Recent Articles
Episode 26 – About Solar Generators
Mar 11, 2010 Economics 5 Comments
Electricity generators are literally life-savers. Most home generators are gas, propane or diesel powered though. These can be loud, costly to run and, in a real disaster, hard to fuel. If the electricity is down, how will the gas pump work? That’s where a solar-powered generator comes in. You can buy pre-made ones for about $2000 USD or more, but that’s just too easy. We’re survival types! We can do it! And, in building one ourselves we’ll also learn how to improve and fix it.
Today’s podcast covers some of the basics and talks about the parts I’ll be using to build mine: solar PV panels, a Pelican case, charge regulator, AGM (Absorbed Glass Matrix) batteries, DC/AC inverters and ballpark figures on what appliances draw and how that relates to your solar generator. All parts in, my solar generator will cost me about $1500 to build, but be able to power all the crucial electrical things in my house, during an outage. You can make a smaller one for less, using the same principles and a little research.
Episode 25 – Preparedness Talk from the Phillipines
Mar 2, 2010 Uncategorized 2 Comments
CanadaPrepared.com member Roughrider_Fan has been overseas for a little bit and decided to sit down and chat with his brothers-in-law. One of them is Frodo – another CanadaPrepared.com fella. Listen in as they talk about their adventures in getting prepared (or not so prepared) for life. These guys have good solid thinking caps and a wealth of information and experience to share. It’s a long one, yet you’ll feel like you just sat down at Timmie’s for coffee with the boys and learned some neat things. The only thing better would be to have been there.
Episode 24 – About Home Food Production – Gardening
Jan 18, 2010 Uncategorized 7 Comments
What happens if there’s a truckers strike? Your grocery store could be empty in as little as 4 days. What happens if you have to self quarantine for flu? Do you have a weeks worth of nutritious food? Gardening is much more than a hobby, it’s a life skill. One that is in the blood of every person as every culture has survived and thrived through it. In this episode, I introduce you to different methods of gardening: row gardening, community gardening, permaculture, hydroponics, guerilla gardening, gleaning and aerogardening.
Episode 23 – Part 2 – About the Cost of Energy
Jan 11, 2010 Economics, Oil and Gas Related Leave a comment
Hydrocarbon fuels are exceptionally cheap and are the underpinnings of wealth. Consider the total amount of pollution we have and fuels we use area very small percentage of that. Wealth generator and minimal ecological impact. What more do you want?
What does this have to do with preparedness? Well, once you appreciate how much a litre of gas can do for you, you’ll realize it’s really an inexpensive commodity that you should have on hand. Roughrider_fan’s foray into island economics will highlight for you just what a difference a litre of gas can make.
I decided to forego any introduction on this podcast to let Roughrider get right to the meat. I really enjoyed this one as it’s a bit of a lesson in economics as well. I hope you enjoy it too.
Episode 22 – About Peak Oil and Canada
Dec 14, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a comment
Here’s another great podcast by one of CanadaPrepared.com’s members, Peter. It’s very clear and concise and well researched. If you’re a Canadian and you’ve heard of this Peak Oil concept, you need to listen to this.
Also, I introduce to our listeners the excellent deal provided to CanadaPrepared.com Forum Members by Ledge Outdoors. 25% off! As good a reason as any to join our community. Joining is free and always will be!
