What Preps are you doing this week

[hobo]

We had our woodburner going twice last winter - both times as a treat!

My partner still doesn't get prepping but has given up complaining mr filling the back yard up with wood

Today I built another log store. I have Builder friends who drop off wood for the burners. Often there is plywood and plenty of 2x2. Chuck in a bit of roof felt-Bingo!
As wood heat is our primary source, I try to make it as user- friendly as poss. for the ladies of the house. So plenty split and under cover, well in advance.

Nice one, I to my shame have not added to my woodpile for a year

Mind you it was too mild last winter to even fire up the woodburner

Thanks. My burners ARE my heat source. To be fair though, We didn't burn as much as previous years.

[hobo]

Todays preps have been:
Making 3 jars of blackcurrant jam
Shelling, par boiling and freezing a batch of broad beans, picked from the allotment this morning

[Decaff]

Todays preps have been:
Making 3 jars of blackcurrant jam
Shelling, par boiling and freezing a batch of broad beans, picked from the allotment this morning

Good reminder! I will visit local farm shop this week for fruits to make my jams. I wish we still had PYO farms, they do it now themselves which means I can't always get the smaller berries needed for jam making. Going to make bramble jelly this year instead of the jam, the bits are horrid to get out of teeth!! Rosehip syrup is also on the cards.

[Galen]

The archery is coming along nicely (long and crossbow) - I can now group my arrows within a 6" grouping at 40 yards.

Current arrow/bolt usage is one lost/two damaged out of twelve on a forty target (field archery) course.

Big thanks to Merlin archery for sending me a whole bunch of stuff to review and a discount on arrows/bolts which I'm stockpiling at 20 a month, along with spare strings and wax.

This September is a 'How-to-make-your-own-longbow' course, should be interesting.

Homemade crossbow bolts ... hmmm, I'll call it a sort of success as two of the six didn't actually explode in the breech . I may need to de-tube the crossbow down from 175lb to 100lb or something for home made bolts.

And my first batch of ginger beer has been a resounding success (or should that be "shucshess") ... after all, what's an apocalypse without a drink?

On a final note, our beloved gov'mint has decided that for our protection, all emails and phone calls can be monitored, along with removing cash from our bank accounts if they 'think' we owe them tax money .

[jansman]

Hobo, tell 'er that wood is better than cash in the bank!

[ForgeCorvus]

Making some arrows, found a new supplier for the bits (Quick's didn't have any shafts heavy enough).... They're spruce rather then Scotts pine, so hopefully they'll be up to the job

Ebaying more stuff

[Galen]

Spruce is not a bad material for an arrow shaft Forge, my limited success has been due to using only material I find in the woods (feathers are damned hard to come by) ... primarily on account that that is all there will be come SHTF - if I can't make them from scratch, any bow is going to be limited by how many arrows you have.

[Plymtom]

Did you see that Ray Mears thing where he/they made arrows which break off on impact, leaving the warhead embedded but the fletching end retrievable?

[ForgeCorvus]

Did you see that Ray Mears thing where he/they made arrows which break off on impact, leaving the warhead embedded but the fletching end retrievable?

I've heard of Atl-atl darts made with a detechable foreshaft but not arrows.
I've got some 'Footed' arrows (made of two different types of wood, a tough dense one at the pointy end and a light springy one for the rest of the shaft)

I can make shafts, but its a lot of work and the results aren't as consistant as I need for target archery.

In the PAW I'll be rocking my primative crossbow and a sling mostly.
Reminds me, need to make some more broadheads and bodkins......... For 'display purposes'

[Galen]

@ Plymton - no, I didn't see that episode, sounds interesting. The best for killing animals is if the shaft goes right through and they bleed out quite quickly. We could knock down a feral pig back in Oz in about 1-3 minutes depending on where they where hit.

A break off head sounds nasty, akin to the old war arrows where the head would come off inside the body and kill enemy soldier through infection.

@ Forge, I find cheap stainless steel tea spoons make a great broad head. I can make one in about ten minutes in my workshop.