Our New Aquaponic Chickens…

Our New Aquaponic Chickens….

This is an excellent post from a Family who are living Aquaponics and not just writing about it.
ps. this is the first Time I have done the Press this option, so sorry if I screw this up.

Rocket Mass Heater Plans

I have seen people who build covered decks that are really mud rooms. In these Mud rooms they put the heaters, so it frees up space in other areas. The last one I saw, had the deck so long it covered both doors, massive heater with stone around it. Just use some computer fans which are 12v, use even the small 1.5 or 2 watt panels to power them. The excess power can be diverted to a small 12v deep cycle battery, I got mine from a used Electric Bike dealer. One could put an addition onto the back, even insulated Canvas would work, then you increase the mobility of the RV/Camper while creating extra room and a place for the larger heater.

Now I am working on two projects, well actually 3 projects.
1st was simple, I gutted an old Kerosene heater, put in a small catalytic propane heater. I am using the old cabinet from the Kerosene in order to make it safer as well as direct the heat better. Last night, I put an old brake rotor on top, since it is solid metal it took a while for it to heat up, likewise it will take a while to cool down. So there is some mass.

2nd my mechanic uses the old oil he takes out of vehicles to heat his shop. He puts them in some soup cans, 3/4 full then squirts a bit of BBQ lighter fluid into them to get them going. After a while, he will put some wood on top, to really get it heated up. Heating cost $0, although you need to clean the chimney more. I have two portable camping wood stoves now. One brand new the other cost $40 with the home-made chimney.

3rd Will be making a rocket mass heater for this coming Winter and Fall, enough of spending so much money on Propane. I will of course use the propane as an emergency supply or a quick warm up, while the rocket mass heater is doing its thing.

Now seeing as this is a vehicle, RV there is not as much room in it as I would like, so the outlet pipes will be modified. I have picked up some used (although maybe never used at all) gas heater pipes. This will be for the outlet of the Rocket Mass Heater. Since it is already a duel pipe system, the inner pipe, the smaller one will be for the exhaust. The outer ring will be filled with Vermiculite or Perlite. (almost the same, slightly different but very similar) They both hold and retain the heat, are both very lightweight.

Next I will attach a cheap copper or other metal pipe to it, this will be the outside air, so it is warmed as it travels along to the Rocket Heater. The heat and fire will draw the air so no need for a fan for the fresh air intake pipe.

Next, since I finally found a local supplier of Clay, I can now make my Portable Rocket Mass Heater. The base will be a concrete slab/patio stone with some clay bricks with air gaps, so the floor does not get too hot. The combustion chamber will be a Propane Bottle, modified of course. Inside and outside will be the clay to absorb the heat. I will be using a 20pndr for size reasons. Since the Rocket Mass Heater is so efficient, picking up small wood from building sites and other small wood sources will provide the bulk of the fuel. In this I might experiment using the used oil as well. There is a few hundred gallons kicking around this place and I already have the permission to use some of it.

The exhaust since it burns so well, and the way rocket mass heaters work, it will just travel along the floor under my living wall, into my storage/workshop area in the back, down one of the sides that has an opening for the back doors.

I will post a pic later of the Modified Kerosene Heater with the Propane Catalytic

Bugging Out to Backup Position

So, the roads are jammed, or EMP pulse has disabled cars what do you do?

That is why I have a bicycle and a home-made cart for it. Move faster, carry more, get ahead of the herd. It worked for some miners going up to the Gold Rushes in both the Yukon and Northern BC, so it will work here. My Dog also has a pack for her and I am building a carting pack and cart for her as well.

Using bikes that way it quicker, even if all you do is load up the bike and push it, make sure it is balanced well and you can put up to 10x the load you can normally carry. WWI and WWII as well as multiple scenarios in the African Continent have seen people do this.

Another thing I am changing is Tents, moving away from the normal new design tents that use Nylon, back to Canvas Tents. Canvas holds the heat better and can be heated quicker as well. In the Sun it also takes longer to warm up, so you will not be soggy by the time you get out of the rack. Cold weather can see the use of liners, even cotton liners will raise the ambient temps by at least 10degs Fahrenheit.

During the last year alone, I have now reached my goal of 3 Canvas Tents, two that will be combined to make a mini home, the third is to be the portable camping tent. Total Cost so far is $50 for all three. One was free, the other two cost $20 and $30 each. Adding in Smoke/Fire rings will cost $40 per ring, plus $40 for the Sewing by a Canvas Shop.

I stopped using Tea lights as well as Kerosene Lamps in the tents. Have switched to making my own Lights and lamps from Veggie Oil and rolled up paper towel (commercial paper towel works better) or the Hemp/Cotton Jute String (so very cheap now).

Safety is an issue, so using the Veggie Oil is great, light it, flame it, then tip it over since it is so fire proof, it puts itself out, none of the other fuels do that.
~WildE or W.R.
https://wildernessreturn.wordpress.com/
WildernessReturn

Posts: 396
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2011 6:07 am
Location: Ontario
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SHFT Run to the Hills and Parks

My thoughts run to this,
everyone and his dog knows about Provincial parks, they will be overcrowded and rife with strife!

Off the beaten path, as in crown land, if it hard to get to then yes. But, when your months worth of food is gone, no more gas for the generator, what do you do then? There will be no wild animals of any numbers left within 2 months, all the regular yahoos will be out shooting everything that moves, will not conserve and just how many 100k of people with guns do you think our environment will support?

Strategic alliances with farmers are the way to go, but and a big but, most will not even think on that stuff now. So, I am trying to rent a spot on a farm right now, and it is work to do that. Now this is when it is the worst case scenarios, if it is the worst case, full blown all out war, then a depression, if EMP or Coronal Mass Ejection similar to the 1880’s or the 1980’s that hit Quebec, though on a larger scale, there will be a mass die off of the population.

If the Coronal Mass or EMP hits just right, no electronics. The one that hit in the 1880s was said to cause the Telegraph lines to pop and sizzle, the glass connectors that connect to the poles to shatter. With the reports I have read on the experiments done by the Russians and the US in the 60s – 70s, even generators that were not connected to grids, did not have electronics were inoperable. If you do not have a Faraday Cage, lots of money to have double of everything in the Faraday Cage, it will not be like the 1880s it will be worse! Everything works with electronics and from some of the reports even non electronic vehicles and generators will not work either without major overhauls, this takes time. No food delivery for months, if it hits in Winter, massive die off as the harvest will be in the Fall for most things. Southern US will come out better as they can have 2 harvests whereas the Northern Areas only have 1.

Why worse, because we have lost the knowledge of the people in the 1880s, we do not have the wooden and metal pulley systems that they had, nor the knowledge on how to make them either. The 1880s had a lead up period, we will have lead down period, hence the US, Russia and China building vast subterranean complexes and bunkers, the only way to keep electronics and people fully separated and able to function later on.

How many people do you know even on farms who have the animal pulled machines operable and able to use them. Did you know that on some farms, they used human or Cow/Ox power to pull them? Oxen take about 3 yrs to become big enough and have enough training to be fully utilized for husbandry.

Now this is just the absolute worst case scenario, I am thinking survival rate in some areas to be about 40% in others, perhaps as low as 20%. The 40% will be in secluded areas like Northern Canada, Mountain Valley communities or lake surrounded communities. With those people surviving, only the People with Prepper, Pioneer or Adventurer spirits and some corrupt Government officials will make it. The Human Locusts/Zombie Hordes will clean everything in their path, kill the hold outs, unless you are secluded or very hard to get to. Then they die off, or most of them. No drugs, everyone who is drug dependent dead in about 3-4 months, old people, most dead in 1 month, weak willed dead in 4 months.

It would be nice to sit around a fire and Sing Coombya, all being Cooperative LIKE some think, I just do not think it will turn out that way. If it is only a depression, then it might happen, though there will be a large die off then as well.

Now these are some peoples thoughts, my own included and I have believed this for about 7-9 yrs now, am I ready NO, was it my fault, partially, divorce is a two sided killer of dreams!

So for your sake, my sake and most peoples sake, I really hope it does not come to that, but our way of living needs to change, our thoughts need to change, our priorities need to change, work with Nature not to control or kill off Nature. Power requirements, Oil dependency, Agro Raping of the Earth, Animal Husbandry,covering farmers fields with Mini Monster Mansions, we need to change all of it, or we are doomed.

So cheers and have a nice day hope for the best.

How to Move to BC

I moved from Ontario to BC
now moved back but still miss BC and my friends there! Here are a few suggestions based on what I did and did not do.

I bought a School Bus from the School Board, went to the Mechanics that service them, told them what I wanted to do and why. They listened to me, told me which School Bus had what issues. Every School Bus had problems. The one they recommended to me only had one issue that he was aware of. I was told it needed a new Rad Core, so I ripped it out myself, took it too a Rad Shop and had it re-cored. Make sure you get a new Rad Cap as well, I did not and had problems all across Canada until someone told me about that, $15 fix, no more problems.

This is what mine looked like moving in the Mountains and Northern Ontario

In BC School Buses from Ontario are sought after as they have a different set of rules there. (that was then, this is now, so who knows now?) I picked up my School bus from the Depot for about $1000, $400 to fix the Rad, no other repairs. I removed the seats using a torch, in future would use an angle grinder with a better quality cutting blade to remove the nuts now. Mine was a Propane powered Bus, much cheaper to run. Although Northern Ontario was way more expensive to fill up in past Barrie, way more.

Lived in the Bus for the first Year and a half – wished afterwards I had not sold it, but that is another story.
Sold the Ontario School Bus for $5k, paid for everything in the trip from purchase, fuel and food.

What some of you think a School Bus looks like when someone lives in it

Other lessons;
keep only speciality items, do not move most tools, you can get everything there for the same price or cheaper, sell it off
do not move furniture – cheap there, go to Auctions or Garage Sales, or Win Lotto and keep it or just go buy everything NEW
unless it has sentimental values, sell it off or give it away.

Keep 75% of the seats in the bus, you can sell it faster and easier that way to some Logging company that wants it for taking peeps up and down the mountains! Lesson learned
take out the back 5 or so rows, put all the rest of your stuff in between the seats, secure for travel
The last 5 or so rows you can put your bed there, build a platform, turn seats around use them for platform. If your bed is comfy, take it, boy o boy lesson learned there. Yes you can buy beds there, but you have a nice comfy one, KEEP it.

Some people personalize their School Bus
So all you need now is a Fridge, options;
get a smal bar fridge run off inverter
get a RV fridge, run off inverter while driving, propane when stationary
get a Koolatron, run while driving (wrap with stuff to keep it cool overnight) Takes way lots of power, unless engine is running!
buy fuel from Truck Stops, they give you shower coupons, you and the wife then only need One coupon
buy groceries along the way for fresh stuff use your prepper food for the staples and as a way to rotate it out, normal drill then.

Jake’s Website, a website dedicated to converting School Busses into RV’s

So that is a few ideas, now some on vehicles
Look for Diesel, yes Diesel is now more expensive, advantages Diesel is also more energy and fuel efficient
Look for a Decent Box Type Truck, Diesel, use it to move in, keep as Bug out Vehicle, secondary vehicle or movable shed and power plant in BC
Look for Diesel School Bus
Sell everything, everything off, Fly there, get another car, drive there quicker in a Car or Pickup, buy everything there

my new home

What I did now, and how I might move to BC again in

If you drive there, Stop in Alberta, get Alberta Mailing Box address, drivers licence, etc
move to BC then or Foot Steps of Rockies stay in Alberta enjoy it there.
if move to BC tell everyone you are from Alberta, you will get jobs easier, able to pay Mortgage then, most BC hates people from Ontario, will not give them jobs unless you are in the Lower Mainland, lesson learned hard way.

Why live in the North

The pic above was shot in the North, says most of it right there!

My Fav area is the North, why;
people are better there
less dependent on electricity
people do not trust the Gov there
Growing season shorter, but not as short as the Yukon or Alaska – people have gardens there
not encircled by Nuclear Reactors
less chance the Zombie hordes will live long enough to get there
too far away for the Zombie walkers and Bicyclists as well
The North is just Beautiful!
The Women wear real shoes in the country in the North they wear those and Hikers/logger boots/combat boots – my kinda women!
Gardening in the North starts a bit later outside most start it inside and transfer
Permaculture would thrive there if you did it the Sepp Holzer way!
Neighbours are more likely to come to a barn raising – in the South they say invite me to the party only
lots of woods,
still lots of wildlife
lots of Beaver to support the wildlife
some areas are Fly in only so no Zombies will get there
Sunsets, Sunsets, Sunsets
more snow in the Winter (for now?)
more snow, more insulation for the roof, warmer inside
combat clothing is normal wear, so you buy 3 pairs of combat pants for $25 each down here you buy 1 pants at Mark’s for $75
– combat clothing lasts for about 10yrs with rugged use, Mark’s Clothing about 5yrs tops – So saving Hundreds
better fishing
less restrictions on Building Codes,
more Tolerance for sustainable buildings and alternate buildings.
People are still natural, historical Preppers there!
People like us on the Forum would not stick out, we would blend in

traffic jams now imagine in emergency situations

Zombie Hordes now!

Rocket stoves when the gas is gone

Here are a few links that have tons of Rocket Stoves, Hobo Stoves and the like.
For the ones who do not know;
Rocket Mass Heaters are for heating you house or trailer, can also be used to cook with
Rocket Stoves are for cooking with, they also give off heat, though the mass is normally missing

a list of lists of rocket stoves
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/cheap-shelters/message/13482

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33879

http://zenstoves.net/LinksGeneral-DIY.htm

http://www.ammocanstove.com/ (this one and the one before are on Ammo Box Stoves, two cause they are cool, and ammo boxes)

another good option is to use a Haybox (cooking via thermal mass heating and continual heating)
http://www.selfsufficientish.com/hayboxcooker.htm

http://thermalcooker.wordpress.com/cate … rs/haybox/

The following is a link to a very cool website, this particular link is for the one page instructables, the following is for the section that most are in. See also links to the side
http://www.instructables.com/id/Survival-Stove/
http://www.instructables.com/tag/type-id/category-outside/

and Survival site in the main site
http://www.instructables.com/tag/type-id/category-outside/channel-survival/

The power goes out, you grab your stove, do you try to heat the entire house or just a room some thoughts;

We did this in the military many times, it is so much easier to heat the tent, especially if it is canvas inside a room than to heat the room itself. Another option would be to make a tarp Tent inside the room, make an inside heat trap using simple sheets as well. If you have lots of time, you could line the walls with Sand Bags, create an inside wall structure with walking room or storage room on the outside of the sandbags, next to the regular walls. Create an inside roof of Canvas or similar material and then heat this mass, from experience once the sand bags are heated up, they stay warm for quite a while.

The problems with heating the entire room is the rooms construction, the heat will constantly be absorbed by the thermal mass of the walls and of the earth. The heat and warm air will find the smallest of openings to escape into, and quickly escape the room. Heating the thermal mass of the surrounding earth and structure, now normally this is a good thing, but in an emergency with no end in sight or even a known time frame of say 1-2 weeks to restore the power, you are conserving fuel, using a layered system of thermal mass and air mass to conserve the heat. With unlimited or seemingly unlimited supplies of fossil fuels and natural gas, heating the entire house is feasible. With a modest stack of even 6 containers of fuel, you will quickly go through them if you’re trying to heat the entire wall and mass of earth.

In the past, layering won out time and time again, another thing of note is to block the entrance to the basement, drape sheets or tarps before and after the door to create a heat sink, wind sink, the efficiency of your efforts are greatly increased then.

If I still had my house, I would make a Rocket Mass Heater, put it into the basement, use it to at least bring the house temps up to 60-70′ deg and top off with the Natural Gas Furnace. I have seen videos and read articles that state entire wings of the house are heated thus, morning and night or just the day before, feeding the Rocket Mass Heater to warm the house. Even 1 cord of wood in the backyard will allow you to use the Rocket Mass Heater to lower your bills. They burn so efficiently a small inconspicuous vent will go unnoticed and in this case not draw attention either. They can be fed using only sticks or by splitting the wood into much small pieces, thus conserving wood as well.

Videos show people putting their faces right up to the vent, no smoke no carbon emissions over the normal air, now they are a little crazy, use a meter. OPSEC is greater if they can not smell wood smoke, using 98% of the efficiency of the wood is just plain smart.