I watched the latest episode of walking dead.

Reminds me I need to get a good bat and a roll of barbed wire. Even if the world doesn’t end I’ll have a great conversation piece.

I'm in the process of rotating my stock of tea by brewing old, mix-matched bags of tea. Each blend of iced tea will be different.

Jeanette Isabelle

With the arrival of the autumnal equinox and an impending winter looming, to say nothing of power shutdowns, this has been a good day to check the condition of emergency lighting and lanterns and charge up those that have lost some charge. The process will probably continue into tomorrow.

I didn't realize how many batteries I have stashed in various devices. This was brought on by a light failure in our bathroom, plunging it into darkness. I deployed a Goal Zero Mini Lantern, which functioned quite well, but I noticed that it was not at full capacity.

It is prudent to check stuff like this every now and then.

Agree. However, since my little solar panel experiment I’ve been a lot less worried about maintaining charge in little things because now I know they can all be charged off-grid.

That said, besides the backpack-able solar panels, I needed a few power banks for the experiment’s test and they (one Anker PowerCore 20,000 mAh and two 10,000 mAh) are now included in various kits. A Goal Zero Yeti 400 is for use at home, it makes for a nice power back-up for small gear. I charged the Anker power banks last week, the GZ is plugged in now. The Yeti 400 takes forever to take a full charge, but I’m not sure it’s healthy to push power banks and back-ups to 100%; I’m happy to get them to ~90%.

Charging AA and AAA NiMH batteries is a continuing process, no set schedule, but the way I use those lights, the batteries last a long time.

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or on some of the recent firstaid kit posts, but I happened to notice these on the display rack at Home Depot:
https://images.homedepot-static.com/prod...2070-64_145.jpg

These are very inexpensive ($5 for two) tubes of skin glue, used for repairing lacerations, available without a prescription: "Medical cyanoacrylate". Vetbond is the more expensive option also available. Amazon sells Liquidskin Pro also for $15

Washing the wound with soap and water is preferable to betadine, etc. So, carrying a small wrapped bar of soap from you last hotel stay is prudent. Dry the skin, then apply a line of glue across the length of the wound with the edges pushed together; wait a few sec., then apply a second wider application on top of the first layer. Be advised the area gets notably warm as the glue dries (exothermic reaction) which is noticeable but doesn't burn. The glue will slowly flake away over the next 2-3 weeks.

Gluing wounds appears to have a lower risk of a wound infection compared to suturing them: a second reason to keep some in your kit.

I've put them in each of my car kits; it's also a good thing to take backpacking/hiking.

No commercial or other affiliation.

That's interesting. It's really tough to get medical grade superglue up here. Physicians and vets have it, but for ordinary peasants like me it seems to be off limits. I wonder -- would it slip through via Amazon, and would it be the legitimate stuff?

+1 on carrying soap, either a tiny bottle or hotel sized sized bar.

As far as I can tell, Amazon will ship it anywhere; it is also available on Ebay.
Lowes and Tractor Supply also seem to sell it; I don't know about Minards, Meijer, or other regional big box stores.

i do my main shopping on the first of the month.the local asian grocery store is one stop where i pick up odds and ends like
frozen egg rolls and cooking oil by the gallon.
they carry the butane bottles used in the table top stoves and
i'll pick up a four pack every couple trips so I have a good stock
set aside.
I got another 90 day card for the old TracFone I keep in my car.
I have a smart phone but very seldom use it as my wife's number
is the one called into %90 of the time.
a army buddy is sort of house bound as he can't drive anymore.
my self and another couple guys take him shopping and on trips where he does not want to use a cab.we go to a Cables outdoor store
every few weeks just to get out and i'll buy a few box's of 22's
so I have more than enough for summer plinking and such.
Minneapolis is a safe place to live with no major storms or
earthquakes to prepare for.also no chemical plants to run from
if they blow up.so being prepared is sort at a low level for me.

I reorganized my supply of bottled water to make room for cans of soda.

Of course, I try to keep my stock rotated. Even then, I run into problems. I have a case and a third of bottled water that expired in 2016. I'm not too concerned. After all, I've kept them in a climate-controlled environment.

Jeanette Isabelle