tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 21, 2016 19:05:40 GMT 10
Remnantprep, is the Kelly kettle (and other similar kettles) as good as it looks?
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 21, 2016 18:51:10 GMT 10
The Kelly kettle looks great too.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 21, 2016 18:46:32 GMT 10
I use a canteen cooking set almost exactly the same as that in your link for $109, but at a fraction of the cost. Mine are genuine ex army, the kidney stove US army. Its my backup system, cuz I got plenty of genuine hexi (not the rubbish they sell online or in camping stores). My primary cooking system is a little fold up gas burner with the stainless cups canteen. Use it whenever I go bush. My advice is stay away from overpriced stores that target people who dont have any experience in the bush. Thanks for that info and advice. One of the things that I read somewhere was that an advantage of the pathfinder canteen over many others is that others are aluminium whereas their one is stainless steel. Are you able to comment to this?
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 21, 2016 15:56:42 GMT 10
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 18, 2016 6:34:24 GMT 10
If I want to be able to communicate with family who live 1-2 hours drive away, is that possible with something inexpensive? Can CB radio reach that far?
When I've googled ham radio all the bits and pieces look quite expensive. I would be very interested in seeing recommendations for a range of kits such as just suggested.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 17, 2016 19:38:03 GMT 10
Thanks so much for the replies - have been offline all day and prob for the rest of the evening now so will have to read them carefully tomorrow.
Re the purpose, I think it will be a matter of priorities with a very limited budget. I'll have to think about it. I know what I'd really like as a priority but I think it would be too expensive at least initially.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 17, 2016 7:36:58 GMT 10
I am a complete beginner at the communications stuff. I've read a few threads here and end up a little lost. There is ham radio but I think I read discussion about needing a licence for that? And I think there's a different sort - perhaps like a little cheap set of two that I bought from Dick Smiths yrs ago that say they have a range of about 4 km??? I just read the thread here describing the set up for bobs etc with solar chargers and that looked really interesting.
But I just don't really understand the different options, benefits, etc, or what is needed. Would someone be able give a really simple overview of it all or point me to a book or other resource? No rush, but if you have time? Just the basics in simple language and without jargon, so I can read the other posts with better understanding.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 12, 2016 16:49:10 GMT 10
Joey, what size bags is that for?
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 11, 2016 19:29:41 GMT 10
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 11, 2016 10:12:20 GMT 10
Beef jerky made using a cheap dehydrator from Aldi then vacuum sealed with oxygen absorbers. Opened after 2.5 years - in better condition than when placed in the mylar bag... I need to upgrade my mobile as images are very poor. I had raw organic cashews that I vacuum sealed and about 6 months later I'm sure they were crunchier and fresher tasting than when I first put them in. I also compared them to a new pkt from the supplier and they were definitely fresher tasting than those, although I don't know how old the suppliers cashews were though.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 9, 2016 10:09:07 GMT 10
I have lots of books on kindle, schooling resources, sewing/knitting patterns, diy instructions and music that I would like to preserve.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 8, 2016 15:18:40 GMT 10
Yes, I tested a box lined biscuit tin with my phone and a radio. It seemed to work sometimes - phone went straight to voicemail so that was good, but radio went off sometimes and not others. Makes me think I would want a second layer. As there is no way that I can afford extra electronics I'd love a simple way to put things away into such a box just when they're not being used. I figure the bags look good because they are zip locked so I can put things in and out, and then I only need them to be in one tin.
If I were packing things away long term I'd use foil wrapped boxes, nested, but that certainly won't work for a device that gets used for a period of time every day or two.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 8, 2016 12:54:40 GMT 10
Did anyone end up buying any Faraday Bags?
Looks from the previous post here as though they don't work on their own, but I like the idea of the ziplock faraday bags as a first layer - because of the ease of taking things in and out.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 7, 2016 22:31:23 GMT 10
I figured your wife might like that idea
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 7, 2016 22:08:50 GMT 10
Remember though, the things you would usually preserve with a water bath still need that, eg you can't use the vacuum sealer for a jar of fresh/cooked peaches. I don't want to give that impression. But for something that you would normally keep in a container in the pantry, like dried fruit, nuts, etc, if you vacuum the jar it keeps better. I just vacuum seal our back-up jars of those things.
It is great for other dry goods in bags though, and I also do batches of things like pizza topping combos ready to go and then freeze them.
I have had overlocker thread get old and break when I tried using it so I was thinking of vacuum sealing back-up spools of thread.
(Not ammunition I know, but another use!)
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 7, 2016 21:01:40 GMT 10
I was reading somewhere that some of the bags coming out of China are poor quality, and that the quality can be very variable. I assume that as Mylar is a brand (isn't it?) all bags that are actually Mylar bags should be consistently good? I import a lot of engineering gear out of china and its problematic to say "the x out of china is bad quality" often there are many factories producing the same item and quality varies between factories. There are a lot of really high quality products coming out of china these days and it just comes down to knowing who to buy from and if dealing with a trading company making sure they understand you'll pay the extra 10c to get the quality product. Great. I have no experience with this at all.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 7, 2016 20:59:57 GMT 10
Okay - I answered the same time as token - I have the same machine. Never had any trouble with it.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 7, 2016 20:58:22 GMT 10
Which vaccum sealer do you have? You happy with it? You mentioned you could hook it up to a ball jar which I really like the idea of as we already have plenty of them around. I spent a bit more than I should have when I bought the vacuum sealer - got the Sunbeam VS7800 - but it is really a good machine. I've had it for a couple of years now. The jar sealing attachment is an extra bit that I bought from somewhere else - perhaps ozfarmers?? I can't remember why I chose that model of vacuum sealer, but I think there was something it had that others didn't like perhaps the spot to attach the jar vacuum hose. There was definitely something that I thought I'd be disappointed to not have as a feature. I got that attachment primarily thinking of vacuum sealing salad greens into jars to keep in the frig so they last longer and could be prepared for the week in one go making me more likely to use them, but I don't often use it for that. I do love vacuum sealing dry goods like dried fruit into jars though, and I'll gradually get more of the large ones so I can include more things - it is extremely convenient to just grab the next jar in a row for use, rather than opening a bag and emptying it into a container. And of course, the jars are great for reuse. If you have lots of jars I'm assuming that you preserve in them - it is very convenient to just use these jars for everything - jams and preserves for the shelf, leftovers in the frig, dry goods for the shelf, the jars without shoulders are great in the freezer with soup, etc. (Actually I have a stash of vacola jars which I use for preserving too.) The sunbeam bags/rolls are expensive though. I have found that online stores sell bags/rolls much cheaper, but I try to get thick bags. I bought aldi roll of bags once, but returned it without even trying them as I didn't want to risk having poor quality bags.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 7, 2016 20:44:42 GMT 10
Why not vacuum seal Mylar bags? Best of both worlds. Fair point mate. So they're interchangable with standard vaccum bags, just with the extra strength and protection? I think you can't vacuum seal Mylar bags because of something about vacuum sealer bags having channels and the Mylar bags being smooth. I didn't really look into it as I read it when I was on a deadline with some work and was just getting distracted. People do come up with ways around it like making a straw out of vacuum sealer bags and putting that into a Mylar bag, but it seems it is just easier to use an iron or a hair straightener for Mylar bags.
|
|
tomatoes
Senior Member
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,089
|
Post by tomatoes on Nov 7, 2016 18:43:10 GMT 10
I was reading somewhere that some of the bags coming out of China are poor quality, and that the quality can be very variable. I assume that as Mylar is a brand (isn't it?) all bags that are actually Mylar bags should be consistently good?
|
|