24 lead acid batteries is a metric buttload of maintenance.

TR

That's why I replaced them early. In the summer I had to add water every week. And, because they were so tall, I had to wear a headlamp and use a turkey baster and mirror so I didn't under or over fill them. In the winter I only had to do that once a month. Four times a year I had to equalize them and that was dependent on the cloud coverage. And twice a year we'd have to go to the backup gennie so we could clean the terminals. All-in-all, it wasn't too bad but now I don't have to do any of that.

FWIW,
Lithium batteries will be more expensive, but it’s the trade off in maintenance and power cycles ( typically rated over 2000 full discharges, you kill lead acid batteries very quickly doing that) and draw capabilities that you’re paying for. I bought a few 108Ah batteries for replacing failed 6V 70Ah deep cycle batteries in my travel trailer. They were from Costco and cost about $700 each. They only weigh 28lbs so are easily removed for theft prevention. Also found a few smaller 20Ah units for running radios and the grill when outside away from an outlet so I don’t have to run a generator. The smaller ones can be found with little searching.

Solar is great but expensive initially. BEWARE (for those who don’t know) if going with the sales pitch from your local HD, many systems are being sold with no capability to generate power unless there is power on your incoming lines already. So if the power goes out, they are worthless as backup. The issue is around meeting code and protecting linemen doing repairs. Then installing the right power inverter that those companies don’t sell. It’s just stupid. But there’s a bunch of wall flowers out there feeling good about themselves for doing this type of install.
If you’ve got running water near by, then it’s the Gold Standard for self sufficient
power. Battery bank is still typically needed for surge loads, but a water wheel running continuously, even a small one, will make a lot of power over time.
G2

The SimpliPhi warranty is 10 years and 10,000 cycles if the Depth of Discharge (DoD) is limited to 80%. Five thousand cycles if the DoD is limited to 90% and 3500 cycles to 100%. So far, in the 3 weeks that we've been using them, we haven't gone below 95%.

Just rummaging around the garage today...

The “instructions” paper came out of that brand new butt pack which is probably from the ‘70s or ‘80s...:cool:

And a few books and new knife still in package from the wayback machine. :lifter

ETA: Man, this day just keeps getting better and better - last picture!

Christmas in January
 

Money shot.

I took great knowledge from here,
Thanks, everyone for sharing your best experiance

Can't find crap anymore
 

Can anyone help me find what I am looking for?

It's a photo/poster showing an insurgent fighter and talking about their training mindset, lack of shoes/boots, all the latest gear?

Thanks for the help

I can't find a photo to go with it in my library, but you remind me of this posted previously hereabouts (by NousDefionsDoc I think):

I could see that in a caption at the bottom of the appropriate photo; can't find the dang pic (I miss my mind). With the right photo that could easily be made into one.

Yup that's the one I was thinking of. Always enjoyed that training ideology, seems befitting in this age of interconnectedness and technology.

There are several pix/posters online. Just search "Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you," then click on images. Few, if any, credit NDD.

Yep. Last one on this. The deep-dive is in the Mindset sub-forum & the relevant 7-page thread is here (including discussion of Copyright to this site).

Now back to old guy making downed limbs smaller.
:)

That was so 2006.

Changed it for 2021

Somewhere a True Believer is tweeting about killing you. He is training with none GMO food and water, in air conditioning, Posting day and night. The only thing clean on him is his IP Address and he made his own web page. He doesn't worry about what workouts to do - he/her/them, weighs what they weigh, The run ends when the Police stop chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows how to GoFund me. He doesn't go home or to work at 17:00, he is at home.
He knows only The Cause.

Using the old adage "One is none, two is one," I added a manual pump to our water well:

A very wise move for those who can do so.

Congrats.

TR

Thanks, TR. The best part is that the original well was drilled to 265'. The manual pump went down to 154'. We have a lot of water under us. We were never really sure until now.

Bump

Because this Thread is very relevent and needs to be updated with the current situation.

My new projects for this spring are root cellar and expanding the green house :D

Most my wood cutting is done for next year just need to finish splitting and stacking should have two years worth by the time is am finished running out of places to stack under my shed.....so I am going to start round stacking like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFPZxLuM5jo
but under a large pine tree for the cover it offers will see how it works.

Went solar; not to be green, but because of caring for aged in-laws and wife's medical condition; 150% and 2 batteries. Also had a connection for a portable duel fuel generator installed, 13000Kwh, will run the whole house including air con and heating and charge the batteries if the panels are rendered incapable.
Yes, I have been buying larger and more propane.

Having a hard time finding canning supplies?
 

Interesting article, and yet another example of what happens when Giant Corp. buys up small niche supplier, who gets lost in the big ocean.

Full article by Lois Thielen at the SC Times here.

:munchin