#python
Many preppers focus on old skills like bushcraft and homesteading, but don’t forget to realize that we also live in a technology filled world. Having the ability to code can come in handy.
Python (from monty python) is a first programming language for many. It is easy to learn, easy to read, and there is a lot of libraries of code snippets so you can plug and play bits of code to make larger programs fast.
Python is used with arduino’s to make electronic devices, can make phone aps, runs many websites, and even NASA uses it in their scientific probes and computer programs.
If you have knowledge of Python and a base skill in electronics and mechanics you can take a laptop and plug into into a dead tractor and make it run. You can hack in every sense and really get things done.
Now, I am trying to learn Python myself, and I chose to use the ebook “Python: A Beginners’ Guide to Python Programming to automate the boring tasks and learn coding fast (Machine Learning techniques for database programming and computer languages”. It is $5.oo on kindles and pretty easy to use. It is a step by step guide for computers using windows, linus, and OS as well as some other operating systems. It tells you how to find free Python editors, and walks you through the learning steps.
#WifiExtender
When I got the chance to review this wifi extender – repeater/signal booster I said yes. I use the internet almost 24-7 I use it for research, for my work, and for entertainment. With my son using a e-reader, my wife an i-pad and laptop, and my using the my phone and computer at the same time we had a lag problem
This wifi extender helped remedy some of that. We now have am much stronger signal and I have noticeably faster speeds.
It wasn’t hard to set up either. Just plug it in, log into the device and enter your wireless password, then select the wifi repeater as your device’s internet source and enter the password.
That is all it takes, additionally, it includes usb charging ports so you get a lot of functionality in a small device.
My goal for this WiFi Extender is to use it to boost signal so I can install a wifi camera. This camera would be at my gate so I can record people entering the land. Its too far a distance to go directly from gate to shipping container, so a booster will help.
#HealthyWiser
Being able to test water is important. Being able to boil water only kills bacteria, it does nothting for chemical impurities. This means you need to be able to test for them.
The water test strips I am using in the video test for 9 indicators of impure water. I can detect bacteria as well as other impurities.
It is simple to use, simply dip in the water, pull out and wait 30 seconds before comparing the strips to the chart.
One thing I really like about these strips is that the manufacturer thought far enough in advance to package the strips in sealed containers and added several such sealed bags in the bottle. This means the unopened strips will last longer.
This is a great product, and I am pleased that healthy wise chose to let me review it for them.
This water test strips have given me peace of mine since my water at the land comes from a stream and is not treated in any way. While this test strips don’t test everything but they do test the common issues that would contaminate water.
Originally these strips are used to test pool water.
I did not get paid for this review, but I did receive the product at a discount.
I decided to make an experimental airlift mud pump to clean out my old pond.
I have a spring fed pond that has been abandoned and allowed to silt over. Brush has grown around it and clogged it with rotting leaves. It has gotten to the point that in sections the silt is so thivk that grass has grown over. You cannot tell how soggy it is. It is not uncommon for me to be weed eating and step wrong and sink to my waist in think mud.
Swampland Breeds Mosquitoes
This causes a danger. Additionally, it is a breeding ground for mosquitoes so I have been looking for options. I can’t afford to hire someone with a dredger. My backhoe can’t get to the area. I was at a loss.
I was playing on youtube and found a guy that uses airlift pumps for outdoor hydroponics. it uses a cheap air pump instead of a more expensive electric pump, and because it is air powered and not electric it is safe around water. Down the internet research hole I went.
In looking at how it worked I learned that gold prospectors use dredges to suck up mud, recovery divers also use similar systems to recover boats that are lost under tons of sand.
Can the process work for thick mud? I see videos of Koi pond owners using similar systems all the time on a smaller scale. The lack of videos means one of two things – no one has thought of it, or it doesn’t work.
Will a Airlift Pump Work?
I cobbled some pipes to make my Experimental DIY Airlift Mud Pump, the most expensive pieces being the fittings. It took me less that 15 minutes to build.
I put my diesel air compressor in the truck and drove down the hill to the pond. Now right now Tennessee is under a state of emergency due to extreme dry conditions and we are under a total burn ban. I did not know until I went out to my pond how dry it was. It has really thickened the mud, and if I was careful I could walk slowly on the thick dried crust that formed.
This made the experiment much more difficult.
An airlift pump will lift waterlogged debris the same distance up and the nozzle is held under the water. the pond was 10 feet deep, so I bought a 10 foot section of pipe to make my airlift. If it was wet enough for me to push the nozzle 10 feet down under the surface, it would shoot mud 10 feet into the air.
It Worked, But the Wetter the Better
The ground was too dry to do that, so it only went down about 3 feet – which made it hard for the mud to make its way out the other end of the pipe.
Instead of a geyser of mud, I got more of an old faithful eruption…
As the pressure build up, the mud would spurt out. It made a neat sound, as I got to where I could estimate the time between spurts.
What was happening is that it sucked the mud from around the nozzle and had to wait until more wet mud oozed down around the pipe end.
I cannot wait until the weather changes and I have lots of wet mud to work with. Once I get some time to experiment with nozzle configurations and get a good working model I will scale up to 4 inch pipe.
Navy divers use 9 inch pipe and have to be careful as the suction is so strong it can pull body parts into the tube.
The Thief Strikes Again
I made a bigger set of pipes, and bought a roll of trash pump hose, and more airline. I also redirected the creek to fill the marsh with a little more water. However, when I went back to try again, the thief had cut into my shipping container and stole my air compressor.
This is a pretty cool little folding shovel from survivalhax.com. This site contacted me the other day and asked if they could send me a tool to review. I said sure because you can never have too many tools to review.
The second it came in the mail my 4 year old so had it out of the package and was about to attempt to dig through the living room floor until I told him he could not use it until I made a video.
WT then began bringing me my camera and demanding I test it out. He could not wait until I went out to the land to dig a hole with “HIS” shovel. Unfortunately his grandma fell and broke her hip so he went to Alabama to cheer her up. I had work so I could not go, but every night he asked me if I am done with his shovel.
I see why he likes it after I played with it a while. It is pretty simple and solidly constructed. I don’t really like the screw in handle, but the screw in ferrocium fire-starter in the handle is nice.
If it were my shovel I would probably sharpen the edges, as the powder coating keeps the rod from sparking on the shovel.
All in all I had a pretty good impression of the shovel, but since I really want one of those Glock e-tools I had to say the more expensive tool was my preference, otherwise my wife would never let me spend the money.
I decided to make an experimental airlift mud pump to clean out my old pond.
