Simple Living, Financial Freedom & Rural Life | M.D. Creekmore M.D. Creekmore Page 101

DIY Solar Projects Made Simple – Even Forrest Gump Could Do This

May 9, 2018 M.D. Creekmore

by Michael C

Most folks have the “idea” that solar costs lots of big bucks. But the truth of the matter is – solar energy is an investment. Like big power company’s that buy a nuclear power plant. There is a big (one time) upfront investment for the company that will usually pay off later.

You would do the same thing – invest in a pile of components that will become your personal utility. The cost of taking care of your utility is minimal – after the initial purchase. You don’t have any monthly bills – it is YOUR utility. Why is solar worth having? Because it gives you power. The power comes from the sun and goes into your pocket – if you got it. Solar power is nice and quiet – use a night-light to go to the bathroom.

A few people can tell you how to build a solar energy system. But, going into wire sizes, battery sizes, panel sizes and everything else is sure to confuse you to the point of “puttin’ it off”. So, I am going to just describe systems that I made. I am going to describe 3 different sized systems – that you can copy – for your own use. You should copy – but, keep in mind that you can adapt your system to the materials you have. If you have a 100 Watt panel lying around – use it – instead of the 80W panel I used in my medium system.

Small system

A small system for me is just some thin-film panels, taped to a piece of stretch proof plastic sheet (from the post office plastic mailer) with wires soldered on. Most productive for recharging batteries or powering a small device. A common connector is style “M” which can be found at Radio Shack.

I added diodes (…N1001) to each solar panel (since they are all in parallel) to block all reverse current – I did not want any panel to “leak” power backward. At this size of alternate energy system – most of your connections would be soldered. The cost for each thin-film sheet was about $17 (USD) and the wire was cheap speaker wire (24 gage).

The solar panels can be soldered together in parallel, series or both for the voltage/amperage needed. (The thin-film panels can be bought in various sizes too.) At about 12 volts you might consider a 12V solar panel to avoid all the soldering. Thin film panels work great in this case because they are very lightweight and portable. You could have these in your BOB, GHB or with your GPS.

Medium System

This alternate energy system is larger, uses regular components like a framed solar panel. This system is still portable – if you have an electric chainsaw, you can roll into the woods and use it. I use a $30 (USD) hand truck from Harbor Freight to “mount” the parts.

The parts consist of an 80W solar panel, Xantrex C30 charge controller, 2 – 6 Volt 225 Amp hour batteries, 2 – inverters (400 & 1200 Watt), desulphator and a 12V car outlet. The batteries are inside the wood box, the inverters, desulphator, and outlet are on top.

The components of this system can be separated – the battery box is strapped to the hand truck and the solar panel is mounted on the handle with 2 U-clamps. Mounting the panel this way allows me to “swing” the panel up into the sun, I use a stick to keep it there. I used a short extension cord (cut in two) to connect the panel to the battery so I can “unplug” the panel.

Connections from the battery to charge controller (and from the solar panel to charge controller) are fused using common automotive blade style fuses. The inverters and power outlet have their own (blade style) fusing. The battery and solar panel are the biggest cost in this system. The cost for the panel was $400 (at the time) and the batteries were $150 each.

This system does have 120V AC output but, if you’ll notice – you’re not going to touch it, at all. All components that you handle are only 12 volts, the inverter will be connected to the battery with the cables that they give you.

This system has an 80 Watt solar panel so the output is 80 Watts per hour or 80 Whrs. In a 10 hour sunny day, you would get 800 Whrs – enough for 5 – 24W CFL’s for over 6 hours. (This system is bigger then MD’ Creekmore’s system that’s in his book Dirt Cheap Survival Retreat.)

Large System

The large solar power setup is just like you see in magazines with solar panels on the roof, a wall full of components and kids playing in the yard. I have 3 – 90W and 6 – 80W (total 750W) solar panels on top and a Solar Boost 50 (charge control), Prosine 2 (2 kW inverter), Xantrex breaker box, Link 10 battery meter (fuel gauge), 8 – Trojan L16 batteries (20 kW storage). All components except batteries and panels are mounted on 3/4″ plywood. This means that I have 3 major connections: solar panels, batteries and AC output from the board.

This type of system is best bought as a kit – I bought the first 3 panels with an inverter and added the other solar panels and charge controller later. You get almost all the pieces – including roof mounting hardware for the solar panels and the right size wires.

The trick with building this system is to put most of the stuff on a plywood board. I set the parts on plywood and arranged it to my liking. The breaker box should be located close to all the other stuff to minimize wire length. I had my panels mounted on the ground for good snow removal but, after thinking about theft (nice shiny blue panels) I mounted them on the roof. I use a snow rake and angle the panels steep (70 degrees).

The best feature of this kit was the inverter. The inverter has an automatic transfer switch (the thing that goes click in a UPS when the power goes out) and 3 stage battery charger built-in. It is true sine wave (yes, had it hooked up to my scope meter). I added the breaker box because you just can’t get 300 amp DC rated fuses from the electric store.

I normally use cheap grid power for running everything but, when the power goes out – its solar time. If you have heard neighbors say something like “I have 100 amp service” then this inverter gives you 15 amp service. You can run up to 15 amps at 100% duty, it will surge to 30 amps (4 kW). This inverter is not grid tie but, UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) tied. I have my fridge on this inverter in case of power outage.

Here is my little lead in on efficiency. My fridge (19 cf. Kenmore side by side) uses 1.12 kW a day, in 2 hours of sun – my panels will generate 1.5 kW – enough to cover my fridge power (and inverter overhead) use for a day. This fridge is 20% more efficient than every other fridge in its class (19-21 cubic foot). It cost $700 (USD) when I bought it. In the years that I have had it (about 8) it paid for itself in lower electric costs. It will always “pay you” to buy a new fridge.

Final Notes

Try to place the panels where they get sunlight, I should say “where they get the most sunlight”. If you have a tree that shades your panels at 2 pm – move the panels so that the tree shades them at 6 pm. I know that my roof space is limited but, I plan on getting the “best” light (10 am-3 pm) that I can. Losing energy in the winter because the tree shades at 2 pm is very costly (especially after all the money you paid for solar!)

SAFETY for the small system consists of not burning yourself with the soldering iron. The medium system has batteries that could weld your tools to the posts, wrap electrical tape around “good” tools used near the battery, have a tap for the post threads.

The batteries in my medium and large systems are flooded lead acid which means that I have to fill them with pure (distilled) water, I wear rubber gloves for this task and goggles. I also keep the family sized baking soda bucket nearby in case a mouse chews the corner (for water) – a lot of solution (more than a gallon) in a 120-pound battery. Lead acid batteries generate hydrogen gas which is explosive, a vented battery box is recommended.

The medium system uses a (cheaper, easier to find) flooded lead-acid battery, not the best type (AGM Absorbed Glass Mat or Gel Cell) for this application. Since it could tilt past 40 degrees (max fluid to cap angle) the solution can leak. I installed plastic inside the box to contain any fluid and am aware of this limitation in my system. The box is strapped to the hand truck for quick release to move into a truck bed.

The lead acid batteries that I used were bought before I found out about Edison batteries. Admittedly, the lead-acid battery has more power per pound than the Edison (Alkaline based Nickel-Iron) battery but, have become the “throw away” part of every solar power system. Edison batteries will (have) last for a hundred years, don’t sulfate, don’t break down (lead plate flaking) and if they run dry – simply refill. In fact, replacing the alkaline solution would only take Berky water and wood ash (lye is alkaline) solution. Last but not least – no chance for an explosion, does not generate hydrogen.

If you have read “31 Days to Survival” then you know that there is a chapter on alternate energy. I think that any of these systems will count for that day. Please share your comments and thoughts in the comments below.

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A-zoom Snap Caps and Wall Anchors: weekly product review

May 7, 2018 Jesse Mathewson

Legally I have to write a disclosure here, I PURCHASED THE Snap Caps and Wall Anchors BEING REVIEWED HERE WITH MY MONEY and did not receive anything in exchange for a review of any type…

A-Zoom snap caps are an important part of anyone’s shooting supply. They run between $8-$15 for 6 or 10 on average depending on caliber. For your .22lr needs, there is another option. Hillman wall anchors 4-6-8 x 7/8” are what I use for all of my .22lr needs. Hillman wall anchors run $6 for a box of 100 on Amazon or around that from local hardware stores. Now before you laugh, remember the entire purpose of a snap cap is for testing triggers, repairs and dry firing your firearms. The wall anchors work for this purpose and work well for less than 0.05 cents apiece. The best part is, you can reuse them a few times for dry firing purposes and if you need it recycle them afterward for their intended purpose!

When you are training for self-defense and even hunting there are a few things that are essential to remember. Obviously, as with all firearms follow the rules of safety.

Loaded or not, keep the finger OFF the trigger!
Loaded or not, ALWAYS ensure the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction!

This includes but is not limited to firearms that are loaded with snap caps, I have witnessed negligent discharges by extremely well-versed individuals when they believed they had unloaded their firearms or had reloaded with snap caps. So, in the line of being safe ALWAYS, remove all ammunition from the location around the firearm you are planning to use snap caps in. I use the three check system to ensure no live ammunition is in the firearm as well.

Remove the magazine or cylinder
Check the chamber visually
Check the chamber manually with a finger while ALWAYS keeping the muzzle pointed away from any places you do not want to be destroyed.

Now, once you do this, insert the snap caps into the cylinder or magazine. Re-check again to ensure only snap caps are inserted. Some people do not understand why I check so many times, of course, these same people likely have never been shot by “accident” or on purpose either! Taking a few minutes to ensure a completely safe experience is better than days or even weeks in a hospital and tens of thousands of dollars in bills!

Now ensuring your muzzle is pointed in a safe direction you can engage in dry fire practice or testing as needed! Doing a few minutes of this every day can easily transform your personal ability with a firearm into a much better approach. Especially when you practice maintaining your PROPER grip, correct trigger press and or gentle squeeze and sight alignment. I use these times to check my ability to maintain a level firearm and keep it stable while squeezing the trigger. Place a nickel or dime on the frame or front sight post if you can and squeeze the trigger until the firing pin is released, do this until you never lose the dime from the front sight or frame and you will notice a much-improved group at the range.

Some other things I like using snap caps for are failure drills, they replicate a round not going off when placed randomly in the magazine or even cylinder and you have to safely “Tap, Rack and Go” to continue shooting. I often ask shooting buddies to place snap caps at random in my range magazines, (ALWAYS KEEP YOUR RANGE MAGAZINES SEPARATE FROM ALL OTHER MAGAZINES).

Overall there is simply no reason not to have snap caps or wall anchors for your firearms training and use. I am well aware that 50 years ago snap caps were not used regularly, however, there have been many major improvements in training, firearms and more over that same time. Additionally, older firearms are more likely to not be dry fire capable and need snap caps! It is my recommendation as a very active longtime shooter that using snap caps in all firearms for dry fire practice and other purposes can only prolong the lifespan of the firing pin and more.

Stay safe and train how you carry!

Free the mind and the body will follow

Homesteading and Preps For The Week: May 5, 2018

May 5, 2018 M.D. Creekmore

Well folks, here we are again. It’s been a beautiful week here in Tennessee with plenty of sun, however, according to the local weather forecast rain is on the way. I love the rain but not the grass mowing that comes after that last drop falls to the ground and the sun pops back out from behind the clouds. Growth rate looks like three or more inches in only a couple of hours after a rain.

As you all know I recently had trouble with my tiller but thankfully got it fixed and this week I managed to finally get my garden area tilled up and ready to plant. Next year I’m going to go with raised beds instead of row planting though because it’s less work once set up and in my experience more productive.

Another thing that I’ve been working on and plan to release next Saturday is my new product “The Bulletproof Survivor – Homesteading and Prepping for Troubled Times and Beyond”

The Bullet Proof Survivor is a complete prepping, homesteading, and survival library all on one awesome CD. It is an anthology of the best hand-picked articles from my old blog site TheSurvivalistBlog.net.

Plus the CD has hundreds of bonus articles, reports, and books to complete your prepping/survival/homesteading library – mostly in PDF for easy printing for personal use. Again, look for it to be officially released next Saturday!

However, if you want to preorder your copy at the special discount price of only $37 (normal price will be $47 starting Saturday) then you can do that now via the button below.

Well, folks, that’s it for me this week. What about you… what were your homesteading and preps for the week?

Training your Situational Awareness or dying: which do you prefer?

May 4, 2018 Jesse Mathewson

Life is a series of choices made by individuals with the information they have gathered while living through choices made by others around them. We can thank pilots for the term “situational awareness”. However, for the past few decades many professional crime fighters, military, and civilian individuals have used this term and trained to understand and be more aware of their situations. This is an article about a term many of us think we know well, it’s my intent to help understand it completely and maybe learn a few things as well. (I know I always learn from the comments and feedback received!)

Situational Awareness is understanding, observing and being involved in your immediate environment. The technical definition is, “the perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status in the near future.”¹ As individuals who desire to be prepared for what life may throw at us, having a well tuned situational awareness is easily the most important thing we can do.

How do we train ourselves to be prepared all while maintaining a safe immediate environment?

For myself there is one approach that I learned very early in life, I call it “UN-focusing”. Using the horizon, I look out and consciously make myself see the objects on the horizon without focusing on any of them in particular. When you do this you will find that the smallest movement or change in your eye line will cause you to instantly shift and focus on it. It is this approach that has honestly done the most over the years to help me stay safe and by default my family and those around me. Situational awareness is understanding your environment and how you interact within it. The key is being aware of your surroundings!

Several years ago I learned Colonel Cooper’s color code approach to maintaining awareness. White = relaxed and unaware. Yellow = relaxed but aware of what is around you, Orange = something of interest has entered your awareness, Red = what you are aware of is a threat. After several courses and more time spent I learned Massad Ayoob’s fifth color code, Black = acting with intent to stop a threat. It only took a little while before I realized that simple is better than complicated when it comes to self-defense. This is why I came up with the abbreviated approach that has worked well for me.

Using just three colors you can navigate life and stay safe. Understanding that everything is a threat until proven otherwise; I simply tossed White and maintain a life in Yellow = relaxed but aware of what is around you including items of interest. This way I can easily move directly to Red = aware of and focusing on the threat or threats and fluidly into Black = acting with the intent to stop a threat as needed based on knowledge of human action and surroundings where I may find myself at the time. Again there are really only three colors in the life of someone who understands a threat is NOT always someone that needs to be shot, a threat can be an out of control vehicle, a falling building, rock or even an animal of any type at any time.

By utilizing additional props that are all around us in our daily life we can easily expand our 180 degrees visual awareness to take in the 270 auditory awareness and even extend it into a full 360 degree awareness bubble, NOT circle, as what is above and below us is just as potentially dangerous as what is in front, on our sides or behind us. To do this learn to use mirrors that exist in anything reflective. When I taught surveillance and counter surveillance we used buildings, other people and the age-old primate ideal, deception. When walking down a street with or around other people do you notice their expressions or shifts in concentration? Humans have barely imperceptible shifts that occur in our faces, posture and more when we become aware of anything else in our vicinity.

We often perk up, our lips may purse or our eyebrows may furrow just for a split second, these are tells that regardless how good someone is, WILL occur in many situations. Specifically when we view what is deemed to be a potential threat through social programming or simple genetic coding. These are the tells you can be aware of allowing you to easily extend your bubble past your solitary 360 bubble and into the realm of the supernatural.

Consider for a minute the various individuals who over the many years we have come to see as somehow more advanced or superhuman in their various abilities. Good, experienced marine snipers or seasoned special forces and or seasoned field agents with any number of agencies can sometimes seem to be capable of things far beyond the normal range. Let me reassure you, their capabilities may have some natural ability attached OR they are simply well trained.

Be aware of your surroundings and learn to use it to your benefit. Remember, that glass-walled building is a mirror, the concrete planter is cover and sometimes those people who will surely freeze also offer momentary cover for you to react. After all, ACTION always beats REACTION. I personally have absolutely no compunction whatsoever with placing someone I do not know in between myself/family and a potential threat.

After all, the sooner I can freely engage said threat the faster the threat is ended. This leads to the next step regarding situational awareness, understanding that everything you do is based on your internal measure of the individual value of yours and others lives. I am not asking you to physically place a value on others, rather, I need those interested in truly understanding what is necessary to resolving a threat to understand that subconsciously we ALL already do value others based on any number of reasons. This is pure human nature, nothing more, it is not a negative it simply is. Understand this and your life will become both more difficult and yet also much simpler.

Next, in the lineup of things to work on that relate directly to situational awareness from a daily living standpoint is the very simple idea that a moving target is always harder to hit. Daily you should be in Yellow = relaxed but aware of your surroundings by simply un-focusing this is possible to maintain at all times regardless external or internal factors. Next, it is a simple matter of daily repetition in movement and the utilization of scientific method to ensure further safety utilizing situational awareness.

I am talking about being able to move instantly off the X. I am talking about the X, Y, that is your 360-degree environment. What you should always be noticing are potential areas where a threat may occur. All predators enjoy a hunt, however, they enjoy an easy capture/kill far more than the hunt itself. Know where ambushes may be more likely, or where people may crowd into a single place making them easy pickings.

Recent events have shown me yet again that understanding situational awareness is necessary regardless your belief in self-determination eg., self-defense. Consider that recent school shootings have NOT been accomplished by well trained or even intelligent individuals. Rather, they have been accomplished by predators who acted on their base instincts. They pursued easy to gain prey and did so in locations where the prey could be even more easily dispatched.

When the prey no longer presented an easy target in almost all instances the predators left or terminated themselves. I am not discounting the heinous nature of the events, I am simply stating that if these children had parents that cared more about them than their careers, political goals or otherwise they may see the simple reality that is prevention by education; utilizing situational awareness.

Lastly, it is absolutely necessary to address our actions when we are tired or believe we are in a safe place and why even in our castles., eg. homes, we CANNOT live outside of Yellow. The greatest number of traffic accidents happen within 2 miles of one’s own home. Violent crime statistics show us that the vast majority occur in commercial areas (restaurants, bars etc.,) where we are relaxed from drinking or are spending time with loved ones and our attention is not on our surroundings.² There is NEVER a reason to drop our Yellow level in any circumstances.

I firmly believe in always being in Yellow and have even been able to adapt sleep habits to match, with some minor adjustments and the obvious need for sleep there are things that can be done that allow for a good life all while being safe. This is why I firmly believe in the idea that is situational awareness and the approaches I have lined out above. This is what I taught and now you know the why in most cases.

As always if you have questions or comments please let me know! I am positive I have missed some things and likely could use more refinement as time does, in fact, reveal errors quite well. So let me know and we can help each other!

Free the mind and the body will follow…

¹ ENDSLEY R Mica (1987). The application of human factors to the development of expert systems for advanced cockpits. Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 31st Annual Meeting, pp. 1388-1392. Human Factor Society (Santa Monica, CA), 1987

² National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). (2018). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=44

Start Saving Today and Live Your Homesteading Dream Tomorrow

May 2, 2018 M.D. Creekmore

Your dream of owning your own homestead is closer than it appears.

It might seem like you’ll never be able to purchase a homestead. But if you have a plan in place to save, you can be harvesting fresh eggs and vegetables on your own property before you know it.

It will just take a little work. Are you ready to begin saving?

Start with a budget

The first thing that you need to do is start with a written budget and put your money to work for you. When you are living without a budget, you often have little idea of where your money went at the end of the week or month. Even if you are making good money.

Attach a name to each dollar you spend. You’ll probably feel like you received a raise.

There are a couple different ways to get started, depending on how basic you want to go. That would just be a pen and paper. A computer program like Microsoft Excel is well suited for a budget. Or you can go for an online budgeting program like Every Dollar.

What I love about Every Dollar is that you don’t just list what you are planning to spend, but you include actual expenses for that month. You can do this with other budgeting formats. This just makes it easier.

So the first step to getting your finances in order is to know where the money is going.

Prioritize your expenses

Having a budget will allow you to do two important things: set realistic goals and prioritize spending.

Is there anything frivolous you can cut out of your budget? Maybe for just 12-18 months? With the goal of purchasing a homestead I would say it’s worth a shot.

Once you’ve made a budget, figured out where your money is going and cut unnecessary expenses, you can outline goals on how long it will take to buy your homestead.

One of the first things you will need to do is price out comparable properties. It’s not quite as easy as pricing comps in a subdivision, but you can get a general idea on land value and quality of the house.

This is also a good time to figure out if you need to move to make this happen. Either way, you need to know what you plan on spending.

And trust me, it’s a lot easier to save and sacrifice when you have a reason and you know how long it will be.

Pay off debt

At the same time, work on paying off any consumer debt you might have. Your homestead will feel like a cursing if you buy it when you are still paying off debt.

Because something will come up. And when it does, you don’t want to wonder how you are going to pay to repair it.

Once your debt is paid off, take that money and put it toward your homestead.

Get a second job

If you’ve cut your budget as much as you can, but you still have a ways to go, you need to work on the income side of the equation.

Take a second or third job to make the homestead happen. Remember, this is just temporary until you hit your goals.

Here’s a tip: if you work in retail or fast food, you are going to be working a long time making very little money.

Rather, work for yourself. Cut grass, shovel/ plow snow (if you’re in that part of the country), freelance, drive for Uber or Lyft. Even though it’s small, these entrepreneurial style jobs will go much further to hitting your goals. And you can work on your time.

Sell stuff

Most people have extra stuff laying around their house that they never use. They probably don’t even realize it.

Now would be a good time to go through closets, attics or basements and see what you can do without. You can always have a garage sale, but eBay, Facebook, and Craigslist make selling items so easy that you almost don’t need to if you don’t want to take up half a Saturday.

Beyond small items you hadn’t seen in 10 years, maybe you have a larger item you are willing to part with. A motorcycle? A boat? I’m not saying you need to get rid of anything you love, but it’s something to think about.

Is it worth it? That’s for you to decide.

Understand the sacrifice

This ties in with budgeting, cutting out unnecessary expenses and working extra jobs, but understand there will be sacrifice.

You might not be able to eat out as much. Maybe you cancel a vacation and choose to stay around town this year.

That’s okay. It will be worth it when you remember what you are sacrificing for.

A homestead is not that far off. When you make these decisions to begin saving today, are intentional with your money and plan for the future, your dreams of living off the land will soon become a reality.

Now is a great time to get started.