political “warm and fuzzies” than actual power, dams are the reliable workhorses that make up the Northwest’s power backbone. Reasonable steps are being taken to keep it that way.  I cannot and will not speak to the rest of the country, but I would assume CoOP (Continuity of Operations) strategies are being implemented elsewhere and my situation is not unique. Coal, wind, solar, and nuclear have other logistical issues that hopefully someone else can elaborate on.

I work for a major public utility in the Northwest.  There has been no small amount of neither literal nor virtual ink spilled over the recent virus outbreak.  It’s a big deal.  My utility and pretty much every other public and private entity is taking it very seriously.  Almost a fashion statement, I literally just got an e-mail from a car dealership in Spokane saying they’re going on the defense as well.  But think about it: These bosses, whatever we may think of them, have a vested interest in keeping things going as smoothly as possible.  Whether they answer to the shareholders, board, or voters, they’ll all have their day within the next few months.  Dams and the power they produce are a necessity for the grid and most companies recognize them for the cash cows they are.  I’m not saying “Don’t worry, the government has it under control,” but I really don’t think this virus will render my sector with its overarching implications inoperable.

Digest:  E’ry little thing’s gonna be alright.

Don’t worry. I know I’m writing to the SurvivalBlog audience. Doom and gloom may abound, but a power outage isn’t the point to get freaked out about.  Spend your energy trying to get that last corner of your pantry stocked.  I’ve been asked this so many times it prompted a quick letter to the editor that morphed into this article.  You’ll probably still have electricity.  It’s a virus we’re fighting, not electrons and for you and yours, the concerns will most likely be something other than lumens.  That said, things could change over time.  Prepare as so many other articles have instructed.  Whether for an hour, day, or year, I do believe an extended power outage will occur sooner or later but that’s not the pressing issue.  Let me reiterate, I’m writing from an admittedly myopic position at the ground level and can only confidently speak specifically of the northwestern US and possibly BC, but I feel reasonable in projecting this across the rest of the nation.  My contacts at other utilities feel the same.  After getting many late-night panicked texts, I’m relatively confident the dams will still crank out electricity with even 3/4 of the crew out on sick bed.  Let’s take a look at this.Continue reading“COVID-19: My View From The Powerhouse”

Recipe of the Week: Engineering Student Pad Thai

1

Nathan sent us his Engineering Student Pad Thai recipe. Nathan says:  “This is a simple recipe I created after some trial and error. Ingredient ratios are variable depending on taste. This recipe makes enough for two adults.”

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter. (I prefer the stuff that is just peanuts and salt)
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon red chili paste
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger or 2 teaspoons dried ginger powder
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 pound rice stick noodles.
Directions
  1. While the noodles boil, mix everything except the noodles in a bowl.
  2. Once the noodles are done, dump on the sauce and stir until the noodles are coated.

—

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

14

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at some big Forex moves. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold futures log largest weekly loss in more than 8 years. Here is a snippet that confirms my observations:

“It seems that investors have been selling gold in order to cover losses elsewhere,” said Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics, in a Friday research note. “Ample liquidity in the gold market means that the sale of gold holdings is a relatively quick and seamless way to raise cash in times of need.”:

o  o  o

Recession fears weigh on silver, palladium prices – analysts

Economy & Finance:

So, here’s one aspect of the Plunge Protection, that I predicted:  A 0% Interest Rate: Fed takes emergency steps to slash rates and ease bank rules

o  o  o

The Baltic Dry Index does not look good. Global shipping is reaching a low ebb.

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: The Last Time This Happened Was October 1929…

o  o  o

$50 Trillion in Question as U.S. Treasury Liquidity Dries Up

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Historic Volatility Tells Me This Stock Market is in the Middle of an Equally Historic Crash

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

6

“So, 61% of Italian confirmed cases are requiring hospitalization. And, low-ball figures now are claiming at least 40% of the American population can be expected to contract it (I suspect it’s higher, because I suspect there’s a lot of as-yet unidentified cases floating around out there still). The American population is 331 million. 40% of that is 132.4 million. If 61% of those require hospitalization (and remember, we’re not even looking at the case fatality rate right now…just the number of cases in Italy-—a first world nation—-that require hospitalization), that’s 80.76 million hospital cases. That’s just below 25% of the American population requiring hospitalization! You think that’s not going to have an impact on the economy?’  – The Mountain Guerilla Blog, March 9, 2020

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 15, 2020

7

President Donald J. Trump declared today, Sunday, March 15, a National Day of Prayer. Please pray for Divine Intervention in the spread and severity of the current pandemic.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 87 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Generators for Family Readiness – Part 2, by Greg X.

8

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Starting

Electric starting is a nice feature. An electric starter motor spins the engine faster than pull starting increasing the probability that the engine starts. The starter keeps the engine spinning longer because a starter rope always runs out of length. My wife can push the start button and if your back is hurt “the button” still works. Gasoline engines are easier to pull-start than diesels. There are some small diesel engines with compression release that can be pull started, but it can be tough even for a 3-kW engine. We put starters on even the small diesels at work, for cold weather starting. Both my snowblowers have electric start too for the cold weather advantage. I have a 2.8 kW gasoline set that starts better electrically because the rope is so short. I can quickly pull it up to speed but then I run out of rope and it starts slowing down. With a bad back I can still start my 5.5 kW gasoline set but I have to electrically start my 7 kW even though it has a pull-start rope. My 7 kW should have around a 12 h.p. engine plus additional drag from the alternator inertia. Consider electric start an advantage for any genset and necessary for gas power over 5.5 kW and diesel power over 3 kW.

SIZING

Sizing is important and tricky. The last thing a user wants is a generator that can’t carry the load or start the motor in your appliances. You also don’t want to purchase more generator capacity than you need. (As I’ll explain in a later paragraph). Lastly, you cannot trust generator name plate rating. Consumer Reports has tested consumer generators. Some produced rated capacity or more while others couldn’t do rated capacity. Some will have significantly greater motor starting (“peak load”) capability than others. We’ve tested commercial sets at work. One company’s 100 kW set might do 120 kW while another vendor’s set might only produce 80 kW using the same test method. EGSA publishes test methods but I don’t think many commercial companies follow them, unless forced to–say to meet military  specifications. Test methods and test equipment affect test results too since companies don’t have the same test equipment. I’ve spreadsheet compared specifications for consumer gasoline powered sets. The fuel consumption numbers were too inconsistent to be accurate, and should be used for no more than rough comparison purposes.

There is plenty of advice online for calculating loads and sizing generators so below are some issues not typically covered. Remember induction motors can draw 3-4 times steady state current to start. One of my set’s surge capacity is about 150% of its continuous rated load capacity. When doing your load calculations consider that not all the loads will always be running at the same time. I’ve run two refrigerators and two freezers on a 2.8 kw generator and rarely did I see more than two appliances running at the same time, and never starting at exactly the same time. Remember you can also control what is running using circuit breakers and switches to allow a smaller set to power your house loads, without overloading yoru generator. Continue reading“Generators for Family Readiness – Part 2, by Greg X.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

119

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at The Good Simple Living vlogging family’s upcoming move to Idaho.

Good Simple Living’s Move to Idaho

The Good Simple Living vlogging family has found a buyer for their house in Western Washington and is making the move to their land in Idaho. The husband is a police officer and the wife is a homeschooling mom. Please pray for a safe move for them. This move will be taking place in the late winter “Mud Season”. They’ll be temporarily living in their camping trailer while they build a new house. So please also pray for patience and contentment for their family! I recommend subscribing, at their YouTube page.

Leaked Documents: 96 Million Infections & 480,000 Deaths

Over at Alt-Market: Leaked COVID-19 Documents: Hospitals Prep For 96 Million Infections & 480K Deaths. JWR’s Comment: Read that and consider this, for perspective: That 480,000 deaths prediction is about nine times the number of American servicemen killed in the 11 years of the Vietnam war.

A New York Super-Spreader

Reader H.L. sent us this news that confirm  that containing The Wuhan may prove to be very difficult: New York officials traced more than 50 coronavirus cases back to one attorney.

COVID-19 Patients May be Contagious for Weeks Longer

And here is some more bad news that adds weight to to the “this can’t be contained” argument: Coronavirus patients may be contagious for weeks longer than first thought, study says

Two Anti-Virals Have Efficacy Against COVID-19

And some good news, in this scientific journal paper: Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro. (Thanks to M.M. for the link.)

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”