Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

The life of the Zero is , as always, unpredictable…

Winter is approaching so its time to start focussing on getting ready for it. It also means that in another three months it’ll be perfect weather for testing cold weather gear. Lotsa stuff either doesnt work or works differently in cold weather.. plus, some items are simply harder to operate if you have ice-cold hands or gloves on. So, winter gives me a chance to test out various goodies to see how they’ll work in ‘real world’ scenarios. Nothing worse than finding out that the ‘-10 degree’ rated sleeping bag you bought only keeps you warm to about +20.

Since winter approaches, now is a good time to make sure the kerosene heater is up to the task. Kerosene is a wonderful fuel…stores forever and throws a goodly anount of heat. I’ve stove, heater and lights that burn it so if power does go out this winter I’ll have hot food, light and heat. Let the sheeple huddle in their darm icy houses listening to their pipes burst….I’ll be warm, well lit and drinking hot chocolate.

Went to NorCo the other day. They sell welding and OSHA-rewuired supplies. They sell industrial first aid kits, which is nice, but more importantly they sell replacement components for those kits. Me and one of the LMI headed up there to see what could be had that would be of use. Neat little 1oz bottles of eyewash. Handy. Vaseline gauze (something you dont find in your average supermarket first aid aisle). Packets of aspirin, acedominphin, and ibuprofin..2 tablets per pack, 100 packs per box. Ideal for stocking first aid kits. They had a buncha other goodies I couldnt afford at the moment..burn gel, compress bandages, CPR shields, etc, etc. I’ll be heading back up there at the next opportunity. Always nice to find a local source for some of the harder-to-find items. And the packaging is exactly what im looking for – ’single serving’ packages that fit nicely into smaller kits.

The website continues apace. I have most of the pages done but mostly with dead links. I’m trying to add to it at the rate of a page a day. However, theres enough there to entertain mildly. If youre reasonably intelligent it should be obvious what the URL is.