The Q&A portion of the Wild Bunch Dispatch will be held on this page from 6:30pm to 8:00pm (Mountain Time) today. Any questions you might have on the 74th issue (Three Big Prepping Projects To Start This Spring) please post here and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. Some ground rules:
1) Please stick to the subject matter of the newsletter.
2) This is not a debate forum. If you have some concerns I’m happy to address them, but I can’t get into a long circular debate while other people have questions.
3) If I do not respond to your question immediately, don’t freak out. I’ll get to it, don’t worry.
4) Try to keep to one or two questions each time you write a post. Please refrain from essay-long multi-question posts. It is much appreciated.
I will begin discussion at exactly 6:30pm Mountain time. Looking forward to your questions and thoughts on the Wild Bunch Issue #74. If you missed out on this discussion you can still subscribe for the next issue and participate. For more information on how to subscribe, visit the link HERE.
Regards,
Brandon Smith, Founder of Alt-Market.us
Discussion on Issue #74 is now open.
Hi Brandon, where do you source your 12v lithium batteries?
I was going to ask this too. Many brands of batteries out there; customer reviews often say that after 3 months or so, the batteries don’t work anymore, so how do we know which brand(s) to trust?
Batteries last many years as long as they are maintained. Lithiums last for thousands of charges. If a battery fails after 3 months then it was a dud from the factory. All you can do is make an educated purchase based on how many people give thumbs up vs. how many give a thumbs down. Also, the larger the battery bank the less it matters if a battery does fail.
I don’t have any specific recommendations on brands, just make sure the stats meet your needs and you shouldn’t have a problem. Check customer reviews if possible to make sure there’s nothing shady going on. The majority of lithiums are basically the same. High priced brands like Battleborn are overrated when it comes to performance. They cost three times the price as batteries which do basically the same thing.
If you don’t have enough land to devote to gardening you can always use large planters and raised beds. I even saw a set at Tractor Supply that had wheels so you can move it around and put it up when you don’t need it anymore.
There is also the option of indoor growing. You won’t be able to grow any staples, but you can grow enough vegetables to add vitamins, minerals and fiber to your diet. Most death in third world countries comes form the effects of malnutrition coupled with a weak immune system. If you look at the diets of these people you will find they are surprisingly devoid of fresh vegetables, except for what they are able to gather in the wild, which is usually not much. This is why I always end up having to argue with wild edibles survivalists – They think you can live off what you find rather than what you store and grow, and I have to break it to them that this strategy fails in the majority of cases which is why the death rate is so high from starvation in third world nations. The average person in such places is lucky to have a tin or mud hut; they have no land and no resources to grow their own food, which is why they forage. If they could grow, they would abandon foraging in a heartbeat.
For someone who has zero electrical know how, where would you suggest to start for getting a solar back up?
There are lots of great videos on YouTube to get you started – Just search solar power for beginners. I suggest starting out with a small system with a single battery and a single solar panel and then growing from there.
Hey Brandon, Just wanted to thank you for this recent Wild Bunch Dispatch issue – motivated us to get going with solar power and lithium batteries. We experienced a windstorm in 2015, not long after we moved to our homestead – and we were sorely unprepared at the time. And I completely agree with you – in spite of now having more heat sources, well hand pump, several alternative cooking sources, a generator, etc., etc., – it’s still not fun being without electricity for an extended time. (And it was only 6 days when that happened with us.) Anyway, wanted to mention that Rawles published (just a few days after your article, coincidentally) some local Redoubt links for obtaining some of these products:
Discussion is now closed on Issue #74. Thanks to all those subscribers who participated. If you missed out on this issue or would like to subscribe to The Wild Bunch Dispatch to receive future issues, visit the subscription page HERE.
Hi, ive signed up for the newsletter subscription via the donation page. Please could u add me to the list, looking forwarded to reading more of your material thanks
Please me too!!!
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Get some Ivermectin now!! This has been the Godsend of the Covid bullshit. Learning about all the things IVM can help with. Don’t be afraid of pony paste or the 1% injectable (BUT TAKE ORALLY). Its a pretty safe drug from what I understand. If pony paste the use the weight on the plunger. If the 1% injectable its about 2ml/cc per 200lbs of body weight. I got nailed pretty hard in late Jan this year. Felt it coming on but wanted to see what would happen next. Overnight went to 103 fever and my lungs felt like fiber glass was swirling around them. I am middle aged and in good shape. Drank pine needle tea (Southern Pines) and vomited it up. I have drank it before and was fine. Think I made this batch too strong. Immediately after took pony paste. Within an hour my fever plummeted. DO NOT believe the stories IVM does NOT work. Get some now and hold on to it.