Gasket preservative question

Posted on January 22, 2004 by Commander Zero

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

I was thinking, whats the best substance/material to use to preserve the rubber gaskets on ammo cans (or other waterproof containers?)

I don’t want to seal the container permanently, I simply wish to maintain the integrity of the gasket and keep it from drying out.

I was thinking some type of silicone or something. Any ideas?

Posted on January 20, 2004 by Commander Zero

As much as I hate health/organic food stores due to their being bastions of soak-the-rich, kill-your-tv, fellow-traveller liberalism, they do tend to be a good source for 50# of hard red winter wheat and other grains to go into storage. Since I found out yesterday that a local vendor has the somewhat-difficult-to-find 15-gallon blue water barrels it only seems to prudent to pick up a couple and get another hundred or so pounds of wheat to go in them.

Why wheat and not flour? Well, wheat stores alot better and is a bit more versatile…you can crack it for bulghur or making cereals, grind it a little finer for mush, or grind it even finer for flour. You can also sprout it if your in need of some freshe greens.

Anyway, I called ~~Dean headquarters~~ bastion of failed liberalism and asked if they had wheat in 50# bags. Sure wnough…$22/50#. Reasonable. So I’ll pick up a hundred pounds later today and that shall be my Zero Deed For The Day.

Food stores

Posted on January 20, 2004 by Commander Zero

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

Posted on January 19, 2004 by Commander Zero

Hmmm…wandered up to Sportsmans Warehouse and determined that they may, in fact, become my main local source for preparedness items. In addition to the Coleman parts I was looking for, they had:
15-gal water barrels with bung wrenches (no jokes, please)
Mainstay lifeboat rations
Mountain House pouches at reasonable prices
Propane heaters and adapters for use with 20# tanks
Olive drab (OD) 5-gallon water containers
Cyalume lightsticks in a variety of colors
Emergency drinking water pouches
Primus Omniefuel stove (burns all fuels, even butane cartridges) for $100
And lots of other stuff…

And, they had made-in-USA Danner boots so as soon as I can come up with $209 I can get new boots.

Nice to find all that locally…was especially glad to find the 15-gal. water barrels. Those were a pain to find.

Sportsmans Warehouse

Posted on January 19, 2004 by Commander Zero

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

And, they had made-in-USA Danner boots so as soon as I can come up with $209 I can get new boots.

Nice to find all that locally…was especially glad to find the 15-gal. water barrels. Those were a pain to find.

Posted on January 16, 2004 by Commander Zero

Zero Deed For The Day: Got part and model #’s for replacement globes for my Coleman propane lantern (#214A0461) and Coleman Dual Fuel lantern (#690A048) so I can pick up spares today. Also copied down their respective model numbers (5154 and 295 series) so that I can get mantles that will fit *both* interchangeably (#21A122 or #21A104). And while I’m getting spare globes, I may as well pick up the protective carrying case to keep them from getting broken in the first place.
======================
Fired up the kerosene heater and lamps yesterday to make sure they were in good working order. (ZDFTD for yesterday) I do like those Alladin lamps…they throw out a good amount of light and some extra heat. I need to add extra wick, mantles, chimneys, wick tool, reservoir cap and flame spreader to my list of spares.
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I’ll be heading up to CostCo today. They have MagLite combo packs on sale…$19.95 gets you a MiniMag, a D-cell MagLite and Duracell batteries for both. A good deal.

Spares, kero heater, MagLites

Posted on January 16, 2004 by Commander Zero

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

A tiny excerpt

Posted on January 15, 2004 by Commander Zero

Part of the huge spreadsheet of things I need to keep track of and acquire. Now, before you comment and say “Hey, you forgot…” keep in mind this is just a fragment of a larger sheet. This is stuff that either there is none at the moment or stuff that there needs to be more of. If it isnt on this list then it means its probably already in storage.

I keep a tiny, tiny (6 pt. type) version of this list with my Everyday Gear so that if I find myself at Home Depot or someplace I can know what I need to get or just find the price of.

BOB, by the by, is the 72-hour bag. (Bugout bag)

Ammo .22 LR
Ammo .38 Spl.
Ammo .357 Mag.
Ammo 9mm
Ammo .45 ACP
Ammo 0.223
Ammo 0.308
Ammo 12 ga.
Backpack ALICE Frame
Backpack ALICE Straps
Backpack ALICE Pack, med.
Backpack ALICE Cargo shelf
BOB Clothes All-season Jeans
BOB Clothes All-season Socks
BOB Clothes All-season Underwear
BOB Clothes All-season T-shirt
BOB Clothes All-season Longsleeve shirt
BOB Clothes Seasonal Hat
BOB Clothes Seasonal Gloves
BOB Clothes Seasonal Scarf
BOB Clothes Seasonal Field Jacket w/ liner
BOB Water Canteen
BOB Water Caneen pouch
BOB Water Camelback
BOB Water Purification tabs
BOB Water Canteen cup
BOB First Aid Kit
BOB Sleep Sleeping bag
BOB Sleep Sleeping bag stuff sack
BOB Sleep Sleeping bag straps
BOB Sleep Pad
BOB Lighting MiniMag Flashlight
BOB Lighting MiniMag Batteries
BOB Lighting LED light Red
BOB Lighting Lightsticks
BOB Lighting Candles
BOB Lighting Matches
BOB Fuel tabs
BOB Knife Fixed blade
BOB Knife Folder
BOB
BOB Shelter Poncho
BOB Shelter Poncho liner
BOB Paracord
BOB Compass
BOB Food Dried
BOB Pencil
BOB Notepaper
Clothes Socks, cotton
Clothes Socks, wool
Clothes Underwear, cotton
Clothes Underwear, winter
Clothes Undershirt, cotton
Clothes Undershirt, winter
Clothes Pants
Clothes Heavy shirt
Clothes Belt
Clothes Jacket, rain
Clothes Jacket, light
Clothes Coat, winter
Clothes Hat, winter
Clothes Gloves/liners
Clothes Scarf
Communications Field Phone
Communications Field Phone Carry Case
Communications Field Phone Two-strand wire
Communications Field Phone Manual
Communications Spraypaint Black
Communications Spraypaint White
Communications Spraypaint Orange
Cooking Stove Coleman Dual Fuel
Cooking Stove Coleman Dual Fuel Parts
Cooking Stove Coleman Propane
Cooking Stove Coleman Propane Parts
Cooking Stove Coleman Propane Adapter for tank
Fuel Kerosene 5 gallons
Fuel Kerosene Siphon
Fuel Coleman fuel 1 gallon
Fuel Propane 1# bottle
Fuel Denatured alcohol
Fuel Gasoline Can, 5-gallon
Fuel Gasoline Can, 5-gallon Rack
Fuel Gasoline Can, 5-gallon Nozzle
Fuel Gasoline Gas/Fuel stabilizer
Fuel Fire extinguisher
Fuel Hand pump
Heating Heater Propane
Heating Heater Propane Adapter for tank
Heating Heater Kerosene
Heating Heater Kerosene Wick
Lighting Flashlight Mag-lite AA-cell
Lighting Flashlight Mag-lite AA-cell Bulbs
Lighting Flashlight Mag-lite AA-cell Filters
Lighting Flashlight Mag-lite D-cell Brackets
Lighting Flashlight Mag-lite D-cell
Lighting Flashlight Mag-lite D-cell Bulbs
Lighting Flashlight Mag-lite D-cell Holster
Lighting Kerosene Alladin Mantle
Lighting Kerosene Alladin Wick
Lighting Kerosene Alladin Chimney
Lighting Kerosene Alladin Wick tool
Lighting Lantern Propane Carrycase
Lighting Lantern Coleman fuel Carrycase
Lighting Lantern Mantles
Radio FRS FRS Radios
Radio FRS Charger
Radio FRS Hands-free mic
Radio FRS Carry cases
Radio FRS Spare batteries
Radio Scanner
Radio Scanner Batteries
Radio Scanner Antanae
Radio Weather Radio
Radio Weather Radio Batteries
Radio Power supply
Security Razor ribbon
Security AN PSR1A Unit
Security AN PSR1A Probes
Security AN PSR1A Wire
Security AN PSR1A Manual
Sleep Folding cot
Sleep Sleeping bag
Sleep Sleeping bag Liner
Sleep Blankets
Storage Mylar bags
Toiletries Toilet paper
Toiletries Toothbrush
Toiletries Toothpaste
Toiletries Dental Floss
Toiletries Mouthwash
Toiletries Comb
Toiletries Soap
Toiletries Washcloth
Toiletries Towel
Toiletries Razors
Toiletries Shaving cream
Tools Hand Prybar
Tools Hand Shutoff
Tools Hand Axe
Tools Hand Shovel
Tools Maintenance Solvents WD-40
Tools Maintenance Sharpener/file
Tools Hand Boltcutters
Tools Hand Knife Glock
Water 5-gallon container
Water Stabilizer

Keeping lists

Posted on January 15, 2004 by Commander Zero

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

I keep a tiny, tiny (6 pt. type) version of this list with my Everyday Gear so that if I find myself at Home Depot or someplace I can know what I need to get or just find the price of.

BOB, by the by, is the 72-hour bag. (Bugout bag)

Posted on January 14, 2004 by Commander Zero

So, I had resolved yesterday to do *something* everyday to further The Cause Of Zero. SO, how’d that go? Not bad. I re-inventoried the clothing I have stashed away in the bunker and, in a fit of efficiency, vaccuum sealed it all..each item with its own little label. Why vaccuum sealed? Couple reasons..for one thing, there were a dozen pairs of wool glove/mitten liners and the last thing I need to do is be freezing to death, open the box, find twelve bands of elastic and a six-pound moth. It also compresses things nicely so they take up less space. And, of course, it protects them from damp and water…so if I have to haul that box to a waiting vehicle in the middle of a heavy rain or snow and I trip and the box goes flying, scattering its contents…no prob..its all still clean, dry and safe. Multiple redundancy is the name of the game.

So that was yesterday…today, I’m printing out a small list off of my Excel listing all the clothing that is contained in the box and affixing that list to the outside of the box for easy sorting.

While I was at it, I did some re-arranging of things in the bunker as well. I had alot of 6-gallon buckets sitting around getting underfoot so I moved them around, consolidated a few items into milk crates, that sort of thing.

I think todays Deed will be fairly simple…move to the bunker all the things that I’ve let stack up in my living room that Ive been meaning to take down there and put them away.

Notes From The Bunker

Author Archives: Commander Zero

Gasket preservative question

Food stores

Sportsmans Warehouse

Spares, kero heater, MagLites

A tiny excerpt

Keeping lists