Is Our Economy Going To Crash?

[Jshubin]

haha.. great idea about battery banks.. I have some cabinets and equipment to hook up battery bank but I dont have batteries... very expensive to buy new...

 

[Mini Horses]

I would love some solar. Not in budget right now. But we do have hurricanes where I am and while inland 50 miles, it ain't enough! So I do have a large generator and a device at the meter (installed by electric co) that I plug into. so I CAN run my well, etc. The device keeps electric from feeding into lines when power restores I can do without a lot and keep the gas cans full & aside from all else. Just plug that rascal into the device and cut off breakers where I don't want use -- i.e. water heater-- I can run my whole house if I do not do so at one time That said, the water is paramount! Have several large solar fence chargers...good there. Can run gen when needed for while, cut off.....save gas. I generally keep 5 days worth on hand, if running full time. Obviously, couple weeks if only sporadic use. I do have propane heater & full tank if it is cold weather, no electric needed.

Now, I am on the highest point in my area, so the ark will land here! But I feel secure with that. I have tanks to fill water for use to conserve amount of gas/generator time needed & keep water for livestock & selves. Food and feed generally well stocked. I could go months for food -- animal feed, depends on time of yr........grass, hay, feed, etc.

When I was starting to build this house 17 yrs ago, a hurricane hit and the town nearby was totally underwater - 100 yr flood! Slowed my well install as man's equipment was not accessible (but safe)...an experience. Remember hurricane in FL that wiped out Homestead, FL. We had 200 apartments there! 6 months in a camper to watch rebuild with 4 tractor/trailer loads of material from Norfolk/VA Beach to there. WOW. Had to chain generators as men worked to repair. People would stop, snatch, throw in truck and run!!! Food lines were there by Salvation Army and such, so everyone could eat prepared meals. It has been 25 years & I can remember like it was yesterday. Tragedy stays in your mind!

I have been through many things in my time on this Earth and learned from each experience. Thankful to have survived and prepare for next go round.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

When we want the generator for whole house use - we plug it into a wall socket in the garage and turn off the main breaker. That way the electricity doesn't flow out and shock somebody working on the lines... Had to have a two-way pluggy type thing that DS made for me. It's nice having somebody who understands electrical stuff. I've been trying to convince him to build some solar panels. He understands the "how" but doesn't really have time to fool with it right now.... Grrrrr

 

[baymule]

Living in a double wide with NO back up energy. It makes me uneasy, but our focus has been fence, barn, fence, shed, fence, garden, garden fence, fruit trees, fence, sheep, fence, LGD's, fence, screened porch, fence, did I mention fence? I would love a wood burning heater and it is on the list.......looooong list! I would love solar too, at least enough to keep the freezer/refrigerator running. One of these days we will have all our infrastructure in place and we can go into maintenance mode. Going from a double wide on 8 acres with no fence, no sheds, no nothing to where we are now in 1 1/2 years is nothing short of phenomenal, but we still have a lot of work to do.

 

[baymule]

I have a friend that lives outside of Beaumont on a narrow country road. During the hurricane Rita exodus, they turned out all their lights and stood at the end of their driveway with shotguns to keep the hordes of people from stealing everything they could get their hands on.

 

[canesisters]

I have been trying to learn 'new' skills over the years that will serve me well when resources become harder or more expensive to get. Raising livestock, growing a garden, composting, etc. I don't see any sense in going broke getting tools & equipment to get me through a depression that might or might not come. I pickup what I can, when I can.
I try to take comfort in the idea that every generation sees the one behind it as useless, lazy and heading toward anarchy .

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I don't see any sense in going broke getting tools & equipment to get me through a depression that might or might not come

Makes sense.... unless you live where I live, lol. The tools and equipment that we have are mainly to get us through a hurricane scenario. (if anything else happens we're ahead of the game) Just try going a couple weeks without electricity/running water/refrigeration in the summer and see if you don't want a generator!

 

[canesisters]

I have a generator - we get hurricanes in VA too. What I meant was that as much as I'd like to log into amazon and order up the biggest and badest dehydrators, canners, solar powered this and that, etc. - I will make do with the give-away/hand-me-downs & 'entry level' purchases until I am able to upgrade.

I'm also learning how to get my normal, day in/day out stuff done without gas when possible. I've gotten pretty accurate with the swing blade and can (now) clean my fence lines w/o hitting the wire or sinking it in a post. It won't do as good of a job as a scythe, but in a pinch, I think that I could 'harvest' a good bit of hay with it.
I have an old fashioned push mower and was surprised to realize that it takes a little bit of skill to work the thing. Several 'practice' mows and you can't tell anymore what section was mowed 'by hand' and which was mowed with the riding mower.

 

[baymule]

@canesisters I just did an upgrade, I finally bought an All American pressure canner and used it today! I've been wanting one for 3 years!

It is good that you can use hand tools and know what to do with them. I love hand tools. Sure, I have some of the nice stuff, I adore my Hitachi cordless drill and circle saw, but I have an old fashioned hand drill that was my Dad's. I have several hand saws. I love hand tools!

 

[canesisters]

WHOO-HOO!! And All American!

.... one day.....