Do you have an alternate plan?

[Jim]

There are products and services that we rely on to keep on keepin' on. Have you ever given thought to an alternate plan in the event one of those products and/or services were no longer available?

No more WWs, no more Bullplate (that may soon be rectified), no more Ranch Dog boolits, etc.. Not just in casting and/or handloading, but in any effort to produce results we depend on, it would be good to have a stand by plan to fall back on.

Court is now in session.

[runfiverun]

yep,i most often head to the reloading room when the power is out.

i like my electric gizmo's for efficiency but have old time everything on hand to cover the dark times.
even quality boolit casting without electricity is doable.
hot and sweaty but manageable.
lead is piled up
5 gallon buckets of cast but not lubed boolits stashed onder a bench
primers in order
new cases stashed away.
powder on hand.
lube and ingredients on hand.
i have hand cranks for my stars in the drawer to replace the air cylinders too.
i could stumble along for the next 20 or so years if'n i had too.

[1Shirt]

Kinda like runfiverun's philosophy! Like to have hand tools available! Started with a 310 tool an oil dampered scale, and very little money. Could do it again if necessary.
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Blacksmith]

I try to have a Lee Loader (Wack-A-Load) available for each caliber I shoot. Unfortunately they don't make all the calibers I shoot so I made a spreadsheet of all the calibers they currently list and the spare part part numbers so I can substitute for some calibers and the hard part the sizing die was covered by an article in the 1960 edition of the NRA Illustrated Reloading Handbook on how to cast dies for obsolete cartridges.

[geargnasher]

I spent the first three years of my reloading/casting career in the house I grew up in before i left for college. We had no electricity, and I reloaded after homework at night by the light of the same kerosene lamp that illuminated my books and notepads. I didn't have a computer until almost ten years after college. I typed papers for school on a Royal portable typewriter which I still have and use. My current house has almost a dozen kerosene lamps loaded and ready to go, they've come in handy more than once. I have cast buckets of .38 boolits out of a saucepan. I think somehow I'll manage if things go "south".

Gear

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

If I shoot 300lbs of cast boolits a year, in sixteen years I will be out of my stash pile.

I will also have shot up the hundred twenty pounds of smokeless powder I have, and the 60,000 various primers.

I guess then, I will go back to being a 100% flintlock rifle shooter.

By now, you should have figured out that you need a minimum two years supply of everything.

I will confess, though, I now do about 80% of my offhand practice with a Feinwerkbau 300S instead of the 22 rf's. It's a comfortable 70 degrees in my house, and my wife works from 7-5.

Rich

[MT Gianni]

Not for primers and I think I have less than 10 years worth.

[Chicken Thief]

Maybe y'all should stock up on barbed wire and claymores!

When http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Blandet/Smilere/****hitthefan-1.gif, those who have less/nothing will be your main concern.

[GRUMPA]

Back-up plan??? Well I live on solar, I have my own well, have our own septic, lead pile forming, primers, powder, did I miss anything?

[Chicken Thief]

This might help:

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Blandet/BatteryCharger.jpg

[white eagle]

alternate plan yep
drop the 44 hit em with the 10 ga.

[Catshooter]

On a whim one day I went through the shop and did a very intensive inventory. Enlightening.

Sure would have sucked to try to load my x54r with any shellplate or shell holders, no round ball mould for my 38-55, things of that nature.

It's great to have a ton of lead, brass, powder & primers, but remember that the devil's in the details.


Cat

[smokeywolf]

My only reloading tool that uses AC is the old Lyman pot. But, I have a propane rig as a backup. Don't use them newfangled eeeelectronic scales. Like geargnasher, I have a dozen or so kerosene lamps ready to go. Never had to cast, load, or do homework by lamplight, and not too sorry that I didn't. But, I've always been fairly resourceful and resilient.
In fact, one of the places that we have considered retiring to, is a little town in central California called Iowa Hill. Iowa Hill has a population of around 200, is still off the electrical grid, and gets its electricity from a town generator. I believe they were also the last town in the United States to get landline phone service. Back in 1967 we camped right in front of the old Wells Fargo vault (Iowa Hill started life as a gold mining operation). About 11:30 PM I was awakened by a cold wet nose breathing deeply into my left ear. I opened my eyes a crack to see 2 huge brown eyes below 2 tall ears. It was the town pet; a doe that IIRC was named after the cookies she regularly shoplifted from the Iowa Hill Store.

Like Idaho Sharpshooter, I have shot enough black powder arms that I could be very comfortable falling back on those. And, although I have not laid in the stock of components Idaho Sharpshooter has. I'm not sure a two year supply is sufficient.

smokeywolf

[Houndog]

Jim,
I think most folks on this sight have enough "hardware" to take care of business, it's the other stuff that people don't think out thoroghly, like a GOOD water source, alternate heat for the home, food in storage that doesn't need refrigeration, a way to prepare that food, and the BIGGIE for us old folks, meds we can't live without. We ALL need to think about this and prepare for the worst while hoping it NEVER comes to pass.

[NSP64]

Maybe y'all should stock up on barbed wire and claymores!

When http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Blandet/Smilere/****hitthefan-1.gif, those who have less/nothing will be your main concern.

I can make those[smilie=1:

[geargnasher]

I can make those[smilie=1:

My wife asked me once why I have three trash bags of styrofoam peanuts in the attic, and ten pounds of TSP next to the gasoline stash in the garage. Ya just never know.......:p

Gear

[smokeywolf]

Houndog, Be careful talking about prepping. The Feds consider people who prepare for, or resist a corrupt government stripping them of their "inalienable rights" to be dissidents and enemies of the government.
Hey, there you go, another reason to vote Romney. His religion requires prepping.

smokeywolf

[smokeywolf]

geargnasher, Tide laundry soap can substitute for TSP.

[bowfin]

I have two diabetic sons, so I am always worried about an insulin supply.

Any other shortage I might encounter seems trivial by comparison.

[runfiverun]

yes it will but you need aluminum filings.
and a trigger.
good thing i have super glue and washers and clothespins around the place.
mitt's religion calls for only a 3 day and one year food supply.
you are encouraged to have an available firearm and ammunition,battery's,water,and a mill to grind wheat.

i'm still working on the flour mill it would be an absolute necessity around here with all the wheat fields within walking distance.

now med's are a different story you have really only one way to get extra's.
order in a 3 month supply and then you gotta skip and rotate.
anybody taking diabetic shots will be in a world of hurt in a short period of time.

[smokeywolf]

runfiverun, we're about to buy the WonderMill. Old fashioned crank (manpower).

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

I have a number of friends who are LDS. Good people all of them.

When the govt passed the anti-hoarding law a couple years back I asked two of them. They both gave the same answer.

"I have XX people living in my house/depending on me for sustenance if the SHTF. In accordance with the fascist regimes requirements, I have one year's supply of food for each, three meals a day, 4500 calories per meal."

As important, do you make it a practice to always live on the top half of the gas/fuel gauge?

Rich
Sua Sponte

It's as simple as food, shelter, and the means and willingness to protect them.

[Rangefinder]

The thing I always reflect back on is that the things we have now weren't even available, much less "necessary" just a short few years ago. All the things we do easier now were done anyway, and could be again with just a little common sense and the willingness to do so. For me--myself--I can walk out into the wilderness at any moment with nothing and I know how and where to get everything I NEED to survive, then progress. The difficulty is figuring in the family equation. That's where everything else I have comes into play right here at the house. We have land, water, the basic essentials to live on. I have a seed stash that would make any green-thumb blanch, and not only the hand tools to do any job but the knowledge of how to MAKE any tools I don't have by means of the old ways--heat and a way to manipulate it. I would have been quite content 500 years ago, and it won't hurt me much to take a step back. As for what I have in the loading room... Well, that's another story all by itself.

[runfiverun]

i have been looking for something that is dual use [powered and hand cranked] and will grind meat too.
i have ground deer/beef into hamburger by hand before and about 5 lbs is a real chore.
it could be done everyday if necessary.
so could grinding a lb of flour.
but that and cooking them would be near a full day's work for someone.

maybe i should look at separate tools.

[smokeywolf]

Haven't done recent research on meat grinders. But Cabellas used to have some good (and expensive) ones.

[GRid.1569]

geargnasher, Tide laundry soap can substitute for TSP.

I use the other English language... What's TSP ?... teaspoons /tablespoons of what? ...

[felix]

TriSodiumPhosphate, available in 50 pound bags from chemical supply houses. Might want to purchase several gallons of vinegar to neutralize the very high ph substance. ... felix

[Catshooter]

runfive,

I too looked for a mill that could do both meat & grain. Far as I can tell there ain't no such animal.

I can recommend a Country Living Mill. I got a 1000 RPM 1/2 hp motor off of eBay and the mill works a treat.


Cat

[Suo Gan]

Am I the only realist here, or is everyone living in la la land?

[Alchemist]

I have two diabetic sons, so I am always worried about an insulin supply.

Any other shortage I might encounter seems trivial by comparison.

Bowfin,

Your post made me instantly think of this book.

http://www.onesecondafter.com/

A real page turner...and sorta scary when you think of Iran getting a nuke built one of these days.

Medications will be the biggest problem for a lot of folks if/when something serious happens. I have a thyroid issue, but I'm sure I'll survive if I couldn't get meds. Other conditions would be a big problem.

Also, it's hard to prep when meds expire, are expensive, and you never know what dosage you may need in the future. I periodically get my dosage adjusted.

[GRid.1569]

TriSodiumPhosphate, available in 50 pound bags from chemical supply houses. Might want to purchase several gallons of vinegar to neutralize the very high ph substance. ... felix

Never heard of that before... what's it used for?

[felix]

Mostly used as a de-oxidizer of non-ferrous metals and make latex and some iron products porous on their respective surfaces. Used also in the food and drug industries for ph adjustments and de-oxidation requirements. Marvelux, a known flux used for our lead, can very well be pure TSP. ... felix

On second thought, TSP, plus sodium stearate as a wetting agent, should be an excellent brass cleaner without attacking the raw zinc component. The brass should remain brass looking without turning into a pink hue. The solution probably should be used to clean brass, and the lead, before any swagging operation. ... felix