Are you all happy with your kit and preps?

Doomsday Prepper Forums

Help Support Doomsday Prepper Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
everything will change post SHTF, people will need to adapt to the new circumstances.
That’s for certain. I guarantee shtf will happen too. No one knows when, how or what will take place after for certain, but change is one thing that is enevitable. I’m really hoping it dosent happen in my lifetime but with the state of the world that’s one reason I prep to help me and the ones close to me.
 
everything will change post SHTF, people will need to adapt to the new circumstances.

That truism applies to life in general, I have been trying to explain to my children how we "" Survived"" without Mobile phones, Computers, the Internet, Microwave Ovens, Apple, Miscrosoft, Amazon, Sat Nav, Fibre Optics, McDonalds, Cheap imported fashion clothing, Goretex, Central Heating, Freezers, Air Con in cars, WIFI, Supermarkets .

According to todays under 40s we must have lived like neanderthals before 1980 :)
 
That truism applies to life in general, I have been trying to explain to my children how we "" Survived"" without Mobile phones, Computers, the Internet, Microwave Ovens, Apple, Miscrosoft, Amazon, Sat Nav, Fibre Optics, McDonalds, Cheap imported fashion clothing, Goretex, Central Heating, Freezers, Air Con in cars, WIFI, Supermarkets .

According to todays under 40s we must have lived like neanderthals before 1980 :)
I was brought up in a time before supermarkets- didn't see my first one until 1970 by which time I was married and paying a mortgage, mobile phones or computers. didn't have my first freezer until 1981 and that was an old ice cream freezer from a shop.
when I was growing up we ate what was in season and if it wasn't in season we didn't have it to eat, now its shipped in from the other side of the world and people expect stuff in the shops 52 weeks of the year.
peoples expectations are too great and WTSHTF they are going to come a cropper.
 
Last edited:
There also seems a possibility of a woodgas generator, which is a generator that runs off of burning hardwood.

It seems wonderful in theory, but my recent research seems to show that this idea is nowhere near as practical as it seems
It does have some drawbacks, but with my degrees in Chemical Engineering, I think I SHOULD be able to construct a working woodgas generator to power my propane electric generator. With near limitless hardwood available, it's a very appealing prospect.

And BTW, it doesn't use "burning hardwood" except as a heat source, that would defeat the purpose. It uses heated wood in an oxygen deprived sealed container. Poorly constructed, it could leak toxic fumes. But it is not a very complicated process not does it require very sophisticated equipment.
 
Our knowledge is far greater today than it was back in the 19th century and earlier. We certainly are far more advanced in chemical engineering and the world is full of folks with backyard labs so all ain't lost. I stock up on clear food grade medium mineral oil for a lot of reasons, it's cheap, no expiration date, can be used on a multitude of things including firearms (not wood stocks), medical, skin etc... It's not an oil to brag about but it is tried and true and widely used in numerous industries thus should be included in preps.

Anyone that purchased those little Hoppe's 9 lubricant bottles just spent a fortune on mineral oil, example, 1.34 a ounce for Hoppe's 9 versus .14cents a ounce for 1 gallon for mineral oil.
 
Last edited:
do my best to build 'em up as much as possible, try to obtain as much first aid gear as possible and ordered another little book for paramedics,
it's like a guide book to shitty situations, from babies to seniors..
as far as protective gear,fairly satisfied to what I have...
 
It does have some drawbacks, but with my degrees in Chemical Engineering, I think I SHOULD be able to construct a working woodgas generator to power my propane electric generator. With near limitless hardwood available, it's a very appealing prospect.

And BTW, it doesn't use "burning hardwood" except as a heat source, that would defeat the purpose. It uses heated wood in an oxygen deprived sealed container. Poorly constructed, it could leak toxic fumes. But it is not a very complicated process not does it require very sophisticated equipment.
A degree in Chemical Engineering is very impressive.

I have a degree in Organic Chemistry, but I stopped going further than 3 years because I got hurt working as a paramedic.

I've never used my degree except peripherally in my writing, and during my work in HAZMAT.

The idea of a renewable fuel source is appealing, but what turned me away from it was the complexity, the fact that it is still very high maintenence (and I would need an impressive amount of spare parts, engine lubricants, extra gaskets and seals, and so on.

The primitive Chinese diesel engine (they make a 4 horsepower slow speed diesel engine) combined with a brushless generator seem like a great idea for PSHTF. Diesel isn't as explosively flamable as gasoline. It also stores much, much longer than gasoline (especially with the correct preservatives added to it), it is less toxic, and can be used in oil lamps.

Also, the Chinese engine can burn vegetable oil, biodiesel, and vegetable oil mixed with diesel.

cheap-very-small-diesel-engine-for-sale.png_140x140.png


The slow rpm Chinese diesel engine was designed to be used in remote areas away from resources.

It requires very little maintenence, is extremely reliable, and very easy to repair with simple tools.
 
It does have some drawbacks, but with my degrees in Chemical Engineering, I think I SHOULD be able to construct a working woodgas generator to power my propane electric generator. With near limitless hardwood available, it's a very appealing prospect.

And BTW, it doesn't use "burning hardwood" except as a heat source, that would defeat the purpose. It uses heated wood in an oxygen deprived sealed container. Poorly constructed, it could leak toxic fumes. But it is not a very complicated process not does it require very sophisticated equipment.
I seem to remember (I abandoned the idea a while ago) that one fire is used to heat a sealed chamber that is filled with wood, and that it's the gases given off by the destructive distillation of wood that power the generator?
 
A couple of my brothers and one of my sisters are getting very interested in prepping and one of them is an engineer who is quite good at building things and improvising. I can see him building something like this.
I have been focused more on developing skills (particularly medical-related, because my interest has always been health care) that will be useful after SHTF. I do have a "short term" supply of freeze dried foods and other items to help through a transition phase after a SHTF event.
I don't think I would say I am "happy" with what I have because I'm always learning knew things, adding items, changing things up and trying to improve my supplies, as well as my knowledge.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top