Gerald O'Hara

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since Jan 17, 2013
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45.7187 N, -97.4436 W (where it is really cold)
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Recent posts by Gerald O'Hara

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Gerald O'Hara wrote:It would seem important to divide this subject into two distinct categories.
...
The skill set required to live in the setting of no electricity as life existed before electricity became ubiquitous ...
...
The other skills required for living in the current environment of society requires the knowledge and ability to provide electricity on an individual basis thus maintaining the essential services required for life in our modern society.  


Good thoughts, and I hope I did not do violence to your ideas with my skinny quotes.

Personally I would add a third distinct category:  the skills, mindset, and resources to jump from one category to the other at a moment's notice. Resilience!




Actually, I thought I implied that concept near the end of my post. I completely agree with you on that.
2 weeks ago
It would seem important to divide this subject into two distinct categories.
The skill set required to live in the setting of no electricity as life existed before electricity became ubiquitous as a service to man that diminishes the need for backbreaking labor. Is this a realistic approach? In my estimation, that answer is unquestionably “Yes!” However, the challenge of such a change is significant and probably requires learning that skill set at an early age, studying the behavior patterns of the adults in their lives who practiced those skills for everyday life. Many of these skills have been listed here, so I’ll avoid redundancy.
The other skills required for living in the current environment of society requires the knowledge and ability to provide electricity on an individual basis thus maintaining the essential services required for life in our modern society.
This is, in my opinion a completely “doable” accomplishment. When one studies the accomplishments of Nicola Tesla, as well as learning how the production of electricity is accomplished at the individual level, I see this as a completely possible approach.
The real issue when comparing the two concepts is clearly one of personal choice.
Of course the compromise exists and that is what many of us are doing right now. We’re living in an agrarian setting, but utilizing the available electric energy to assist with the work required for safe, healthy operations of our place on earth.
Both approaches are capable of providing a self sufficient and comfortable lifestyle but wholly dependent on your own personal efforts.
In either scenario, happiness is available and can be achieved.
So in summary the skills you adopt will be those that create and support the lifestyle of your choosing. Both are good and will help you achieve independence in your life. May you be blessed with the choice that provides happiness and good health to you and your family.
2 weeks ago
I’m in NE South Dakota(45.46°N) and I’ve been trying for self sufficiency for years now. I am very interested in learning more about the climate tactics for the northern latitudes.
I’m unclear as to the actual time and date because it looks like someone favors a change.
Please advise as to exactly when this is going to happen.
1 month ago
RUST REMOVAL
1000 ml water
100 g. CITRIC ACID powder
40 g. SODIUM BICARBONATE
Add mild dish detergent

Mix in deep dish twice as deep deep as the item.
Leave from 1-24 hours
Rinse black deposits with runny water.
Harmless and environmentally safe
2 months ago
I just wrote a long review of the “Country Living Grain Mill” but it got swallowed by the program.
Pro:
1.  Strong recommendation. I’ve been using it for years now.
2. Easily converted to power
3. Modifications for grinding large grain and beans easily added.
Con:
1. Very spendy. I paid $700 for one as a wedding gift several years ago.
We had a rat problem for almost a year until we got a cat, now named Jasper. I had built rat bait stations out of 3” pvc pipe that nothing but rats and mice could get into. I even rotated the bait but it didn’t really deter them.
Rats are incredibly destructive and get into the house walls where the can hide and store whatever they steal from the supply room. They also like to destroy styrofoam insulation. They don’t eat it, they just turn it into a pile of little balls. And Even more annoying is that they appear to think that the insulation coats of electrical equipment wires are particularly tasty. They will eat down to the copper wire if they are not detected.

Jasper resolved the rat problem in less than a week.  Living on a remote farm there are always predators who kill chickens. We had a problem with a mink and found that rats had created a colony under our chickens coop. The rats would chew through the wood walls of the coop to steal the chicken feed and those holes provided the mink wit access to the chickens. We lost five hens in a single week.  
So since Jasper had never shown any aggressive behavior toward the chickens, we decided to put him in the chicken coop one  night as a guardian for the chickens.   The next morning, there was a dead rat under the feeder, but no loss of chickens. From then on, (after lining the floor where the wall meets it with 1/4” hardware cloth), we have been using Jasper as a guardian of the chickens. He goes in willingly every night and is let out when I come to feed and water the chickens in the morning. Since that time we’ve only lost chickens during the day( they are free ranging birds) because no predators want to mess with Jasper at night.
1 year ago
Leatherman is the way to go. I carry the SURGE model. It’s spendy, I admit but it’s a tool box in the space of a pocket knife and has features you could use frequently.It’s about 11 different tools that all fit in your pocket or on a belt (best option imho.)
The inside tools all lock to hold them from folding while you are working. AND it is made of good stainless steel so it is easy to keep clean and avoid rust when you get soaked in the rain etc.
There’s no day that I don’t use it. The accessory screw driver points that are available just can’t be beat because of the variable size and type of screws that you are liable to encounter.
One of the beautiful features of this piece is that the knife blades, the scissors and the file(or saw blade) all can be accessed without having to open it. The needle nose pliers are inside along with the screwdriver blades and can opener.
It’s THE MOST handy pocket/survival tool you’ll ever have.
And o yes, the knife blades are excellent performers.
1 year ago
A recent article about this stated that the ratio sequence was dependent on the cross sectional area (CSA) of the material in a “J” tube configuration.

It assumed that the CSA was the 1.  The height of the magazine (vertical section) was 2 x CSA; the burn chamber was 4x CSA and the heat riser was 6 x CSA. Given those figures, your heat riser would be 48”. However, I’ve not seen a combustion chamber 32” long.

In the original research by Larry Winiarski at the University in Wisconsin, the design was an “L” shape where the combustion chamber was 1 unit and the heat riser was 1.5-2 units (not necessarily based on the CSA). So, a 12” combustion chamber got a 18-24” heat riser. I’ve built several “L”shaped rocket stoves based on this figure and have had excellent results.

The efficiency of the insulation around the heat riser was of significant importance but without insulation, the ratio remained unchanged.

There has been significant research on this since then. Peter Vandenberg and the Wisners have contributed greatly as well as “Donkey”.  “J”tubes and modified “J”tube styles have come along since then and the “P” channel have improved the performance  greatly.  

I share the concerns regarding spacing of your project from ANY flammable surface. On the rocket stove I bought (Liberator), at the top of the “bell” can easily reach 600°F and I have photos to prove that. The one I built comes close to that. I can keep the temperature of the bell between 300 to 400°F in a large Quonset building with no insulation on the walls. The minimum distance from anything that hot should be greater than 30”(more iyam).

2 years ago
I just lost all nine of my birds yesterday. The description of neck eaten and head hanging by the spinal cord is vivid but that’s a mink or weasel. I saw a brown critter with a narrow tail in my machine shop a few days before the birds were all killed. I had “plugged all the holes in the floor but apparently the corner of the door was chewed away enough to permit access. You could only detect that faulty door from the inside.
It seems that no matter what you do, eventually a predator will find the one weakness in your security plan.
Fortunately, I hatched one pullet in early February and had put 11 eggs in the incubator yesterday morning morning before finding the massacre.
I wouldn’t have begrudged one bird to a hungry beast, but killing for sport makes me really angry.
Needless to say, no matter what you do, the odds are in favor of the predators.
I had moved all the birds to the coop from the chicken tractor that is completely covered with snow. Lotta good that did🤬
Cheers
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3 years ago