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dear ferfal, bought your book last week for a couple ladies at my dentist office. i bought yours cause you "been there, done that".my question in on home heating and cooking. i assume argentina uses natural gas? was there any disruptions in supply? what about propane and wood use? thank you very much,
john
Hi, thanks, hope they like my book. :-) If its not too much to ask, I'd love to hear what they had to say about it, specially if they're not preppers or survival minded. The idea is to open the eyes of as much people as possible.
About your question, we're going through some historic low temps here right now, lowest temperature record in the last 10 years. Yes we mostly use gas, and as I write this there’s problems of supply and protest taking place. The government says there’s no supply problems, but reality doesn’t agree with them.
Specially the poor or those that live outside city limits (and therefore apparently matter less, or at least are out of sight/ out of mind) they are having the greatest problems because gas is getting harder and harder to find, tanks get sold fast and there’s simply not enough to meet the demand. While those that are connected to the city network may have little gas pressure, its of course far worse to not have none at all. Again, this goes along to what I often mention about the cell-like behavior in cities during tough times. Like a living organism, the efforts are placed to keep the core going as well as possible and when sacrifices need to be made, they cut the limb so to speak to save the nucleus.
Everything has its advantages and disadvantages, but its worth mentioning for those that think cities are always the worst place to be in during a crisis or SHTF event, its not always the case.
Some people are using kerosene or wood heaters (some people die because of poor ventilation while doing so) wood is also used for cooking.
I’d like to make a special mention regarding wood burning cooking stoves. I’m not the first one to notice how terrific they are when there’s problems, both for heating and cooking. During the Sarajevo siege these were best sellers my friend. Don’t wait until a freaking war (or God knows what other problem) is all over you. Have one of these, they are also fun to use. Check on Craiglist, check ebay or yard sales, maybe you get lucky and find a cheap one.
Regarding staying warm, many of the camping tricks also apply. Some times when there was no power, we would just sleep all together in the same room, the master bedroom, covered with lots of blankets and hugging, with a crack on the window for ventilation. Also a hot water bottle helps keep staying warm. These go under the groin between the legs so that blood flow spreads heat all over. Cover the head which is a point through which you lose a lot of heat. I also have some of these very cool reusable warmers, they can be used again just by boiling them. VERY, VERY handy, and I used them during my camping days, they are still good over a decade later and many uses. Do yourself a favor and check them out if you have no idea what I’m talking about.
FerFAL
4 comments:
Hi:
What do you mean by reusable warmers? Can you explain more or post a link to a store where they could be purchased?
Thanks!
The big Amazon add right in the middle of the article itself is an Amazon link where you can read more and buy the hand warmers :-) Dont worry , I'll explain how they are used in a post tomorrow.
FerFAL
Why do you keep on talking about the cold? We are having record heat waves. LOL.
Staying Warm
Wood cook stoves can be had for next to nothing in some areas of the country and are a must have. A small fire box makes them appropriate as a single heat source for smaller and often remote dwellings or to assist the primary stove. 2 small antiques were bought for $50 each and a third, a modern combination electric/wood stove, barely used, was had for free. Few know how to use them and they weigh a ton, so if they are done decorating with them and tired of moving them, they go cheap.
Staying warm in cold country in good times is easy, just turn up the heat, so even folks up there forget how to stay warm without heat. Wearing polypropylene/polyester undergarments instead of the old cotton long johns make a huge difference. The high tech expensive ones can be found at sporting goods stores, and the inexpensive rugged ones can be found at surplus stores cheap. Thin polypropylene/polyester or nylon socks worn under wool socks also make a big difference. And if still cold, put on a thin polypropylene sock or nylon dress sock, then a large bread bag, then an insulting layer, preferable a wool sock and your feet will be amazingly toasty even if the feet are damp and even if the shoe is uninsulated. If the feet are warm, the hands and head will stay warmer. A good time to buy winter clothing is in the summer.
Keeping the insulating layer dry is the key and secret. Cotton and sweating should be avoided. Use cotton only as an outer layer in dry cold conditions when temperatures are consistently below the freezing point. Cotton should not be used during humid or damp cold conditions above freezing. Cotton should be used during summer. Wool or synthetics are far superior in all conditions except summer. If one begins to sweat take off a layer or slow down. If stay warm is necessary, getting wet with sweat will get you cold quick once stopped. Dressing as if outdoors means less heat is needed when indoors. Learning to stay warm using synthetics means lighter and less bulky clothes are worn and more likely to be used when indoors.
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