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7K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  Lou77 
#1 · (Edited)
A couple of weeks ago my kids and I went to the camp for 2 days. While we were there we decided to walk around the property at night. The following is what I like to call the “can opener” effect – its were you get so involved with the bigger things that you overlook the small stuff.



During the rush to get packed, all three of us forgot to grab a good flashlight. After looking through the flashlights that we have stockpiled at the camp, I realized that we had several hand crank flashlights, but no good quality LED flashlights. Hand crank lights are fine for inside the house, but when you need to secure the property, you need a good quality light. The only good quality light my kids and I had was the Surefire 6PX Tactical on my AR-15. My daughter and my son were able to find some cheap led lights that were barley bright enough to see the ground. We walked around the property, looked at some stuff and then went back to the trailer. While my kids and I were walking around in the middle of the night, I made up my mind that some good LED lights would be in my next purchase.

Purchases for March 6 2011 include:

6 – 1 pound 10 ounce containers of salt
100 rounds Winchester 9mm 115grain round nose
4 pack Energizer AAA Lithium batteries
1 – Coleman 90 lumen LED flashlight
1 pound regular pinto beans (for the garden)
1 pound yellow dent field corn (for the garden)
$1 worth giant noble spinach (for the garden)
20 pounds seed potatoes – hopefully to get planted next week



For my sons birthday he got a coleman LED flashlight at 75 lumens. Over the next few weeks the 2 lights (75 and 90 lumens) will be compared. When I decide which flashlight I like the best, a few more will be bought and left at the camp.

Salt is for iodide and for preserving food.

Winchester 9mm FMJ – It might be better to stockpile some hollow points, but the thing with the round nose – they will feed in just about anything. Lets say that you and your buddies have your plans worked out. If some kind of long term SHTF situation happens, everyone is going to fall back to the bug out location. Instead of stockpiling all different types of ammo that will feed well in a variety of firearms, just stock round nose.

Energizer AAA Lithium batteries have a 15 year shelf life. The plans are to buy several packs of AA and AAA lithium batteries and leave them at the camp.

Pinto beans are an excellent source of protein. If your going to stockpile seeds for a survival garden, pinto beans should be at the top of your list.

Nutrition information for pinto beans:

Serv. Size: 1/2 cup (85g)
Amount Per Serving
Cals: 116 From Fat: 0

% Daily Value*

Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 3%
Folate (Folacin, Folic Acid) 36%
Thiamine 11%
Calcium 4%
Iron 12%
Phosphorus 35%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Spinach is an easy plant to grow, all you need is mulch, or manure – something with plenty of nitrogen. One of the things with spinach, you can cut more leaves off and the plant keeps producing. Spinach is one of my favorite plants to grow in my survival garden, I just do not grow it that often.

Yellow dent field corn – open pollinated / heirloom, non-hybrid corn so that the seeds can be saved. Now I just need to get some 16-6-12 fertilizer to plant the corn with.

Potatoes – one of my all time favorite crops for my survival garden. Cut the seed potatoes into chucks, spread some 10-20-10 along the rows, and plant the cuttings 3 or so inches below the surface. When it comes time to harvest the potatoes, just pull the plant up.

The next few weeks will be dedicated to planting the garden. With 20 pounds of seed potatoes we should be able to plant 3 – 100 foot long rows. My cousin got a tiller for the tractor and tilled up 4 or 5 acres of land for the garden. Starting next week my kids and I will be planting as much of that land as we can. With the price of gas going through the roof, we have to save money somewhere. Growing our own food is one way to save money.

I am hoping to plant enough potatoes that we do not have to buy any from the grocery store for most of the year. With the corn, i am hoping to can most of that in jars.
 
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#3 ·
1) Dent corn, do people eat it? I thought it was mainly utilized for farm animals. - why not eat it?

The yellow dent corn was bought to replace the corn being pulled from my seed stockpile for this years garden. I am probably going to plant some G90 this year.


2) Have you ever tried potatoes in tires? Thoughts? - nope, never tried it. Always just planted them in the ground.

My one concern with potatoes in tires - do the potatoes leach chemicals from tires
 
#5 ·
#7 ·
About LED flashlights:

You can now get flashlights described as 1-watt LED flashlights, which have lumen outputs in the 140-lumen range.

Menards (home supply store like Home Depot) is selling one such light for about $9 (exact price escapes me, it's either $7.95 or $8.95).

They are excellent, just excellent. Bright, focused, single-bulb flashlights without the diffused glow of the normal 15- or 21-bulb LED flashlights.

They use 3 AAA batteries, working well with batteries like the Eneloops.

So, Kev, before you settle on one or the other of the two you have, check out the others. I won't buy anything less than that.
 
#8 ·
Menards (home supply store like Home Depot) is selling one such light for about $9 (exact price escapes me, it's either $7.95 or $8.95).
The thing with those really cheap led lights - the quality is hit and miss. I have several multiple led lights, but if you even such much as shake them too hard, the lights go out.

There are some good low cost led lights out there, but they are so hit and miss I dont know if its worth it to experiment.

At the very least with the coleman lights, I am getting a brand name, and if the light stops working, I have a company name to send it back to.
 
#10 ·
hey Kev, i have heard that dent corn is not as easily digested as sweet corn, and that it does not have as good a flavor either. have you had any prior experiance eating dent corn? i have also heard that it is really only good for humans when it has been ground into corn meal.
 
#11 ·
hey Kev, i have heard that dent corn is not as easily digested as sweet corn,
Most sweet corn (not all) is hybrid.

Yellow Dent field corn is open pollinated, meaning the seed can be saved.

Most sweet corn digest like sugar, while most field corn is more like a starch.
 
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