Daniel Ray

Trace, that is some great results. Great job sticking to the cold--it is a pain sometimes for sure but I swear it is worth it just for the mental exercise.

WHM practitioners call those shakes "after drop". Try a mental visualization afterward of breathing in hot air and exhaling cold air. This kind a visualization is akin to placebo, using your mind to make adjustments to the physical. The times I get after drop are after cold exposure when I'm not sufficiently concentrated enough on heating myself up, but go on to the humdrum of my normal routine like doing dishes or thinking about house improvements.

Would you mind sharing details about the cold showers?  Curious how long you do it for, how many times a week when you started, how long it took you to get acclimated, those type of things.  

Definitely. The cold showers are the way to go because you don't actually need to be that cold to reap the benefits. I love hot showers, so I start hot to relax then after a few minutes switch the taps to cold and stay there for at least 3 minutes. By that point, any increase in heart rate and feeling of dread is gone. It takes a good week of daily practice to get to the point where the cold water doesn't bother you too much anymore. It is an interesting thing, because your brain still says "no!", but the water ends up not feeling that bad any longer. A WHM instructor once told me that you don't get as many benefits if you finish on hot, but instead let your body warm itself up so I never finish with a hot shower.

When I soak in the pond I tend to stay in longer, about 5 to 10 minutes--just a different experience with the trees around you and not that rushed feeling of being inside.

So in summary I take short 3-5 minute showers 6-7 times a week, cold soaks in the pond 1-2 times a week, and the breathing exercises for about 20-30 minutes every morning when I wake up.

great to see this thread. I've been practicing the Wim Hof Method for almost seven years now and it is fantastic. I hit my pond often, but do cold showers daily coupled with the breathwork that Wim is known for practicing. Keeps me cold free (both temperature and sick).

Hi everyone, our workshops for the 2023 season are now posted on our website. workshops

We have a little of everything going on!

Rocket Mass Heaters
Earthen Floors
Straw/cob immersion
Clay plasters
and probably a pizza oven, but that one is yet to be scheduled.

Thanks and hope to see you next year!

I'll state up front that I am a big supporter of ADA. The idea behind crypto is a sound one, especially with companies like ADA who are focusing on building smart contracts and cutting out banking systems.

As for NFTs--I dont see much of a purpose really other than digital collector items. We all have things that we collect--I have several decks of permaculture playing cards that  have not been opened.

Look at NFT's for what they are--they are a gimmicky perk that would help raise money for other ventures.

And basically anyone has used their apples to make discounted purchases through vendors listed on permies already has a basic understanding of crypto. You "paid" permies.com with knowledge instead of cash, and earned an alternative to money.

Behold the worlds tiniest rocket mass heater. I printed this for my daughter to play with to incorporate into her doll houses and such. A to scale version of the 8" batch rocket at wheaton labs. The system size is 2.5cm if anyone was wondering. Barrels are removeable for riser inspections.

Thomas, great thinking of the kiln shelf. I checked with my coworker who is a long time potter and she had 12"x24" shelves that have been pitted from the glaze she uses to give me for free. Excellent! I'll post a photo of the new 8" I'm working on next weekend.

Hi everyone, a recent post made me curious as to what everyone has used (successfully and unsuccessfully) for their batch rocket mas heater lids. This would be the material used to span the box of the rocket mass heater.

I can attest that a thick cast iron griddle has been working well for four years of burning in an 8".

A friend has a sheet of steel on his 6" batch with a layer of superwool protecting it.

I feel like I've seen bricks being used for smaller systems, but for the 8" brmh you need to span that 11+ inch gap.

Would a thin board of ceramic fiber board be strong enough? I'm inclined to keep using cast iron as it can handle many years of being knocked by wood.

So I’ll second what Peter had mentioned just to make sure it is noted. The pipe transitioning the barrels to the bench is too small in diameter. I believe this should be 1.5x the diameter of the stove or bigger. I’d shoot for this transition to be  around 10” in diameter or else it will restrict the flow. I’m on my phone so didn’t open the sketch up but this transition should be at least 4” from the bottom of the barrel to allow the gases to exit on all sides.

Piped masses can be done but add friction to the gases. Much easier to stratify and get all the heat without running it through a pipe. Also it is harder to total the ISA of a pipe versus bell. The pipe doesn’t stratify so only the top 2/3 actually count. Peter’s math on the brmh site was done for bells. Again, not impossible just adds a lot of unknowns.

Thanks everyone, great information.

Thomas, I'll send you an email with a product request. The ra330 looks grand.

I'm planning on tearing down my batch next spring and replacing the P-channel with a floor channel.