Eight forty-five in the morning and already 80°F. No breeze. Impossibly muggy 92% humidity. And I was outside in a camp chair, shirtless, drinking a cup of hot black coffee. (I offer no explanation for that.)
The air conditioners on the roof of the RV were whooshing, just as they whooshed last night and will for the next six days. (Yes, meteorologists extended the triple-digit assault through Friday now.)
Cicadas, though not as deafening as the massive broods we came to know during Ohio summers, definitely are loud here mornings and evenings. Crickets and katydids join the chorus but can’t compete with the kings of din.
We have more than our share of grasshoppers, too, especially the last few weeks. When we had the Ranger out the other day, Deb suggested that we open up the windshield — I declined, and as dozens of suicidal grasshoppers pelted the glass in front of us, she probably figured out why I left it shut.
Bees, hornets and wasps. Flies, but not a lot this year. Walking sticks. Spiders of all kinds. Probably scorpions. And, of course, ticks and (the bane of my existence) chiggers.
But, believe it or not, almost no mosquitoes. This is a dry spot, and it’s been a dry summer. We have virtually no standing water around the homesite.
Ten days from now, we’re having a bug-control guy out to do some limited spraying — an organic treatment that won’t kill bees and such, and it won’t harm the dogs. The targets are those damnable ticks and chiggers.
The same outfit applied the same stuff for the same reason at the campground in Harrison, including our site, and it did the trick. We’re expecting similar results here.
One of our regular YouTube channels, Canadian Prepper, recently did an extended interview with Lynette Zang of ITM Trading, a precious-metals broker. She also practices, preaches and promotes prepping.
Several times Zang referred to her preparedness “mantra,” eight items that together form the core of her approach. They went by fast in the video, so later I looked them up to present them here:
- Water
- Food
- Shelter
- Security
- Energy
- Barterability
- Community
- Wealth preservation
Nothing there is revolutionary, really, or even mildly surprising. It is, however, useful to gather them all into a single list.
If I were to add anything, it’d be the categories “Health & Medical” and “Mobility.”
In a grid-down scenario, it’d be crucial to have the supplies and skills necessary to maintain physical health (medications, e.g.) and treat the inevitable illness or injury. The concept of mobility, as a principle of prepping, is one I’ve thought about only since we moved to The Mountain — simply put, being able to get where we need to go, whether it’s around the property, to a neighbor’s place or all the way into town.
That could be as fundamental as a good pair of boots and a walking stick. It might mean building trails. A bicycle, an e-bike (with the means to charge it) or a woods motorcycle (if fuel is available) really could come in handy.
Deb’s cousin has an ATV. Here on our homestead-to-be, we make full everyday use of our side-by-side. Both depend on gasoline, of course, but they’re far more fuel-efficient than our trucks and a helluva lot easier than hoofing it.
Now or after SHTF, we have to get around. Even with the perfect bug-out location, mobility is a consideration — to travel, to transport, to haul.
Needless to say (but I’m gonna say it anyway), until this heat wave passes, this outdoor life of ours has moved indoors. Tomorrow will be something of an exception, since I have errands to run and we’ll want to be outside when (we hope) the pad is finished.
But beyond that, we have no interest in proving (to ourselves or anyone else) that we can tolerate heat like we’ll get this week. It’s not worth the risk.
Our first six weeks on The Mountain were powered by a generator and cooled by one of the RV’s two air conditioners — better than nothing, certainly, but far from ideal. Temps in the living space weren’t low enough for real comfort. Sweating was a way of life.
One indispensable tool for making the best of an imperfect situation was a DeWalt 20V jobsite fan. It takes the same batteries that our DeWalt power tools do, and its ten-inch blade moves a surprisingly large volume of air.
Back then we didn’t run the generator overnight, so we’d put the fan on the dresser, aim it toward the bed and set the switch to half or three-quarter speed. One fully charged 4AH battery would last ’til morning (and then some).
On hot, humid nights without AC, that DeWalt fan saved our ass.
We no longer need it in the bedroom, but I take it down to the shed when I’m working there. Often we’ll use it when we sit outside, just to create a breeze or keep bugs away.
The DeWalt 20V jobsite fan is lightweight, small enough to be convenient and big enough to work really well. Highly recommended.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB