What Did You Prep This Week

OK, so not this week, but about 2 weeks ago we had 2 out of 3 family vehicles die on us.
Sooooooooooooooooooooooo
we went looking for a couple of reliable vehicles to replace them.
we ended up with a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited for the DW
and my new toy is a Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab, with the 8' box and a cap on the back that I could do jumping jacks in. This will be adapted as a family bug out vehicle...I'll post pics as I go along, but I'll only get started on the project come spring.
Both vehicles are 4 x 4, the Jeep seats 5 and has plenty of cargo space. The Ram seats 6 and just powers through everything I have encountered so far.

OK, so not this week,we ended up with a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited for the DW
and my new toy is a Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab,

I loved my Cherokee and hope you got the straight 6 motor as their easy to fix and you have plenty of room to work on. The downfall is that they are unibody and so the lack of a frame finally gave into salt eating all away until the body twisted. My advise is to get it up on jacks and look at the condition as you can see thru the supposed "crumple zone" holes along the body structure. If good still, sandblast away all surface rust and spray Crappy Tires "rust inhibitor" in and throughout immediately after cleaning. This will likely prolong the life of an otherwise great buggy.

Actually, both vehicles have the 4.7 V8...so in a pinch, we can take parts from one to fix another.
Jeeps are a special vehicle like no other...just plain fun to drive!

Actually, both vehicles have the 4.7 V8...so in a pinch, we can take parts from one to fix another.
Jeeps are a special vehicle like no other...just plain fun to drive!

In fact I used that same logic when choosing the Colorado and the H3 trucks as they both have straight 5 cylinders, one has a 3.5 and the other a 3.7 Litre. Yet the 2006 Colorado has part time 4 wheel drive while the 2008 H3 is All-Wheel Drive which are sorta swappable but really very different. The H3 selection 4High or 4 Lock while the Colorado is 2H, 4H or 4Lock. The all wheel option is far more complex and costly to fix as it is computer controlled like many newer cars are. Throwing an new spare tire on in place of a 1/2 worn out one and the computer can destroy the tranny as many are now finding out. This is when technology is getting stupid. But I always do my own work and the straight 5's allow for easy repairs without removing 4 good parts just to fix that one bad part. The Colorado has limited slip diff's front and back which makes them lock both sides up until 5 mph and thus acts like real posi-track. Both my trucks therefore are real "bitch-in-a-ditch" buggies compared to most other stock 4x4's. This is handy as I often travel on more snow packed roads than I should and I hate walking.

My Cherokee with a straight 6 was the same way as things get tight when bigger motors fill the same hole. But I like your logic just the same as donar parts will always come in handy when needed the most.

No Frills in our area has 15 pack water o for .88 plus deposits. Topped up our water stores.

Picked up an extra propane tank, went to the range for some training, picked up some extra ammo in the process. Also did another Costco run which means all shelved topped up with a little extra - we buy a little more everytime. Local general store at Boyardee at $0.75 so picked up a few cans (I call those MREs hehe). Also got a LuminAid - well, it was last week, but I hadn't sent an update I a while so I'm catching up.

Just emptied the dehydrater for the fourth time in four days. Pumped 40 pounds of red peppers, all diced up, that I got 50% off a few days ago. I now have a full 128oz bottle full of peppers. Yum!

am rotating through my pantry, using the older goods and restocking.. had planned a thorough purge and sort but have to delay that as my ever so efficient and organised sis who was to help had surgery and is out of action for a few months.

been consciously eating better and moving more, have even noticed a difference in my arms as in.. slightly thinner forearms. and the gut is a touch less. miles and miles to go.

bought a "kit" off evilbay.. mostly generic stuff like a cheap firesteel, mylar blanket, glowstick, coupla small bandages, a compass.. but the decent parts were a handy pouch, another lil torch and the prize item

a Spyderco Dragonfly 2.. got the lot for $50

Have not been on in a while...
Found a few bricks of 22 at a gun show and a couple of cdn tires over the past month. Getting ready for this spring.

We've been reading reviews on food sealers and have decided on the more 'industrial' Weston http://www.westonsupply.com/Vacuum-Sealers-Vacuum-Sealer-Bags-s/81.htm They have pretty decent reviews.

We have cleaned up some storage and rotated some stock to update our inventory after receiving our order of ARC's from Costco. Should have a solid two-years for two people finally. Though a large proportion is unfortunately in freeze-dried ready to eat meals that will probably be overly salty as mentioned in other threads.

Found a shelf full of Butler Creek mags for $19.99 at a Cdn Tire in a small town I was visiting, so I bought 4 😳

Myself and the DW have also started working out together and have drastically changed our eating habits. We have obvious results after 6 weeks and that is probably the most important prep of them all.

Got a lot of pdf files printed for friends to read, trying to pass on as much I can to people who are not prepping or even aware of things happening in the world right now, like Russia and US about Ukraine, Fukushima, Health issues from NatNews,ect.

We have a big (6500 watt running) Champion generator that has served us well over the last few years.
When the power goes out, we use it a few times a day for a couple hours at a time to get water from the well, cool down the 2 fridges and chest freezer, and charge up batteries and other stuff. It does this all at the same time and is very usefull.
However, it is loud and a waste of gas if we just want to run a few lights or a tv.
So....we walked into crappy tire last night, looking for a wardrobe they had on sale.
To our surprise, right inside the door, was a shelf full of refurbished Champion 1200 watt generators on sale for $189.
Since we had such good luck with Champion before, and wanted a smaller, quieter unit...this seemed like a no brainer.
This was not an advertised sale. Just goes to show that you should walk into your local CT, TS, and other stores from time to time...just to browse!
This find will be used as an excuse to my wife for me to go shopping at hardware stores for years to come!

edit - I just went out to try this out and saw that it shipped with oil!
I guess that makes sense as a refurb...it was obviously tested.
I had to put some gas on the air filter to get it going the first time, but it runs great!

In case anyone is interested...CT has them on sale brand new for $230.00 this week.
Check out this video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glvGvhLCnTE

Picked one up this afternoon. Now we just need Peppercorn to do an online tutorial on this model. 🙂

I have in a few threads mentioned some of the things I do to this unit though not everything, I wont post fully everything because some things are only applicable to this unit and I just wouldn't want someone to forget, or mix things up with another unit, but if you two have bought one I will type up a more comprehensive list with pic's.
I am very time challenged right now so I cant for a bit but when I do I will pm you both with the info if you wish, I ask though that if you haven't already, get a p3 kilowatt meter or whatever the latest version is, I think I have seen them for 20-25 bucks on line, with this you don't just have a handy tool for checking the power consumption of electrical devices, you have something that is a all in one diagnostic tool for generators, and I will explain how to use it for that purpose.
Also don't toss your manual, I will want you to look at the schematic, and I will walk you through it, and point out a design flaw (I think) in the wiring that you can use to your advantage.

scrounger for 230.00 you cant go wrong, I buy them for the engine alone as I have had such good results, and even the guys like myself with Hondas eu 1000 and 2000 just let them sit because we would be crazy to pound up high hours on our expensive machines when these do the same job with nearly matching fuel economy

Thanks Peppercorn, I look forward to seeing your info. My next step is to add an outside receptacle that is hardwired to my generator panel. It will be a 15 amp twist lock male. I have wire to make a connection between genny and outdoor plug. The goal is to make the system a safe plug n play.

One question I have is, should I make the outside plug a 30 amp twist lock? That way with a quick plug change on the gen end of cord I can plug in different generator. My panel is rated for 30 amp.

Thanks

I would say yes, go for the 30 amp receptacle, it may cost a little more.