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Craigslist buy
Topic Started: Jun 27 2012, 12:06 PM (107 Views)
Raven
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Griz and I got a great buy on Craigslist that I just have to tell you about...
A guy that had prepared for the Y2K stuff, had 2 drums of kerosene that we bought. One full 55 gal drum and the other has about 25 gal left in it.
This guy was a prepper, and gave up because ONE SINGLE EVENT didn't happen. I gave him a line of crap about why we wanted it (OPSEC) but shook my head. He had the right idea about taking care of his family if the Y2K thing happened but lived in a huge house in the middle of a city with no lawn to speak of and no garden. When it didn't happen, he decided that all prepping was a "waste of time" his words not mine. I asked him if he had anything else but he said that he had sold all of the other stuff that he had collected. He said that he had to list alot of his prepping stuff more than once and got only a few calls. Tells me that anyone from that city is primed to become one of the "Golden Horde" that James Wesley Rawles talks about.
The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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Mommacat
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Wow, ya have to wonder how come he thought if Y2K didn't happen, nothing else ever would? Good score for you, though! I found some plastic barrels on Craig's List the other day. I have to figure out if the tops come off, cuz if they're just the kind that has a little screw off spout thing, I don't want them. I want them for water, so want to be able to disinfect and etc. But, only 15 bucks each, so plan to get two. Thanks for the reminder about Craig's List, Raven!
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Grizzly
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Just today I talked to a guy at work about barrels. He has a few chickens and ducks and stuff and said he uses those blue barrels for water and other things. I asked what good are the sealed ones and he told me he carefully cuts the top off a little below the flared top and then flips them over for a cover. If you do it right they fit nice, not sealed, but a good cover. I never knew that trick. He also cuts them in half and cuts a small doggy door on one side, turns upside down, and has a duck, chicken nest box which he's had very good luck with. Just some more new ideas which we might try.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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Mommacat
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Great tip! I saw on Craig's List a guy had a bunch of those style for $8 each, but I didn't think they'd work for what I want. I don't necessarily need them to hermetically seal, just keep out the dirt and critters. I think the barrels are pretty thick plastic, what would you recommend as the best way to cut the top off and not have a raggedy nasty edge? Also, the guy that has them says he cuts them in half, punches two holes up near the top on either side and runs a rope loop through them for a handled tote basket. I thought that would be pretty slick for a feed or water container for horses or maybe even calves. Let me know what you think about the best way to cut them and I may be able to make that work. Thanks, again!
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Grizzly
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Well ,I haven't had much experience at cutting plastic barrels but any type of power saw should work like a skill saw, sabre saw, or sawsall. A hand saw would probably work too. Once it's cut the edge can be cleaned up and smoothed with a medium file or sander. One helpful tip would be to draw a line for the cut with a marker so you have something to follow instead of free handing or eye balling it.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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Mommacat
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Thanks for the tips - I do have a little jig saw with about a 3 inch blade that came as a freebie with my drill - I've never used it for anything, but I bet it would work just fine for that. I didn't know if the plastic would get too hot from a saw or if a person would do better with a utility knife. I'll let you know how I do! :)
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HandFarming
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I guess I missed the whole y2k thing. I figured it was a man-made event in more than one way.
We started prepping for the energy decline. The best reading says if in 50 years, we see the end of cheap oil, then we have to increase locally grown products by 20% a year. But the book claimed that it wouldn't be a straight line decline and the local demand for food would look more like (in 10 year increments): 5%, 20%, 40%, 80% to 99% being grown locally.
Those are huge increases in any industry every 10 years and though there are many energy replacements to oil, none look as cheap and easy as the cheap oil we burn now.

So, that's not exactly a dooms day scenario, but it is a crisis as it unfolds.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Mommacat
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I didn't get all worked up over Y2K, either. I started prepping because I have concerns about a gov't collapse and the chaos that would ensue. It hard to think that in 15 years, a fresh orange is going to be as hard to come by as it was in the early part of the 20th century. People back then ate locally grown food and "exotic" fruits and veggies (bananas, citrus, long list) were an extravagance few could afford, even if it was available. I worry about oil prices, but probably not as much as a should - its desperate people that scare the beegeezus out of me!
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HandFarming
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Yeah, there's a lot of desperate people gonna show up soon. Heard corn prices went up. 45% So the price of everything associated should go up at least as much. It's going to be an interesting winter!

We've been doing the sprouting thing with the chickens. I gotta get a system going for the pot bellies and will try some for the goats and sheep to keep them over winter.

I agree on the collapse being government too. Though I see it as the higher energy gets, the more money they need to operate and the higher they will push the people to pay it until it won't work anymore.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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