tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Feb 7, 2017 23:48:23 GMT 10
The land beyond the half acre that is cleared is not easy to immediately clear - goes up on one side and down on the other - so no chance to expand the cleared area for now, which is fine.
I'm not worried as much about the quality of the soil as I know it can be fixed. I've heard of a couple of parks being closed in the last year because asbestos was discovered that had been buried many years earlier, and a friend also found some buried in her garden. How do I minimise the risk of something like that? I wonder how I can find out about any dumping on the property or if it is possible to get some tests done. But if tests, how would you chose what areas to test and how deeply? Perhaps it is just a risk you take - you just hope it won't be there.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Feb 7, 2017 21:14:53 GMT 10
We have a couple of days left of the cooling off period before we are completely committed to purchasing land. It is about 2.5 acres with only .5 acre cleared, but that is pretty much the size we could afford for the location. It will have a house added ASAP and be where we live. We'll put in food plants permaculture style.
As a few of you have purchased land before, I thought I might be able to get some advice. I'm just wondering what checks we can do or need to do in these couple of days? Apart from obvious things like location, size, etc, what do we need to check? Is there something like the building inspection when you buy a house, for when there is no house on the block? Or how do I get soil tested? Any suggestions?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Feb 5, 2017 21:53:37 GMT 10
Joey, I'd love to see the orienteering training manual. Can I pm you an email?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 30, 2017 20:16:12 GMT 10
How comfortable is the 5.11 rush24?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 24, 2017 20:49:45 GMT 10
I've been making sprouted wheat bread lately. It's very good. Lots of flavour and texture.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 21, 2017 19:27:53 GMT 10
We are comparing inverters from different places. For various reasons, we want to get one that is a 2000 watt (which can surge up to 4000 W) pure sine wave inverter. When I look at the jaycar catalogue, they are around $1500. When I look on ebay (at new ones) they are $200-300. Anyone have any thoughts on the difference?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 18, 2017 10:46:29 GMT 10
Was googling something about kleen kanteens (looking for a cup with folding handle that will fit the bottom of one of our bottles) and came across this method - could be useful for camping, hiking and "related moments". The link gives quantities for cooking rice, pasta and oats in an insulated bottle - taking a similar time to usual or for something like steel cut oats, overnight. thesoftlanding.com/3-ways-you-didnt-know-your-stainless-steel-bottle-makes-camping-easier/
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 18, 2017 10:10:16 GMT 10
I know this is an old post but I thought I'd add to it for anyone doing a search for this info in future.
I have a portable power bank (is that what it's called) that lives in my handbag. I read heaps of reviews before buying it and have been very satisfied. It's a "Jackery", stores 12000 mAh, with ports for 5V 1A and 5V 2.1A, and cost a bit under $100 so wasn't cheap. I wanted it for a long weekend away without power but with a need for phones (a festival where I needed to be able to contact others in our group) and i don't think I even used up half the charge. It is good for tablets etc too. I charged it last about 6 months ago, and have had it in my bag ever since, just using it very occasionally (as I can usually recharge from the car) and it still has about 2/3 charge left - so it is holding its charge well.
I have another similar battery and between the two of them I reckon I could last a week without recharging them, even using them for a couple of phones and an occasional tablet charge or just a phone and a tablet, but what I would actually do is use one up then connect it to a foldable solar panel and have half a week before I need to use that battery.
I know they are expensive and really one would do, especially if you're only planning for yourself. You could keep it topped up with solar. Definitely enough for getting through a blackout for a few days without recharging the battery. If you're planning for the needs of a family with multiple devices two batteries can make it easier or get one good one like the Jackery and pick up a few cheapies from Kmart or big W as back up for that.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 18, 2017 9:44:25 GMT 10
The Kelly kettle is as good as it looks, not sure about the others though. We got the stainless steel mid size one. Heats water really fast. I got it because I wanted something that would use a little kindling and was renewable. I want to get the smaller one as well to keep in the car. I don't suppose you got the small kelly kettle yet? I'm wondering about the size for when hiking etc. I know the measurements are in the site but I'd love to hear a personal review. BTW, I ended up getting a large kelly kettle and we love it. We even used it out the back of a holiday house just for marshmallows and a cup of tea.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 15, 2017 15:12:19 GMT 10
Our most likely problem is a traffic jam caused by an accident - that happens about once a year here and turns it from a one hour drive to about a 6 hour drive. Fortunately we haven't been on the road when that's happened in the past, but it will possibly happen sometime. Even if the drive isn't quite 6 hours, extending any drive when you have kids in the car always presents challenges!
Many many years ago, when I lived about 40 minutes out of Sydney, I was heading home by car when a storm broke and I ended up taking 6-8 hours to get home. When I got closer there were trees across the road, powerlines down, and the power was out for about a week.
So now days when I drive it is more like that sort of thing that I plan for - not leaving the car, but being stuck for a long time. I always have snacks, water and blankets, along with chargers for gadgets and a few little games incase I need to keep kids occupied.
If we did have to leave the car we'd have to spend a night or two out if we set off walking! I've just upped the "snacks" to be enough to last 3 days, and I'll gradually add in other stuff we might need. I have a couple of water filters as well as spare water (a lifestraw and two mini sawyers), and a way to heat water. Let's just hope it is only ever a traffic delay that we are faced with.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 14, 2017 23:01:10 GMT 10
Foil packets - of whatever you want - over a fire, in a camp oven, on a gas grill
Eg sliced potatoes, sliced mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, any other veg - can add an egg or cheese - can add meat if you're that way inclined. Wrap in a couple of layers of foil and cook until the potato is soft.
I also take little baggies of premixed crumble topping (oats, flour, brown sugar, perhaps macadamias), some butter and some apples. Don't precook the apples - just slice them thinly and pile them onto foil, rub butter into the crumble mix and put that on top and wrap it in several layers of foil for dessert. You can get long life cream if you feel the need.
Pancakes with bananas and maple syrup for breakfast need nothing refrigerated - could use milk powder for the pancakes.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 14, 2017 12:16:11 GMT 10
The rush packs are go-bags with straps, not packs for wearing. They have almost no support and are very uncomfortable to wear if you load them up. Thanks for that. I'm so glad that I asked.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 14, 2017 11:13:53 GMT 10
As we only have school-type backpacks and a couple of huge hiking packs, I think it would help if I got something in between those that has lots of pockets inside if possible so it can be better organised. I am pretty much never alone so I can share the load a bit with smaller backpacks - so it doesn't have to be huge. I also don't want something that stands out - ie is very big or too many outside pockets etc. I did a heap of googling yesterday and found two that I like, but I'd like to find something under $100. I'm also not really sure if the size I've looked at would be too big looking or heavy, but as school backpacks are 15-30 lt, I've just looked for something a little bigger than that. It will need to be comfortable. www.kitbag.com.au/products/RECON-Bravo-Extreme-36ltr-Pack.html - but in black www.legear.com.au/5.11-tactical-rush-24-backpack - again in black Any suggestions?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 13, 2017 21:25:51 GMT 10
We regularly travel about an hour's drive away.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 13, 2017 18:45:09 GMT 10
Not necessarily a helpful answer for others but this is my long term plan for clothes - nothing to do with tough hunting gear but that would be doable if necessary.
A roll of hemp denim in blue A roll of hemp denim on black A roll of thick undyed muslin (pants, skirts) A roll of shirt weight undyed muslin A roll of hemp fleece A roll of hemp/cotton jersey Various dyes Various other fabrics Lots of thread, zippers, snaps and buttons An enormous stash of wool for socks and jumpers Laminated fabrics (PUL) Lots of patterns and pattern making paper And a source of solar power for my sewing machine
That gives us jeans, pants, shirts, etc and even nappies if there should be some future need.
And I've taught all my kids to sew - so it isn't all up to me! Need to keep working on that.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 13, 2017 18:24:02 GMT 10
I guess I'm fine with the stuff actually, it's just acquiring that number of backpacks! I think I'll stick with what I currently have but get kids to take daily gear in a backpack.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 13, 2017 17:32:55 GMT 10
When I read about get home bags and the like, descriptions always say you need one per family member in the car with you at all times. That does sound very useful, but our car would be getting pretty full - where would the groceries and beach gear go??
Also, if you have a reasonable number of kids, and you are suppose to carry a GHB each (doubling as a BOB) as well as have an emergency bag near the front door or easily accessible, that's a lot of bags to purchase.
Any thoughts on this?
At the moment I have an emergency stash of stuff in a plastic box in the car, with some of that in a school type backpack (ie not a hiking one), a spare backpack that I carry back and forth to the car that could have things swapped out to make room for essentials, and a shoulder bag with water bottle, mini stove, etc.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 12, 2017 21:50:25 GMT 10
The problem I find when looking g for a good set of trousers to wear out and about doing stuff like hunting and whatnot where I'll be climbing, squatting, crawling etc is finding something with plenty of room in the crotch. So far I have found only army issue pants to be able to fox this problem, so what do you guys recommend? As $100 for a pair of 5.11 trs is a fair wallop just to see if they are good enough Have you considered making something - starting with an existing pattern and then modifying it to get the exact fit you want?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 12, 2017 11:41:03 GMT 10
mynrma fuel watch page has Sydney prices as being: Lowest price today 127.7 Highest 145 Lowest 142
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 9, 2017 22:09:03 GMT 10
Results and review of my solar charging set ups:
After bringing all three setups in from a sudden downpour a couple of days ago (only the goal zero says that it is fine if it gets an unexpected bit of rain on it - the others would be better protected in a bag), we finally had some sunshine yesterday. Put them out for just a few hours and almost all batteries are charged. I don't know which was quicker but when tested all batteries were on full except for a couple that fell out of place without me knowing.
If I was only going to have one setup I would base my decision on factors other than charging time or whether it worked.
For example, goal zero can cope with a little rain, can have a phone connected to the battery pack for charging, can daisy chain other panels easily, but is much more expensive and you have to charge 4 batteries at once.
Portapow is well priced and you can have any mix of aaa and AA batteries up to 4. With the little panel I had with it, it seemed to need more sunlight to get started. Also the cover isn't see thru, and the batteries aren't a tight fit - when I moved them around a couple came loose and I didn't notice - they were the only batteries bit fully charged.
The little 2 battery charger with the cheap panel was the cheapest set up and worked fine. It doesn't show progress of charging, which the others do, and of course you can only charge 2 at once (haven't tried an adapter yet). I have no idea if there could be problems if it was left longer, but for what I did, the charging seemed pretty quick and effective.
So the super simple and cheap set up described earlier in this thread by shinyshooter works well and is completely adequate for the job. (My two battery charger is a different brand to the one pictured but it was pretty cheap when I bought it many yrs ago. I'm guessing it would be similar.)
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