Douglas Alpenstock

Kate Muller wrote:The casual dinner party will make a huge social comeback.

LOL! Oh, that's brilliant. Nicely done!

Hugo Morvan wrote:My almost favorite tool just broke, my hori-hori.
Rip hori-hori.
For years you’ve faithfully helped me maintain the right direction on my project. Always by my side, always ready to cut, dig or pry. Never not ready, no whing. Never a dull moment, always sharp.
I will miss you. Bey bey hori!

Your faithful hori-hori will be remembered with honour. Ka'pla!

Time out --

I have a few relevant questions for Tina, the OP.

How long of an off-grid disruption are you planning for?

Where are you located, if you don't mind sharing? We can give better advice if we understand your general climate. And also, how your grid is set up.

Tell us about your gas fireplace. Natural gas or propane? If natural gas, some grids (like mine) are independent of the electrical grid and will keep working when the lights go out.

My point is that you could possibly create two independent heating systems instead of focusing one chimney. That would be more resilient.

I think Anne's advice is important: get somebody knowledgeable to inspect the whole system before burning wood again.

I would be surprised if there isn't a metal liner. My upstairs gas converted fireplace certainly has one. The exhaust gases from natural gas eat away conventional mortar, potentially leading to structural or carbon monoxide hazards. A gas liner will not hold up to wood burning temperatures.

My emergency plan for my unconverted downstairs fireplace involves installing a small hunter stove in the firebox. This will put out more heat and be safer than an open fire, plus giving me a cooking surface. I expect it to burn fairly dirty, so I have a chimney brush and extension rods, as well as the ability to inspect the chimney from above. I also have a plan for a big spark-proof surface in front of the fireplace. Safety first!

If I don't need heat, I will have the hunter stove set up outside or in a shed for cooking. Much safer than an improvised heater in the house.

Mason Berry wrote:   Is long-distance, high-speed transport something worth sustaining?

It's an interesting argument, though it seems very hypothetical to me. From a practical perspective I think that boat sailed a century or two ago. If people and goods can be mobile, they will be.

Business supply chains and economic systems are now rooted in long-distance transport. Love them or hate them, I can't see those going away any time soon.

For private individuals in a free society, what mechanisms would prevent them from being as mobile as they please? Nuisance taxes of many types, I suppose; declining road maintenance or very low speed limits or bottlenecking the system for private vehicles to increase the annoyance factor. I don't think internal checkpoints and travel passes/quotas would be accepted by democratic societies as a permanent norm. My 2c.

NaNoWriMo is still a thing. But there has been a bit of a crash and reset in the NaNo universe. There is no longer a central org -- they went bust last year.

The original founder has an explanation and new site here: https://nano2.org/posts/2025/welcome-to-nano-2-0/

There is a site for low-tech writing systems that is NaNo friendly. I was involved for years and years. Good people, very much aligned with the philosophy of Permies: https://www.flickr.com/groups/alphasmart/
(If you stop by, tell them dougwalkabout says hello. )

Obviously if you have too much water, you have to drain it. If it causes a bit of erosion but no real harm, that's a short term problem.

I wonder, in the longer term, are there shrubs/trees that would appreciate the downstream moisture and produce a useful nut/fruit/habitat? Could you capture this water in a pond or swale that would add value in a dry season? Just a thought.

I always have a laugh when a big wind comes through and all the stuff the squirrels stashed in the trees gets knocked out.

Mushrooms are the most noticeable. They also steal crabapples -- especially if I have sliced them up and left them outside to dry. And sunflower heads. My old joke is that squirrels stash the stuff you would add to a squirrel stew someday.

My red squirrels also stash spruce cones. And compete with the Blue Jays for beaked hazelnuts.

There's usually a thinning of the herd once a year when they seriously annoy me. So all their loot goes to other local fauna. Or is propagated far and wide perhaps.

Lif Strand wrote:I would think that what might be an emergency would be different, depending on where a person lives. Pre-stacked bricks might just fall apart in earthquake country. A Dakota fire hole might just catch a lot of water when there's excessively heavy rain or snow . Others have mentioned soil that can't readily be dug in.  An emergency might require suddenly moving any kind of fire to a better location. Fuel availability could be an issue. Seasons might make a big difference.

I think "temporary" is a key term to keep in mind. Or maybe "flexibility" is better. Coming up with solutions that will work specifically for you, that you have tested before the emergency, is the best thing you can do for yourself. Just remember, high-tech isn't always going to be the best answer. The best answer is always the one that actually works best for you.

There is great wisdom in this.

If I'm at home, the whole thing will be a big nuisance. I have all the stuff right here. Yawn.

If I'm travelling somewhere when a natural disaster hits, and all I have is a backpack and the clothes I'm wearing, the SKILLS to whip up an emergency cooker with local materials may be worth their weight in gold. Even to boil water safe for drinking is a lifesaver ...

It doesn't cost much to add skills to your carry-on bag.

John F Dean wrote:Obviously, the list could go on, but the above takes him well past 3 days.  I never could understand the three day thing.  I have had snow storms and tornados keep me in longer than that.

Yeah, three days is sort of ridiculous. Although from an urban perspective, in a high-rise condo that is dependent on every grid system all the time, it might seem alarmist or even radical. How many of these highly exposed people could provide three days of every service they need?

For me, 3 days off-grid would be a tolerable nuisance (fridges, freezers, Internet). 7 days would be a giant pain in the butt. 10 days would have me scanning for zombies and trading for beer. Through this we would be working with our multi-skilled neighbours in an accidental "medieval village" as humans have done since forever. It's a far cry from a high-rise condo.