Judge:

Good info.

A 500 gallon underground tank with several drops in the house and converter lines will provide heat for a lot longer, and for less money to boot.

Why not just use a blow dryer, if you have power for the Shop-Vac?

TR

we went through an ice storm in Spokane back in '95 or '97. It sucked. sub zero weather and power out for days. We had a gas fireplace in the small living room. We sealed off the LR with insulated truck blankets (like moving vans use) and moved the king mattress onto the floor. The three of us stayed there. Pretty toasty as in sweaters. Since the water heater was gas we had hot water. Maxed the temerature and was able to use it straigt out of the tap for instant soup, coffee, and coco , not so great - but close - for ramen. Did make the mistake of taking a hot shower. It felt great but the condensation practically froze to the walls.

Heat guns are made for serious use, correct? Anyone know if it could work for continuous heating? I can think of a few places on relatives places it would be nice to shoot above freezing air for long periods.

Quality heat guns will, just like a hair dryer, overheat and shut off..not to menition the heat produced could caught something to melt, or catch fire.

I use them all the time removing paint and varnish. Take it from me, you can get 3rd degree burns from them.

I would think someone would have the smarts to use heat tape wrapped around pipes. Barring being able to do that keeping the faucet dripping would work as well. I lived aboard last winter in Baltimore Harbor. My boat and the boats above me on the docks all had water. Our lines, even in the single digit weather the hoases that had to come from the dock to the water inlet never froze because we kept the faucets on slow flow.
AM

"Why not just use a blow dryer, if you have power for the Shop-Vac?"

The shop-vac gave me a greater stand-off distance for hard to reach sections of pipe, and I already had my suit on.

heat tape? or was the pipe inaccessible to apply the tape?

I was watching the Weather Channel last night. They were doing things that one could do to survive in an emergency situation. I thought I would add the 'falling thru the ice" part.

Guy conveniently had a pair of screw drivers around his neck and used them to pull himself out of the water and onto the hard ice like a pair of ice picks. Showed him deliberately falling back in and then getting out again without the ice picks/screwdrivers. He pulled himself up on the ice sheet as far as he could, then he continued to lay flat and pull himself along the thinner ice until he got to stable ice and then walked off the ice.

By then he was hypothermic, as evidenced by the slow movements and mumbling. Once he was out of the wet clothes into dry. He used plastic bags, grocery sacks over the socks and stuck around his feet in his shoes and a big garbage bag over he head and around his body over his clothes and under his down coat. Commentator said it would help keep body heat in. They had him do jumping jacks to help create body heat. He also drank hot cocoa, not to warm him up but for the sugar that would rapidly get into his body and, again, create body heat.

Amazing how such simple things can save your life.. plastic grocery sacks, a black plastic garbage bag, a couple of screwdrivers and some sugar. I think you could put all of that in a gallon ziploc bag and stuff behind a truck/car seat.
Added to the usual sleeping bag, gallon of water and tools behind the truck seat.

In regards to frozen piping.

If your house is plumbed in copper tube, PEX, or CTS-CPVC a handy item to have around are Sharkbite fittings. They will generally work (in a pinch) on Grey PB - Polybutylene as well but it is not warrantied or advised for PB.

http://www.cashacme.com/prod_sharkbi...t_products.php

And one of these that will get you in nearly any confined area:

http://www.drainbrain.com/specialties/autocut.html

If you want to get in the right mind-set for winter survival thought, read Jack London's To Build A Fire

http://www.jacklondons.net/Media/to_...print_ver.html

"It was not because he was long used to it. He was a new-comer in the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter. The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances."

[QUOTE=dadof18x'er;292142]
after 4 months we couldn't be happier with this filter. AND it's EMP proof:D

My apologies if this has been covered -- but should ease of field stripping and continued maintenance (maybe without all the right tools) be a factor in choosing a handgun for the sorts of scenarios discussed in this thread? If so, does anyone have recommendations of handguns that can be very easily maintained and like to keep performing after a lot of abuse?

First of all, use the search function and read. FWIW, I'm no expert and you may (bank on it) get a lot of various opinions, but here's mine: Colt, 1911A1, .45 ACP, Automatic. Was dissatisfied with Remington, and some Springfields re: replacement parts. Some parts looked as if they'd been cast instead of milled, and they broke. Colts held up.

(I have no experience with Glocks or any of the other newer autos, so take this for what it's worth. Like noted above, use the search function. You'll get a whole bunch of expert opinions.)

Keep shopping (and reading), good luck, and shoot straight.

Edit Note: Type-O's.

You'll get a ton of opinions -
Glock, Springfield XD's, HK USP are all very reliable and will stand up to a ton of abuse under some of the harshest conditions.

Also some basic maintenance is a great way to keep your gun running.

Ryan
 

Is having an auto important? Consider also, revolvers, much easier to train young'ns, wives and GFs. They also tend to conserve ammo, and easy to maintain under tough field conditions. With an older model SW, .357, I've used bird shot shells. Hell on rifling and barrels, but equally tough on birds, snakes and small animals. Something to consider in a survival scenario.

I've been reading all of the excellent opinions in the handgun threads -- and they're very helpful. I was unable, most likely due to my own failings, to find opinions directly relating to longevity when abused and repaired by complete beginners, with parts scavenged and such. I'm picturing a scenario where society has broken down to the point that I have to do any and all maintenance myself, or worse -- my wife or son has to do it.

Thank you, much appreciated. I read on some gun forum (which I'm currently failing to locate and link) that USPs can be more difficult to detail strip with minimal tools, and may require more specialized parts -- is that accurate at all?

Would a revolver be a good backup option, for the simplicity of the design and maintenance? Edit: WD posted as I was typing this post. :p

I think I'll definitely have one in the kit for this reason, thank you for the advice. Much appreciated.